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

What is a health fitness specialist and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted expert

Greg Brown

Health fitness specialists are certified personal trainers and coaches who design and implement personalized exercise and fitness plans to promote a healthy lifestyle by working with clients in various settings. A fitness specialist teaches and leads exercise routines, offers training advice and motivation, works with small or large groups to improve the clients' fitness level and to rehabilitate injuries, and they also help clients reach their fitness goals. A fitness specialist performs administrative works like registering new members, monitoring the front desk, writing articles on health, and supervising exercise rooms.

A health fitness specialist must be able to relate with customers. You must offer assistance to current and potential customers, possess the ability to build a relationship with people, and also learn to be patient with people -- calm and professional. The educational requirement for a health fitness specialist is a minimum of a bachelor's degree in physiology, kinesiology, nutrition, and dietetics. A health fitness specialist earns $41,799 on average per year.

What general advice would you give to a health fitness specialist?

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 Fitness SpecialistUS Average

Salary

2.9

Avg. Salary $37,089

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 58.69%

male 41.31%

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 fitness specialist

Explore health fitness specialist education requirements

Most common health fitness specialist degrees

Bachelor's

79.7 %

Master's

12.9 %

Associate

4.5 %

Start to develop specific health fitness specialist skills

Skills	Percentages
Customer Service	16.28%
Health Fitness	10.91%
Administrative Tasks	9.22%
Fitness Assessments	7.91%
ACSM	6.76%

Complete relevant health fitness specialist training and internships

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

Gain additional health fitness specialist certifications

Health fitness specialist 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 health fitness specialist certification, having one may help you stand out relative to other applicants.

The most common certifications for health fitness specialists include Certified Personal Trainer and First Aid, CPR and AED Instructor.

More About Certifications

Research health fitness specialist duties and responsibilities

Provide market research and generate leads using social media (facebook) in order to target prospective clients.
Conduct fitness evaluations according to ACSM guidelines.
Maintain the facility according to ACSM facility guidelines
Assist in the cardiac rehabilitation clinic which include implementing progressive rehabilitation methods with education for long term health and wellness.

Prepare your health fitness specialist resume

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

Build a professional health fitness specialist 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 fitness specialist resume.

Apply for health fitness specialist jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a health fitness specialist job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do health fitness specialists rate their job?

-/5

5 stars

4 stars

3 stars

2 stars

1 star

Health fitness specialist reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Dec 2021

Pros

No punching a time clock. Ability to set own hours - although you’ll make more if you are flexible with client availabilities. Rewarding helping others get healthier and seeing the positive outcomes in their fitness/health.

Cons

Early mornings and late evenings - midday naps are often needed. Typically need to work Saturdays. People think that a personal trainer’s time is worthless because they rarely call to cancel… no-shows are always happening and it really sucks for the trainer, especially since it happens so often.