Global Fitness Report 1 - USA

by Ryan Hogan | Monday, March 14, 2011

The first in a series of reports on the fitness industry around the globe brings us to the good ole US of A. Considered to be the birth place of many past and current trends, there is certainly a lot going on fitness-wise in America!

The current market in the US is clearly dominated by a number of large chains of well established health clubs. Big chains like 24 Hour Fitness and Bally Total Fitness have been in the market for a long time and continue to operate very large centres with lots of equipment and ample group exercise schedules. They are all over the country in most states and boast membership numbers in the tens and sometimes hundreds of thousands of members.

There is also a clear appearance of the smaller, discount box club operator like Planet Fitness and Anytime Fitness. While still a new phenomenon at home down under, these businesses have been operating next to the big chains for quite a few years now. Some of these smaller clubs even have more centres than the big legacy carriers and have certainly proved they are here to stay.

Interestingly, the industry in the US is not regulated at all when it comes to education and/or certification. There are myriad certification providers, some of which don't even allocate a single hour of practical work for their students! There are no standards to be followed, although it is worth mentioning that some of the more established colleges are trying to work with local government officials to try and set standards. This is complicated by the fact that there is no national registration body, such as Fitness Australia, which could help the process.

According to the large industry body IHRSA, the average wage for fitness professionals in the US is also quite different from Australia. The average going rate for a one on one Personal Training session appears to hover around $35 per hour, whereas the average group ex instructor takes home $30 per class.

Personal Training is about as popular as it is down under, and there are a lot of small facilities which offer PT-only services or Bootcamp type workouts as well. In warmer climates they are well attended and the cooler climate cities tend to have large indoor facilities to cater for the weather. In large health clubs there appear to be many PT programs available for members to attend and be part of; however, anecdotally I didn't notice as many PTs on the floor in the clubs I visited as in some Sydney and Melbourne facilities.

Despite being the birthplace of the aerobics phenomenon in the early '80s, group ex classes are not as well attended as they are down under. There is, however, a much greater variety in the programming offered on timetables with some clubs offering very interesting class titles! Zumba is hugely popular and has been so for a number of years now, and the Les Mills pre-choreographed programs are becoming more and more well known.

With 300 million people in the country, the market is obviously huge, and hence America has always been on the top of the radar for many overseas professionals looking to branch out overseas. It will be very interesting to see what the next few years brings, with the looming national standards for certification and registration being put into place.

Next stop - Mexico!

Posted by: Brendan Rigby | 16-Mar-2011 11:04 AM |

Thanks Ryan - great to see that the demand for Personal Trainer is strong in the US - particularly in a small gym environment.

Brendan Rigby
Inspire Fitness for Wellbeing

Posted by: Anonymous | 16-Mar-2011 08:53 PM |

Great article

Posted by: Ariel Gonzalez-Motivate You Fitness & Personal Training. www.motivateyou.com.au | 18-Mar-2011 04:36 PM |

Interesting to see how the fitness industry/weight loss industry compares in other countries.