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The differences between health fitness specialists and personal trainers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 6-12 months to become both a health fitness specialist and a personal trainer. Additionally, a personal trainer has an average salary of $37,214, which is higher than the $37,089 average annual salary of a health fitness specialist.
The top three skills for a health fitness specialist include customer service, health fitness and administrative tasks. The most important skills for a personal trainer are CPR, customer service, and resuscitation.
| Health Fitness Specialist | Personal Trainer | |
| Yearly salary | $37,089 | $37,214 |
| Hourly rate | $17.83 | $17.89 |
| Growth rate | 19% | 19% |
| Number of jobs | 57,379 | 34,023 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 5 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 80% | Bachelor's Degree, 67% |
| Average age | 37 | 37 |
| Years of experience | 12 | 12 |
A health fitness specialist's role is to promote fitness through different strategies and health programs. Their responsibilities mostly revolve around researching and developing exercise routines for various people, conducting fitness training sessions for small or large groups, assisting clients in their fitness goals, and ensuring a safe and healthy environment for all clients. Moreover, a health fitness specialist may provide private training sessions at home, to clients who are recovering from ailments or injuries, and even to private institutions such as universities and hospitals.
A personal trainer is responsible for monitoring the client's fitness goals by assisting the client with specific and customized routines and exercises to promote healthy well-being. Duties of a personal trainer also include evaluating the client's fitness progress, creating safe programs to improve the client's stamina, educating the client with workout benefits, suggesting on a client's best nutrition plans, and motivating clients with their capabilities. A personal trainer should have excellent knowledge of the fitness industry to support the client's needs.
Health fitness specialists and personal trainers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Health Fitness Specialist | Personal Trainer | |
| Average salary | $37,089 | $37,214 |
| Salary range | Between $27,000 And $49,000 | Between $26,000 And $53,000 |
| Highest paying City | Santa Clara, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | STG International | AEA Investors |
| Best paying industry | Hospitality | Retail |
There are a few differences between a health fitness specialist and a personal trainer in terms of educational background:
| Health Fitness Specialist | Personal Trainer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 80% | Bachelor's Degree, 67% |
| Most common major | Kinesiology | Kinesiology |
| Most common college | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill |
Here are the differences between health fitness specialists' and personal trainers' demographics:
| Health Fitness Specialist | Personal Trainer | |
| Average age | 37 | 37 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 41.3% Female, 58.7% | Male, 63.3% Female, 36.7% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 7.1% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 10.6% Asian, 5.1% White, 71.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% | Black or African American, 7.1% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 10.6% Asian, 5.1% White, 71.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% |
| LGBT Percentage | 13% | 13% |