How To Make Fitness Work As A Side Hustle

Want to make some extra money as a PT or fitness instructor? Here’s what you need to know.

Fitness as a side hustle is a great way to make extra money or dip your toe into the industry. Whether you want to make a bit of extra income to pay big bills, or you’re waiting to make the full leap into fitness, here’s how to make it work.

How can you do fitness as a side hustle?

If you love fitness and you love helping other people, why not make a bit of extra money doing it? There are lots of ways to work a fitness side gig, whether it’s alongside your regular job or as a gateway to working in fitness full time.

If you’ve got the right qualifications, why not consider part-time Personal Training (1-on-1 sessions or small group), fitness classes, outdoor bootcamps, or being a group exercise instructor?

By definition, a side hustle is work you do in your “spare time”. So it’s really important that you get organised and don’t waste time or energy on admin.

How much money can you make from a fitness side hustle

The amount of money you could make from a second job in fitness depends on how many clients you see, what you charge, and how you structure sessions. Whilst you can charge more for 1-on-1, you might be able to make more from small group training or classes.

Weigh up how much time you want to dedicate to your side hustle and what your financial target is. Choosing the right software for bookings, payments, memberships, and client management will make a big difference! Striive saves time by making all those business admin tasks automatic so your side hustle doesn’t eat into your free time.

Can you do fitness part time with another job?

Working part time in fitness can be a great way to make extra money alongside your regular job. If your normal job is a 9-5, you have early mornings, evenings, and weekends free to train people. And that’s exactly when most people want to work out. If you work shifts, you’re in a great position to offer PT or classes to other shift workers who will want to train during the day.

Risks of doing fitness work as a side hustle

Watch out for the pitfalls of doing PT or class instructor jobs as a side gig. Make sure you don’t overwhelm yourself with too much work and end up burned out. Find the right balance of regular work, fitness work, and true “time off” so you can get enough rest and still have a life.

Be really clear about why you are doing this fitness side hustle. If it’s to earn a certain amount of extra money, seek out paid gigs or set your prices so you can make that target. If it’s for the social aspect of the role, make sure you don’t take on too much.

And keep a proper record of earnings so you can declare and pay the right amount of tax. There’s no need to stress yourself over spreadsheets or tatty bits of paper. Use simple software like Striive that keeps all that data and can even generate legit financial records for you.

5 downsides of a fitness side hustle

1. You might fall out of love with fitness
2. You risk taking on too much and burning out
3. You’ll need to protect your time and energy
4. Business and financial admin
5. Paying tax on the extra income

Easy ways to do financial admin from a part-time fitness job

By definition, a side hustle is work you do in your “spare time”. So it’s really important that you get organised and don’t waste time or energy on admin.

Keep a proper record of client data, sign-ups, payments, renewals, and income. It might sound a lot, but there are easy ways to do all that business and financial admin without spending hours at your laptop.

Choose a business software platform that grows with you and offers all the features you need whether you’ve got one client or 100.

Best low-cost business software for a fitness side gig

Use Striive fitness business software to manage sales and sign-ups, payments, client information, and all the financial data you need (including financial reports to make tax easier).