If you’re young and enjoy exercise, I think becoming a fitness instructor is one of the best side hustles out there – it pushes you, it’s humbling, it requires you to energetically lead a room, and it’s actually pretty fantastic for getting to know new people.

At the risk of sounding like an asshole, I feel compelled to state that it’s not for everyone: Merely liking exercise is not enough of a prerequisite for becoming a fitness instructor (which actually involves more theatrics and stamina than actual love of exercise, in my opinion), but I think anyone can be developed to the point where they’re pretty good. (I say that because I work with some of the best fitness instructors in Dallas, and I know I’m total #AmateurHour by comparison – but because I had really comprehensive and cut-no-corners training, I think I turned out all right.)

My personal experience

When I went into fitness, it actually wasn’t to make money – it was to save money. I had just moved to Dallas and started going to Yoga Sculpt classes at Corepower Yoga, a corporate yoga brand – on an intern’s $12/hour income, the $129 unlimited monthly membership wasn’t exactly in my price range.

I paid for it for a few months, then eventually ended the membership. Shortly afterward, I ended up breaking up with someone I had been dating for a few months, and found myself with a lot of extra time to fill: The classic 22-year-old party girl dilemma.

The Yoga Sculpt Teacher Training, a program that you go through to become an instructor (but with no actual guarantee of teaching), ran $1,200 – and I certainly didn’t have that type of money (especially right after graduating and transitioning from intern to full-time employee) to spend on a yoga training where, post-completion, teaching the actual classes earned $12/hour. (I promise I’m not trying to put CPY on blast, but this is a money blog – so I think transparency matters.)

Enter: My lovely Aunt Sue Ellen, a devout yogi. She offered to help pay for Teacher Training for my birthday and Christmas present, and I accepted. 100 hours of training (over about three months) and $1,200 later, I was added to the teaching schedule once a week on Thursday evenings at 6:45 p.m. at a studio about 20 minutes from my home.

Because even the gift didn’t cover the total cost of the training, I ended up counting it as part of my “gym budget” and spreading it out over about 6 months – then every time I’d earn a $30 paycheck from teaching my classes, I’d count that toward chipping away at the balance. Slow and steady, baby.

The pros and cons of this entry to the fitness world

Most of the large, national fitness brands (Corepower Yoga, PureBarre, etc.) actually charge clients to go through the instructor training, and it’s a source of revenue. Be wary of any gym that makes you pay for your training before even letting you audition – it means the audition comes after training, and it might not be the answer you want to hear.

While it’s a good entry point for a total beginner, it’s definitely the more expensive route – just with a lower barrier to entry, skill-wise.

There are other national brands (like SoulCycle) that require an audition upfront, then hopefuls move to NYC for 8 weeks of training (not exactly intended to be a “side” hustle, at that point; if you can get 8 weeks off work to swing it, then great).

In any case, these types of brands are a great way to get your introduction to the fitness world if you don’t find you’re ready to audition for a local studio (though I know several people at my studio who started teaching at my studio with no prior experience!).

How I landed where I am now

Remember that little factoid about how much Corepower paid? At $12 per hour, it hardly justified the amount of time I spent commuting to and from, programming, playlisting, and teaching classes. Luckily, one of the most valuable ways they made up for the sad pay was a series of studio trades with other boutique fitness studios in Dallas (like SoulCycle, Barry’s Bootcamp, and my studio, Class Studios).

I had never done (or wanted to pay for) a cycling class prior to teaching at Corepower, but thanks to the trade, I stumbled into a dark room of stationary bikes at SoulCycle (as a standby rider) and fell deeply, embarrassingly in love with spin. I became an instant Woo Girl, and I rode all the time, despite not being very good.

But it took exactly one (1) class at Class Studios to know I wanted to teach there, so I started going every single day – and I was intense, often taking a 5:30a Cycle class before teaching a 7a Yoga Sculpt class. After about three months, they held an audition, and I tried out to be a cycle instructor (with the intention of rolling onto their impending sculpt program in the winter). I was horrible, but I thank God that Ella and the team of veteran instructors saw some potential.

The actual training process for Class lasted about six months (I was the last one in my training group to roll onto the schedule), which was a significant commitment of time for a side hustle. But holy shit, I wanted it – badly. And finding a side hustle you actually enjoy is pretty worthwhile… especially when it pays well.

The benefit of going through a free training at a local studio

Most of the time, you’re going to get free, more intense 1:1 attention when you go through a local studio, because they’re genuinely invested in developing you for their instructor roster.

The other common advantage to a local studio (not always, but usually) is that it pays better – with a “flat rate + $/head” rate, which incentivizes instructors to grow their class sizes (and, well… be good).

Of course, this means you’ll have to be willing to audition to teach fitness with no prior experience or training whatsoever. In a way, it’s comforting: There are no expectations and the focus is truly on your personality and athleticism, not your technical skill.

Trading time for money

The mathematically optimal side hustle creates passive income, meaning you can scale the amount of money you make without sacrificing any additional time. (For example, selling Wealth Planners is a pretty optimal side hustle from this perspective: I created the product once, and now it takes virtually no additional work or time to sell incremental product beyond promoting it occasionally on Instagram.)

When you teach fitness, to some degree, you’re still always going to be trading your time for money. And when you trade your time for money, you’re always necessarily going to be limited by the amount of time you have. This is something to consider when weighing your options, because if you don’t love your side hustle, it’s going to feel like work.

I should note that (thanks to the pandemic’s impact on in-person fitness classes) there’s now an ability to scale a fitness class digitally – most studios have remote options where you’re still able to be paid per head for your virtual attendees as well, but you still have to devote the time to programming, playlisting, and teaching – no matter who shows up. That’s the dicey thing about your income in fitness: You could make $27 in a 45-minute class or $125+ in a single 45-minute class. It depends on how many people show up (remember, you’re financially incentivized to be good!).

At an average of $75 per 45-minute class (in a normal attendance setting), that’s a pretty damn good hourly rate. I’d bet it’s probably more than you get if you divide your work paycheck into an hourly rate! (Quick tip: To figure this out, quick ‘n dirty, take your salary, shave off the 3 zeroes, and divide the numbers before the comma in half – that’s your hourly rate.)

Think about it this way: If you make $60,000 per year, your time is worth $30/hour to your company before taxes. By that standard, a $75/hour rate is quite good.

And beyond that, the emotionally optimal side hustle creates income while you do something you love: And for me, that’s teaching.

It’s challenging in a way that corporate work is not. It requires an abundance of willingness to make yourself look ridiculous, and to mess up in front of strangers (and in a sports bra, no less).

As a result, it’ll get you squarely out of your comfort zone (and more importantly, it’ll teach you not to take yourself too seriously).

Final opinion

Thanks to its high hourly rate, other health benefits, and opportunity for meeting new people, I’d rate “teaching fitness as a side hustle” as pretty solid. The downsides are obvious: You have to be willing to (or excited about) fitness instruction, not-horrible enough to pass an audition, and the actual ramp-up period can be pretty long and grueling. Some studios train instructors more quickly, but I poured hundreds of hours into my development phase for free (this is where the whole “liking it” part becomes pretty crucial).

The upstart costs may be high (either time-wise or literally), but once you get started, it’s one of the best gigs out there.