How To Become A Health And Fitness Instructor: What It Is and Career Path

What is a health and fitness instructor and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted expert

Greg Brown

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a health and fitness instructor. For example, did you know that they make an average of $16.76 an hour? That's $34,866 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 19% and produce 57,800 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to a health and fitness instructor?

Greg Brown

Professor , Dept. of Kinesiology and Sport Sciences, University of Nebraska - Kearney

A lot of undergraduate students in Kinesiology are planning to move on to post-graduate education in allied health (Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, Athletic Training, etc.) so their career advice will come from those allied health professionals. For those students going into a career right out of their undergraduate program, typically in the health and fitness industry (e.g. personal training, strength & conditioning, health coaching, corporate wellness), they need to keep an eye on budding trends in the industry and not jump on the latest fad. Basically, a trend is something that is new or innovative that also has staying power and will still be viable in a few years. Fads often seem too good to be true and only last a short time before fading away. Think of wearable technology as a trend while Tae Bo was more of a fad.

ScoreHealth And Fitness InstructorUS Average

Salary

2.7

Avg. Salary $34,866

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 53.90%

male 46.10%

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 health and fitness instructor

Explore health and fitness instructor education requirements

Most common health and fitness instructor degrees

Bachelor's

67.8 %

Master's

17.0 %

Associate

7.0 %

Start to develop specific health and fitness instructor skills

Skills	Percentages
CPR	37.13%
Health Fitness	17.79%
Health Education	11.15%
Fitness Assessments	5.79%
Blood Pressure	4.27%

Complete relevant health and fitness instructor training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New health and fitness 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 health and fitness instructor based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real health and fitness instructor resumes.

Research health and fitness instructor duties and responsibilities

Provide market research and generate leads using social media (facebook) in order to target prospective clients.
Instruct mat Pilates, yoga, and boot camp for all fitness levels.
Assist in the cardiac rehabilitation clinic which include implementing progressive rehabilitation methods with education for long term health and wellness.
Collect BMI & body measurements to track progress of clients.

Prepare your health and fitness instructor resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your health and fitness 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 health and fitness 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 health and fitness instructor resume templates

Build a professional health and fitness 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 health and fitness instructor resume.