How To Become A Group Exercise Instructor: What It Is and Career Path

What is a group exercise instructor and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

As a Group Exercise Instructor, you will lead fitness programs or training held for different groups of people. You will be developing conditioning techniques and teaching students the correct form of exercises and movements. Aside from these things, you will also recommend students with good food appropriate for their diet and healthy lifestyle.

As a Group Exercise Instructor, you need to possess special skills and traits. You need to have excellent customer service skills and communication skills along with great listening skills. You will be dealing with a lot of people with this kind of work, so you need to know how to appeal to each one of them.

You can earn an annual average salary of $33,428 as a Group Exercise Instructor. You also have the chance to further your career after some time. You can be an Instructor, a Team Leader, a Training Manager, and a Director of Training when you start as a Group Exercise Instructor today. As long as you have the necessary skills and experience, you have the chance to land the job.

ScoreGroup Exercise InstructorUS Average

Salary

2.7

Avg. Salary $34,348

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

4.4

Growth rate 19%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

4.8

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.49%

Asian 5.11%

Black or African American 7.05%

Hispanic or Latino 10.64%

Unknown 5.40%

White 71.31%

Gender

female 76.45%

male 23.55%

Age - 36

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 36

Stress level

4.4

Stress level is moderate

7.1 - high

Complexity level

5.5

Complexity level is intermediate

7 - challenging

Work life balance

10.0

Work life balance is excellent

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a group exercise instructor

Explore group exercise instructor education requirements

Most common group exercise instructor degrees

Bachelor's

73.0 %

Associate

11.2 %

Master's

11.1 %

Start to develop specific group exercise instructor skills

Skills	Percentages
CPR	36.01%
Yoga	14.40%
Kids	7.85%
Customer Service	7.37%
AFAA	5.84%

Complete relevant group exercise instructor training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New group exercise instructors learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a group exercise instructor based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real group exercise instructor resumes.

Gain additional group exercise instructor certifications

Group exercise instructor certifications can show employers you have a baseline of knowledge expected for the position. Certifications can also make you a more competitive candidate. Even if employers don't require a specific group exercise instructor certification, having one may help you stand out relative to other applicants.

The most common certifications for group exercise instructors include Certified Personal Trainer and Group Exercise Instructor.

More About Certifications

Research group exercise instructor duties and responsibilities

Manage general fitness center cleanliness and coordinate group fitness instructor schedules
Create classes base on high intensity cardio and strength training using a wide array of fitness equipment.
Instruct a group of up to 50 people in exercises ranging from strength training to Zumba.
Maintain up keep and cleanliness of the facility, restocking cleaning supplies, cleaning fitness equipment, and re-racking weights.

Prepare your group exercise instructor resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your group exercise instructor resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a group exercise instructor resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable group exercise instructor resume templates

Build a professional group exercise instructor resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your group exercise instructor resume.