Great job for a full time trainer/coach, with exceptions
Pros
LT is great for trainers who want to work full time, with PTO, benefits, and clientele right in front of you. The facilities are great if you take advantage of them. This job is best for trainers that are self driven & love “the grind” (read work/life balance below). This job is best paired with teaching classes.
Cons
Personal training is a COMMISSION ONLY position. There is no hourly base pay, and all lead generation (often mandatory) is on your own free time. This is a very sales oriented position, management is very focused on your monthly sales & revenue numbers. When you hit the numbers they want, there is no bonuses, sometimes the manager will mention you in the weekly meeting (required & not paid weekly meeting) and buy you a smoothie. trainers don’t get bonuses, even when you hit major milestones like $50k or $100k revenue for the year. Many trainers work 40-60 hours a week. Lifetime takes a very big chunk of your charge rate: Commission % can range from 43%-55% depending on your level (level 1-5). Trainers have to charge $80-$125 per hour to get an ok paycheck. You only get 3 sick days a year & the benefits aren’t that great. A lot of doctors won’t take my insurance because they don’t payout enough to the doctor, leaving a large bill for me, even when I’m “in network”. Work life balance is something you have to advocate your yourself. No holiday pay or paid holidays, even though you are expected to work holidays like thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, 4th of July, and other federal holidays. Minimum weekly hours is 30 hours but you are expected to clock out when eating, doing admin work, lesson planning, or anything that is not bringing in revenue to the company. Your happiness at this company will depend on you having good relationships with your PT & general managers. Company culture: Managers only want to impress their managers & corporate higher ups instead of doing what’s best for the team & members. There is a major issue with a culture of sexual harassment & inappropriate behavior. If LT isn’t careful they can have a major lawsuit on their hands. The old chiropractor, dr.gavin, was notorious for making inappropriate comments to women. Management “let him quit” after he had been there almost a year. Summer 2022 there was a “Dynamic personal trainer demo” with the LT CEO in Cary NC. The ceo was WAY too hands-on with a young woman trainer that volunteered to demo with him. Everyone was so uncomfortable and talked about it for months afterwards. A few weeks ago there was an incident involving an operations manager that had recently been fired. He came back into the club, was acting crazy, he was asked to leave & groped 3 women on his way out. Management tried to keep this a secret and did not even address this with employees or members. Many team members feel unsafe at work now. The GM told us that he passed the background check, and many of us feel that the screening process should be more thorough to prevent this from happening again.
