Personal trainers are suffering headaches and sleeping problems from the “corrosive” effect of working long hours to make a living, new research shows.
Rather than an ideal of a glamorous well-paid life as a personal trainer to the wealthy, the study reveals the reality where many do unpaid work, like medieval “serfs”.
Researchers surveyed 74 freelance trainers based in 40 British cities, interviewed six trainers and spent time observing at one gym in South Wales.
The researchers are: Professor Geraint Harvey, of Western University, Canada; Professor Sheena Vachhani, University of Bristol, UK; and Professor Carl Rhodes University of Technology, Australia.
The main way for self-employed personal trainers to get clients is to be based in a gym, for which they either pay for the privilege or undertake hours of unpaid work, such as cleaning, tidying and taking classes.
Over time, gyms have taken on more self-employed personal trainers as a way of keeping their own staff costs low, the study found. The researchers noted official data which says that between 2006 and 2019 the number of personal trainers in self-employment rose by more than 400%, from 9,000 to 47,400, whereas the number on secure employment contracts barely increased.
The increase in competition and insecurity of income had affected self-employed personal trainers’ wellbeing, the survey found – 50% of self-employed personal trainers said they experienced fatigue; more than 40% had sleeping problems and stress; 33% had irritability and anxiety; 20% had headaches; 10% had stomach aches.
“More than a quarter of respondents reported that they worked alongside, and in direct competition with, between 10 and 20 counterparts,” the researchers write in an article in Sociology journal, published by the British Sociological Association.
“There is no guaranteed income: self-employed personal trainers are not paid by the gym. Instead, they must solicit clients from within the gym membership in order to generate an income.
“Just as the serf leased land from the lord and worked the lord’s land for the opportunity to cultivate their leased lot for sustenance, the self-employed personal trainer pays a rent to and performs work for the gym. For example, conducting formal fitness classes, customer service, cleaning and maintenance. That incentivises the gym to maximise the number of self-employed personal trainers.
“The qualitative corrosive effects of the self-employed personal trainer work are a result of the competition between the self-employed personal trainers for clients at a specific gym.”
The survey found that 29 per cent of self-employed personal trainer worked 51 hours or more a week, with 11 per cent working for more than 61 hours. The need to promote themselves, to answer queries online and draw up exercise and dietary plans for clients meant they also spent up to 30 hours a week working outside the gym.
“Informal discussion with self-employed personal trainers operating at the observation site revealed that a six-day work week was common, with some on site seven days a week.
“To be successful in attracting clients, the self-employed personal trainer must first be visible and accessible. It follows that competition for clients will intensify presenteeism, in terms of both as spending long hours at the workplace and attending work while ill.”
Personal trainers told the researchers:
- “I’m self employed but have to work 15 hours a week for the gym where I work out of for free as a way to pay rent to do my business at their property.” (male trainer, Birmingham)
- “I work long hours. I was working seven days a week previously. Now I work six days. And I work hard – you have to. It’s very hard and tiring. I usually start between 7am and 8am and finish about 9pm.”
- “Long hours, lots of demand and constant interaction with clients can be tiring and mentally exhausting. The club I work at has no natural light or air on the gym floor and 13-hour days soon add up in that space.” (female trainer, Oxford)
Some interviewees said it was too easy to become a trainer – as the researchers note: “To operate as a self-employed personal trainer in the UK one must have a Level 3 Diploma in Fitness Instructing and Personal Training or a Level 3 Diploma in Personal Training – a qualification that can be earned within several weeks.”
One London trainer said: “It’s becoming a race to the bottom. Newly qualified, inexperienced personal trainers undercharging, resulting in them never being able to earn and sustain a living. This eventually dilutes the service and prevents highly skilled, qualified and experienced personal trainers from being able to charge and earn what they are worth.”
For more information, please contact:
Tony Trueman
British Sociological Association
Tel: 0044 (0)7964 023392
tony.trueman@britsoc.org.uk
Notes:
- Other quotes from trainers:
- “Constantly feel exhausted. Not getting in until late. I’m shattered. No social life. It’s difficult to fit in exercise. Knackered. It’s not sustainable.”
- One woman trainer based near Blackpool told the researchers that the work “made me very ill over the years and experience high levels of stress and anxiety, wanting to do the best job for my clients and working long hours in and out of the gym, but having other trainers in the area constantly undercutting each other, overstepping professional scope.”
- The researchers drew on Office for National Statistics data for the number of personal trainers in the UK. These show an increase in the number of self-employed personal trainers of more than 500%, mainly due to the benefits of having rent paying free labour, while the number of employed personal trainers rose by only 10%. This took place over a period when the number of gym members rose from 4.5 million to 7 million during this (2006 to 2019). The article is at: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/00380385251320568 The survey and interviews were carried out in 2017-2018.
- The paper is entitled ‘Corrosive solo self-employment: the qualitative and quantitative impact of neo-villeiny in the fitness industry’ in Sociology journal, published by the British Sociological Association and Sage. The BSA’s charitable aim is to promote sociology. It is a company limited by guarantee, registered in England and Wales. Company Number: 3890729. Registered Charity Number 1080235 www.britsoc.co.uk