Gym Club Management’s Mindfulness of Instructor Burnout

Quality fitness instructors are one of your greatest selling points. High-energy and effective classes bring members into your fitness center and they do tell their friends! Your fitness instructors are passionate about their work and it shows in creative choreography, upbeat music and the smiles on the faces of the participants. However, a fitness instructor’s job may lead to burnout ifgym club management is not mindful of the demands of an instructor’s schedule.

If your instructors are showing the following symptoms, they may be experiencing burnout:

• A loss of passion. If a happy, uplifting instructor begins to show a change of attitude, she may feel overloaded. Most fitness instructors have a lightness and positiveness about them, so if you notice negative comments or a heaviness of mood, your instructor may need a break.
• A lack of variety. When an instructor begins to use the same music over and over or teaches the same routines every week, he is showing a sign of burnout. Many fitness instructors look forward to trying new routines or playing new music — most cannot stop the routines from parading through their minds when they hear a new song on the radio.
• A decrease in attendance. If your instructor or participants are not showing up for class — you have an issue. Your instructor probably needs a little time off to rejuvenate or requires a change in schedule to plan for new types of workouts.
• An increased amount of injuries. An overworked body is more susceptible to injuries. Instructors ensure that participants do not get hurt by offering modifications and a variety of movements, yet the instructors are overusing muscles and joints when teaching a demanding schedule.

Our gym club management team watches for fitness instructor burnout and offers helpful solutions to keep your instructors strong. Group exercises classes are an essential part of a fitness center, so contact us for advice on how to retain quality instructors and reduce their risk of burnout.

Jim Thomas is the founder and president of Fitness Management USA Inc., a management consulting, turnaround and brokerage firm specializing in the fitness and health club industry. With more than 25 years of experience owning, operating and managing clubs of all sizes, Thomas lectures and delivers seminars, webinars and workshops across the globe on the practical skills required to successfully to overcome obscurity, improve sales, build teamwork and market fitness programs and products. Visit his Web site at:www.fmconsulting.net or www.jimthomasondemand.com.