Thread: Bally's Fitness interview 12/11

From my experiance I learned that you don't have to be a genuis to be a trainer there, I met this person while I was training there a while back and I taught it all the fundamentals.....well I went to another Bally's for a couple of months.

I came back to my old gym and lo and behold, my pupil was now a PT at Bally's.

My friends a people person so that helped out in a big way I guess.

In other words......you can just relax.

there is no secret to becoming a trainer at Bally's....just walk in and talk to the people you are interview with and give them the impression that you understand how to take peoples money. Honestly, it is a shitty place to work.....they pay you shit, they don't do much as far as helping you progress your business (it is all about them) and they employ some of the least knowledgeable trainers I have ever seen. There are better gyms to work for.

what do you know about 24hr fitness and their trainers, p?

Originally Posted by P-funk

there is no secret to becoming a trainer at Bally's....just walk in and talk to the people you are interview with and give them the impression that you understand how to take peoples money. Honestly, it is a shitty place to work.....they pay you shit, they don't do much as far as helping you progress your business (it is all about them) and they employ some of the least knowledgeable trainers I have ever seen. There are better gyms to work for.

I feel you, P, but I have to get started somewhere. I'm looking at the experiance more than the pay while I go through the ISSA cert. Thanks for the advice, though.
Any idea how much they DO pay? I can't find any resource anywhere online.

Thanks again.

Originally Posted by wilwn

what do you know about 24hr fitness and their trainers, p?

I think, if you go to any chain gym it is vary hard to find a trainer that is knowledgeable. This is for a variety of reasons:

1) most of the people have just gotten certified and lack real experience (which isn't terrbile, everyone needs to start somewhere).

2) The clubs usually have a certain training template that they want the trainers to follow. Because these trainers are new to industry, they follow it and think it is great. The problem is that the trainers are relying on the information give to them by the people in charge (and the information is not very good in most cases), so they never learn how or why you do things (and in most cases they never learn that there are better ways to do things properly). They are essentialy relying on the interpretation of training by others, instead of doing the research themselves and learning.

3) The chain gyms are just money making factories. They don't care what does on, as long as the money is rolling in and you are producing. Producing and making money is great....however, at these gyms, it almost always leads to a bunch of nonsense.

4) the trainers at chain gyms are usually just treating the job as a "day" job...In NYC, a lot of the trainers were dancers or aspiring actors and this is what the did instead of waiting tables. They had no interest in furthering their knowledge for the good of their clients and in most cases had no interest in even training the clients. This led to a shit show.

5) The trainers sometimes really look the part because they have decent genetics and they workout (even if their workouts are half assed) and feel that because they workout and look good, they can be good as a trainer in the industry......Unfortunatly, because they have good genetics and a lack of understanding of how to train properly or of physiology, they don't know how to get other people results.

6) Poor assessments. Trainers don't do anything in the way of assessment. At the gym I workout at (it is a large chain gym), the trainers do no assessment at all......They take the client on the floor and have them do an exercise, like a bench press (almost always), they let them do one set and ask them how it feels....then they put them on a machine chest press and show them how much more stable it is....then the finish with putting them on a stability ball and having them chest press and show them how unstable it is (even though most people can't do it....where the fuck is the progression? Hello!) and how it is much better because it is harder to balance. Now, if I were the client I would be like "what the fuck kind of assessment is that?". But that is how it works. Once the client signs up, the moron trainers do everything on the ball....If standing lateral raises are good..you should try them sitting on the ball...it is amazing!!!!

7) the list goes on and on.....

Originally Posted by Soul of Sol

I feel you, P, but I have to get started somewhere. I'm looking at the experiance more than the pay while I go through the ISSA cert. Thanks for the advice, though.
Any idea how much they DO pay? I can't find any resource anywhere online.

Thanks again.

I understand! You have to start somewhere. It is important to get training under your belt.

I can't remeber the exact fees they pay out, and I am sure it is different depending on where you are training at. I know when my girlfriend worked for them, it was something like $8/hr for any package of training the managers sell. $20/hr for any package of training you sell yourself. And something like $6/hr for floor hours and consultation session.

It is something like that. It is one of the worst as far as pay goes.

Damn! I'm glad I'm just going there for the experiance. And the free use of a gym to achieve my own personal fitness goals.

Thanks again, P. I apprecieate it.

Everything P said is true except that Bally's sucks because technically I work for them :wink:. My club is the flagship club in this city (and probably the country) so it's not nearly as bad as most. I can say there are 25 trainers here, and they are all busy - about 10 of those are actually what I would consider good solid trainers who know their stuff.

As for interviewing, a lot of it is confidence and if they think you can sell training. The main problem with the industry is that gyms want salesmen, not trainers, which is why they will pull hot girls and buff guys right off the floor with no experience or qualifications and make them a trainer - because they will be able to sell packages to horny old men or desperate housewives. When you go in just be confident and friendly, you might have to demo some exercises but they will probably hire you and give you a sales goal to hit - and if you don't they get rid of you. HUGE turnover in this business.

My gym pays out depending on level - lower level trainers make about $20 a session, highest makes $50.

Originally Posted by ponyboy

Everything P said is true except that Bally's sucks because technically I work for them :wink:. My club is the flagship club in this city (and probably the country) so it's not nearly as bad as most. I can say there are 25 trainers here, and they are all busy - about 10 of those are actually what I would consider good solid trainers who know their stuff.

As for interviewing, a lot of it is confidence and if they think you can sell training. The main problem with the industry is that gyms want salesmen, not trainers, which is why they will pull hot girls and buff guys right off the floor with no experience or qualifications and make them a trainer - because they will be able to sell packages to horny old men or desperate housewives. When you go in just be confident and friendly, you might have to demo some exercises but they will probably hire you and give you a sales goal to hit - and if you don't they get rid of you. HUGE turnover in this business.

My gym pays out depending on level - lower level trainers make about $20 a session, highest makes $50.

aren't you in charge? Aren't you the fitness manager?

You are right with the number of people that can train...10 good trainers out of 25 is only 40%. That is really sad. I would want a facility to be 25 great trainers out of 25. Where I worked in NYC, we had 50 trainers at the club. I would feel confident giving my clients to about 6 of them. Pretty pathetic isn't it?

Hey P, you workout at a chain gym, but do you train at a chain gym?

When I started taking on clients, I refused to work at a chain gym. I made a deal with a local club, told them I'd give them $10 for each person I brought in (obviously they aren't members at the club in most cases) and I went and built my own base. It was a little tough at first, but now I have people booked three months out. Stick to your guns, and for fuck's sake, if a Bally PT tells you how to do something and it's OBVIOUSLY wrong, IGNORE IT.

Originally Posted by P-funk

aren't you in charge? Aren't you the fitness manager?

Hell no. Nor would I want to be. Running a gym for a company like Bally's would be a nightmare. The unfortunate thing is that the guy running the place is actually good at his job - total salesman but he knows to leave his good people alone and let them do their own thing which is why I stay. He's getting replaced next month unfortunately, so I have to have the "just leave me alone" conversation with another manager.

Originally Posted by AKIRA

Hey P, you workout at a chain gym, but do you train at a chain gym?

correct.

Originally Posted by ponyboy

Hell no. Nor would I want to be. Running a gym for a company like Bally's would be a nightmare. The unfortunate thing is that the guy running the place is actually good at his job - total salesman but he knows to leave his good people alone and let them do their own thing which is why I stay. He's getting replaced next month unfortunately, so I have to have the "just leave me alone" conversation with another manager.

I thought you were managing somewhere?