Thread: Teaching at a Gym - Rates?

I'm looking into teaching belly dance at a gym. I've taught in other situations where I've just rented the studio, but now I'll actually be working for the gym as a staff instructor. I was wondering what rates are typical in these situations and how you have negotiated these situations yourselves.

I just got offered $25 to teach at the Y. ,f::

Hopefully private gyms would pay more?

I have never taught at a gym (only dance focused studios), but have had two experiences I can share.

Recently, on the advice of one of my students I talked to one place about teaching there. They were offering $16 per hour.

Um, thank you but no.

I used to go to a local YMCA and was approached about teaching...and doing it for nothing, not even a membership. I learned all the fitness instructors were volunteers, which was interesting. I did wind up doing an intro course a couple of times as a teaser for my nearby weekly classes, and it was okay, and I also received free CPR and first aid training, which was great. But I would not commit to teaching a weekly class for free.

Finally, I do know a teacher who is teaching out of several gyms and she mentioned she gets $50 per hour plus access to the facility. That, to me, seems reasonable.

Shems, perhaps you could consider what you made on average teaching classes as a renter, and figure out your bottom line that way (along with finding out what the going rate is). I think for a specialty class such as belly dance, you should be on the highest side of the gym teacher rate scale.

I taught aerobics in private gyms for years at £20 -£25 per hour. That seems to be the going rate in the S.E of England per hour for an experienced instructor. This usually includes free membership but not always. To be fair I was teaching 18 to 25 hour long classes per week so I never bothered negotiating a gym membership where it wasn't offered!

By the way that's english pounds, not dollars.

it depends on what area you're in, NE (boston) standard is about $30 - $50 per hour + gym membership

I was paid $25/hour for only 1, 1-hour class a week and free, unlimited gym membership for myself and my partner, no questions asked! That alone was worth it to me. Establish where your tradeoff is (or is not) and proceed from there.

here it's about 20-30€, on a freelance/selfemployed basis (as in you pay your own taxes on that)

In New York it's $40-$50 on average, though some pay more. I always make sure to ask for free membership.

Oh, these rates are good to know. I've been asked to sub at a gym.

Azeeza

a gym membership for two would certainly make it worthwhile. hmmm....

I recently got offered $15-20 to teach at the YMCA.

I get paid half of what students pay. Students do not need to be members to take the class so the owner likes to get business in the door that way. I DO much to bring in students so she's happy. I wouldn't work for an hourly! If you are doing some promotion you should get compensated for that!

I taught at a gym for a while. I received a certain amount per student and access to the gym, but it was pittance, and the classes were sporadically attended, so I discontinued teaching there.

I would not teach for less than $40/hr plus gym membership now.

Originally Posted by nasila

I just got offered $25 to teach at the Y. ,f::

Hopefully private gyms would pay more?

I was was approched by my local YMCA to teach 3 morning classes a week. It would have been great, because it's around the corner from my house (I usually drive an average of 30 minutes to teach) , and as I'm already a member, they would waive my membership fee. The bad side? They don't hire independant contractors, so you have to be an employee at this particular YMCA. The starting pay, non-negotiable, for a fitness instructor was $16 per hour. ..c::

Needless to say, I turned them down, and they haven't been able to find anyone else to teach there.

Originally Posted by tamrahennatx

I taught at a gym for a while. I received a certain amount per student and access to the gym, but it was pittance, and the classes were sporadically attended, so I discontinued teaching there.

I would not teach for less than $40/hr plus gym membership now.

Kimahri does it and has a formula for her work at gyms. Since I already teach other classes at the gym, it made sense for me to do a basic cardio belly dance class and funnel students who are interested and want to learn more to my other classes.

I used to teach at the fitness center where I worked. I had something they really wanted in addition to my teaching skills -- I was already onsite. (It was a restricted access location and thus almost impossible for them to bring someone in from the outside.) The first time I taught, I asked for and got $100 an hour. (Other group exercise instructors made $10/hour at the time.) Even at that price, they jokingly called me a "cash cow," because they made enough to buy lots of equipment for their other exercise classes. I taught for them for awhile, then had to stop because my job got too busy and I couldn't zip over at lunchtime and teach anymore.

About a year after that, they approached me about teaching again, but at the time I was working on a pretty intense project, so I said that they would have to double my price for me to do it. They agreed without hesitation. Sadly, I was too busy to this, between my job and the classes I was teaching elsewhere. And now I'm retired from that job and don't have access to the fitness center any more, so no more cash cow. ..l;, And of course no regular fitness club would go for this kind of a salary demand!

I've heard the going rate here is $16 for an hour class and use of gym...
To me this is so not worth it!!!
We have a family membership for $35 a month !!!!