The Fitness Tip Jar - continued

What It Costs to Be a Group Fitness Professional

At $15 per class, it takes me 2 classes to buy a new music CD, but I never buy just one. I find I have to get at least 5 CDs to increase the odds that one will produce a complete sequence that I actually like and will use. So music is about 10 classes.

To get one teaching outfit it takes me about 4 classes. But I usually wait until people start fighting over the back row to avoid the smell that emits from my old workout wear once the warm-up is complete, so I usually order about 5 days worth of outfits at time. Plus the odds of liking at least one outfit are pretty much the same as music - one in 5. So new apparel is about 20 classes, plus add one more class for shipping and handling for buying it on-line. But it's worth it to spend well above the $100 dollar minimum because I'll get a 'free' pedicure kit to take care of my aching, gnarly feet.

Which brings me to shoes. If you're making the big bucks teaching the average 7 classes per week (apx. $105), you should probably replace your shoes about every 6 weeks. But that would equal about 37 classes a year. So I usually wait until I have to roll a tennis ball under my feet as I get out of bed in the morning before I'll invest in new shoes - that means it takes me closer to 6 months. But the odds are 50-50 that the new line will work for my high arched, extra wide feet, so I always order 2 different styles. So realistically, it takes me about 18 classes to make my plantar fascitis go away, not to mention the loss I suffer because I never return the ill-fitting pair .

Okay, I know I should take the time to go to the post office and ship them back, but I'm too busy trying to come up with new choreography. While I'm not paid for the time it takes to keep my classes somewhat fresh, my professional pride forces me to occasionally do something different.

So I try to attend a yearly conference to recharge my creativity - or better yet, steal some cute stuff. Now that I am living on the "rock" in the Florida Keys, my opportunities have decreased pretty much to attending the annual ECA Miami event. If I don't procrastinate and register early, it only costs me about 17 classes.

But who am I kidding? I always wait until the last minute, so that's 20 classes - but I do pay to be an ECA member (3 classes) to save me the extra 10 classes that a "non-member" registration would cost, after all, my feet can only take so many classes!

While waiting until the last minute to register cost me more in classes, I actually save about 10 classes in doing so. Last minute registration means no rooms are available at the conference center, which would have cost me 30 classes, but luckily I found a dive of a motel nearby, which only cost me 20, but I had to walk a couple of blocks back and forth - like I need more exercise at a fitness convention! (Ack, my poor feet... better buy some new shoes in the exhibit hall! )

Yes, then there's the exhibit hall, which cost me another 33 classes for more music, apparel and a video so that I would be able to 'recall' at least one new combination after three days of exhaustion and brain drain. (I refrain from the new shoes, because I have at least 3 more months left before it really hurts to walk!)

But the plus is that a 3 day conference, which cost me only 86 classes, enables me to get most, if not all, of my necessary continuing education credits.

This does not include food. I try to sustain my energy with the slivers of protein bars which are abundant in the exhibit hall, but found the $10 sandwiches were necessary, so add at least 2 classes for lunches. Then there's usually at least one night that I'm not able to freeload off a colleague who could expense my dinner back to their company, so that's at least 4 more classes.

So one 3 day event and I'm pretty much able to maintain my professional standing - assuming I carefully selected classes that actually offered credits. I have made the mistake in the past of just selecting workouts, but had to stand in line to switch to a class that offered cec's. Yeah, I needed some choreography inspiration, but at-home study courses for credits would end up costing me even more classes.

Finally, in that I am usually past due to renew my certification because I have to first renew my cpr, it usually costs me about 8.5 classes to keep current, even though I'm late. It's important to keep your certification current when you are a professional and you only have to do it every other year - and paying late fees sure beats having to take that test again. The plus is also that you can stretch a 2 year certification to about 2.5 years and over time, it will ultimately save you in classes.

Okay, so you can write off your expenses at tax time, including those 9 volt batteries (only half a class for 2!) that you purchase to prevent vocal nodules from forming, which have the potential to make you sound like a 2 pack a day smoker. But that's all assuming your employer is withholding a sufficient amount of your hourly wage to warrant a return.

So here's a hypothetical (in case the IRS reads this) tax time review of the numbers, (not exact because I can't find some receipts, especially for all those batteries). If teaching an average 7 classes per week, give or take the flu season, that's an average of 364 classes a year.

Assuming it's a certification renewal year, subtract 100 classes; for clothes that don't smell - 20 classes; shoes to make simple walking bearable - 36 classes; music - because even though you stood for hours in the exhibit hall to listen to 30 CDs to take home 6, they still did not work - 20 classes; batteries - 12 classes; all estimated costs in a year.

What this adds up to is 182 classes, which in this hypothetical instance is exactly half of what one can hypothetically teach. Go ahead and crunch the numbers, but keep the following in mind: it's based on gross - not net - income, and it's assuming your body can survive potential overuse injury with 7 classes per week, that you don't take any days off when you get the flu, that you teach Christmas and New Year's days, and that you forego any family vacation.

No, I didn't get into a lot of the other things that most of us do to stay at the top of our profession, but even with these basic expenses, you definitely don't get rich teaching group fitness classes. Group fitness instructors have to have a secondary income source to pay the bills, unless you're living in a 1972 Chevy Malibu under a bridge. Admittedly, if you are on top of everything, you may actually break even or come out ahead after the tax man cometh - assuming you are bold enough to red-flag your return and fully prepared to justify expensing the "replacement of smelly clothes" in an IRS audit.

But for me and, I feel safe in saying, the vast majority of us teaching group fitness, it's pretty much charity work. Don't get me wrong here - I really do love what I do and take great pride in being a 'fitness professional'.

I just can't help but wonder - did my hairdresser stress over learning how a hair follicle absorbs dyes and nutrients the way I stressed over learning the ATP/CP cycles, the cardiovascular system, the Karvonen formula, all those muscles, bones and joint actions...not to mention those mind boggling planes of movement?

So where could I possibly be going with all this? I know you could be working on some new combinations or getting a discount on-line for some new shoes and apparel... but your curious, right?

The Fitness Tip Jar - continued: Why our proud profession settles to do charity work - and the consequences!

Fitness Tip Jar - Introduction
Fitness Tip Jar - What It Costs to be a Group Fitness Instructor
Fitness Tip Jar - Why We Settle to do Charity Work
Fitness Tip Jar - Certifications and Options
Fitness Tip Jar - The Solution?