Gyms Are Begging for "Job-Ready" Trainers, They Just Won't Build Them
The ISSA is one of the premier personal training organizations in the world. Recently, at their inaugural global summit, they stumbled onto something about how modern gyms treat personal training.
Fitness is exploding, we all know that. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, fitness trainer employment is projected to expand by 12% from 2024 to 2034, averaging roughly 74,200 new openings in the US alone. So there's a clear demand for personal training that is only growing.
And yet, the report also stated that 94% of gyms surveyed expressed strong interest in platforms that provide pre-vetted candidates with verified credentials.
The website states: Trainers who arrive without client acquisition skills, retention strategies, and sales confidence create operational strain regardless of their credential.
In other words, they have little interest in actually educating and developing their incoming trainers. Personal training goes beyond just taking someone through a workout. A trainer is expected to get prospects, sell, perform the sessions, get results, and retain clients. That's like three jobs in one (marketing, sales, training). And gyms wonder why there's a readiness gap between getting certified and actually turning this into a profession.
I suppose it's no different from other "entry level" jobs that somehow require multiple years of experience. But this was an opportunity to be the change that people want. Instead, there is an expectation from certain gyms that you arrive to your first training job as a fully-formed professional.
From personal experience, I can tell you that the pay for a trainer at your typical gym is not great. The hours can also be erratic, especially when you're first starting out. There's a reason the turnover rate is as high as it is.
Organizations like the ISSA have done a good job in adding skills like client acquisition, sales, and business operations to their certification programs. But certifications can't take the place of actual experience.
At some point, the industry has to decide what it actually wants: a profession, or a pipeline. Right now it's built like the latter and marketed like the former. Until gyms are willing to invest in the people they hire, not just the credentials those people arrive with, the readiness gap isn't going anywhere.
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This story was originally published July 14, 2026 at 3:33 PM.