Hey all, Im newly certified with an ACSM and i have an interview with bally total fitness 2morrow so Im really hoping for some information about it. Im curious on how ballys pays their trainer and really what a trainer does (when they’re not training people). Im not a big fan of 24 hour fitness but Ive heard some horror stories about ballys in terms of being more of a salesman and less of a trainer…though, I have heard some good things as well (pay, training, environment)
So could anyone please give me some info about how a ballys trainer “works” so I can have some idea going into my interview. thanks so much!!
by the way sorry i dont know what section to put this in.
How do you think you get clients? That they’ll just come to you? That they grow on trees? Any service job is going to have a sales component.
At 99% of commercial gyms you’ll get two pay rates - floor rate and training rate. Floor rate means you’re on the clock but not training a client. You’re doing b.s. like racking weights (not all gyms make you do that sort of stuff) or trolling for clients. This usually isn’t much money. It will vary based on market (minimum wage-$12 an hour).
Training rate means you’re training a client. This is higher basked on market. (At 24 Hour fitness in my area, it’s $35 or so.)
You get more $$$ when you make the sale.
Being a trainer is about closing deals man, getting clients. If you want to be a successful trainer, you must learn sales.
Training is not a super lucrative profession. More trainers are making 40,000 than 100,000.
Remember that your FIRST JOB is not your DREAM JOB. Most people who are successful at anything will tell you about their horrible jobs they had before getting to the dream job. It takes a while to get into the right spot. Be patient, learn, and keep pay your bills on time and eventually you’ll find “greener pastures.”
[quote]ZeusNathan wrote:
jehovasfitness wrote:
I guess the only input I have is that I lost a client to Bally’s running a special for 10 training sessions for $100.
im supposed to be getting hired there soon, i just have to sign some more paperwork. youll probaly get paid better than me because im not certified and i know ACSM is the best PT certification you can get. they just told me i have 90 to get certified, i think its because its obvious i workout because when i went a year ago the same guy who im going through now told me they have people who work w/o certification but its people who have played sports their whole lives blahblah idk, and now that im bigger it was way easier.
im going in there today to hopefully get this shit done im gonna ask ab out pay too…definately ask when you go in, cause i made the mistake of not asking.
[quote]LiveFromThe781 wrote:
im supposed to be getting hired there soon, i just have to sign some more paperwork. youll probaly get paid better than me because im not certified and i know ACSM is the best PT certification you can get. they just told me i have 90 to get certified, i think its because its obvious i workout because when i went a year ago the same guy who im going through now told me they have people who work w/o certification but its people who have played sports their whole lives blahblah idk, and now that im bigger it was way easier.
im going in there today to hopefully get this shit done im gonna ask ab out pay too…definately ask when you go in, cause i made the mistake of not asking.[/quote]
I hope they don’t hire you. Then again, it’s Ballys, so they probably will.
C’mon now Jehova,heh, what would you expect from a commercial gym anyways?
If I want a real trainer I wouldn’t go to Ballys, Golds, Worlds, or any other chain gym. I’d go to a hole in the ground where a guy who looks like The Hulk would beat me into the ground with rusted iron bars and 45lb plates.
[quote]Sir wrote:
C’mon now Jehova,heh, what would you expect from a commercial gym anyways?
If I want a real trainer I wouldn’t go to Ballys, Golds, Worlds, or any other chain gym. I’d go to a hole in the ground where a guy who looks like The Hulk would beat me into the ground with rusted iron bars and 45lb plates.[/quote]
Yeah seriously, that’s why I don’t wanna work at Goodlife which is probably gonna hire me… But I just want money, and it’s a decent job to have at age 20. I can see myself not lasting long there, because I have a more primal way of training than the eliptical and ab rotation machine way of training they like to endorse.
For me I’d love to be a trainer, but in my own mind I myself would not want to be trained by someone who wasn’t a beast of sorts. Like I wouldn’t want to be trained by some guy who just has a certification. I want the papers and a guy who’s like 200+ and 7%bf because those are my own goals and he’d obviously be able to take me there.
After this last year of college if I don’t get into any of the grad schools I’m looking at for Creative Writing or get into this portfolio school for copy writing and if I’m close to where I want to be physically…I might go get certified and be a trainer.
But right now…I’ve got to get ready for an interview…at Hollister…i know what you’re thinking…but I need a job. At least I’d be the biggest person in the store if I get hired.
[quote]Sir wrote:
Good luck to all you guys trying to get hired.
For me I’d love to be a trainer, but in my own mind I myself would not want to be trained by someone who wasn’t a beast of sorts. Like I wouldn’t want to be trained by some guy who just has a certification. I want the papers and a guy who’s like 200+ and 7%bf because those are my own goals and he’d obviously be able to take me there.
After this last year of college if I don’t get into any of the grad schools I’m looking at for Creative Writing or get into this portfolio school for copy writing and if I’m close to where I want to be physically…I might go get certified and be a trainer.
But right now…I’ve got to get ready for an interview…at Hollister…i know what you’re thinking…but I need a job. At least I’d be the biggest person in the store if I get hired.[/quote]
Ahaha sweet. I agree with you 100% on the trainer thing, however seeming as I’m bigger than the average dude… if they wanna pay me to train them, I’m not gonna say no.
The Personal Trainer supervisor at Ballys tried to recruit me but once I left his office I felt that I interview for a sales position. It was all about selling.
[quote]Stronghold wrote:
Two more shining examples of why being a personal trainer doesnt mean you know shit in this thread.[/quote]
Bah, you think that’s bad?
You should have seen the course I had to take this weekend that ‘certifies’ you. That was a shining example of why a lot trainers you see are fat guys or girls who make most of their clients spend 60min doing crunches on one of those big bosu balls.
I’m not claiming I know everything, far from it.
[quote]jehovasfitness wrote:
LiveFromThe781 wrote:
im supposed to be getting hired there soon, i just have to sign some more paperwork. youll probaly get paid better than me because im not certified and i know ACSM is the best PT certification you can get. they just told me i have 90 to get certified, i think its because its obvious i workout because when i went a year ago the same guy who im going through now told me they have people who work w/o certification but its people who have played sports their whole lives blahblah idk, and now that im bigger it was way easier.
im going in there today to hopefully get this shit done im gonna ask ab out pay too…definately ask when you go in, cause i made the mistake of not asking.
I hope they don’t hire you. Then again, it’s Ballys, so they probably will.[/quote]
What an unusual comment from a personal trainer. You’re hoping that someone not be successful. Hopefully you are able to shield your clients from this piss poor attitude.
You obviously havent read many of Live’s posts on this site. If you had, you would realzie that JF was just saying that for the benefit of any of Live’s potential trainees.
[quote]Stronghold wrote:
You obviously havent read many of Live’s posts on this site. If you had, you would realzie that JF was just saying that for the benefit of any of Live’s potential trainees.[/quote]
You not being JF, can you be sure what his intention is?
Hoping for others failures tends to move one further away from their own successes and as a trainer, I think it’s a shame the JF would do that.
