How To Become An Aerobics Instructor: Everything You Need to Know

Whether you’re recently qualified or looking for a career change, it’s an exciting career change to become an aerobics instructor.  

We’ll break down everything you need to know about becoming an aerobics instructor (UK), including: 

• What Qualifications Are Required To Become An Aerobics Instructor?
• How Much Does An Aerobics Instructor Earn?
• Where Can You Work When You Become An Aerobics Instructor?
• Opportunities For Progression When You Become An Aerobics Instructor

But before we answer these questions, have you considered expanding your skills and knowledge with our personal training courses? Our Personal Trainer Diploma is ideal for developing your instructing style and effectively training clients.

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How To Become An Aerobics Instructor

We’ll explore everything you need to know to become an aerobics instructor, from gaining the right qualifications to where you can gain employment.

What Qualifications Are Required To Become An Aerobics Instructor?

To become an aerobics instructor, there are certain qualifications you’ll need, and we’ll examine these now! 

Become An Aerobics Instructor With A Level 2 Exercise To Music Qualification

To become a certified aerobics instructor, you need to gain a Level 2 Exercise To Music Qualification. This qualifies you to work as an aerobics instructor and deliver fun, effective classes.

There are no prerequisites to enrolling on this course as this provides an entry level route into the fitness industry. You will be taught how to successfully combine tremendous fitness benefits with engaging social elements to inspire fitness through music.

Other topics you will learn on this course include:

• How to choreograph routines
• Muscles, joints, and their respective movements
• Successfully motivating clients
• Theory behind exercise to music

You should ensure the training provider you complete your course with is a reputable one. 

This means the course you choose should be regulated by Ofqual and endorsed by CIMSPA, the professional development body for the UK's sport and physical activity sector. Having this ‘stamp of approval’ means you’re taking a reliable course that meets the standards of the industry.

However, if you’d like to expand the classes you teach, you’ll need to gain additional qualifications.

Expand Your Skills As An Aerobics Instructor With A Level 2 Fitness Instructor Qualification

Although we’ll go onto discuss further qualifications in more detail later in the article, it’s worth mentioning you can expand upon your skills as an aerobics instructor with a Level 2 Fitness Instructor Qualification.

While this course is a lot more general than the Level 2 Exercise To Music Course in terms of aerobics, the knowledge gained as well as the opportunities for progression are important for developing your career.

This course prepares those hoping to work in gym or fitness environments with the essential skills to evaluate and instruct 1-on-1 programmes. It also makes you qualified to move onto the next stage of a fitness career with the Level 3 Personal Trainer Qualification.

Gaining this qualification means you can continue to develop your skills across a range of fitness areas, allowing you to gain further employment in the industry in areas beyond instructing aerobics classes.

How Much Does An Aerobics Instructor Earn?

As the role of an aerobics instructor is varied, it’s difficult to provide a specific answer to this question. The reason for this is because there are different employment routes which determine how much an aerobics instructor earns.

For example, if someone works as a part-time aerobics instructor than those working for a gym or teaching classes in private venues.

Glassdoor reports the average aerobics instructor salary as £30,819:

This figure is based on 296 salaries. However, while it’s a large number of salaries to gain an average from, this doesn’t factor in the type of establishment these individuals worked for or their average number of hours.

Location also impacts your earning potential. For example, if you live in a city such as London, you will likely earn more than someone elsewhere in the country, even if you work fewer hours.

Here’s a job posted on Indeed for a part-time fitness instructor in Camden, London. As you can see, the hourly rate is £25 - £30:

However, if we compare this to a fitness instructor job in Liverpool, the hourly wages greatly differ. This job in Sefton has a rate of £4.85 - £9.50 and highlights the contrast in the hourly rates in London compared to other places in the UK:

However, regardless of location, there are ways you can increase your potential earnings. Although we’ll go on to discuss later, you can expand your clientbase with additional qualifications.

For example, if you complete a Level 4 Lower Back Pain Management Course, you can boost your earnings by working with a broader range of people and marketing yourself in a niche area of the fitness industry.

Another way to increase your earnings potential when you become an aerobics instructor is by gaining a Level 3 Personal Trainer Qualification. Running 1-on-1 PT sessions alongside aerobic classes means you can expand your services and earn more income.

When you become a personal trainer, this is a good way to find potential clients as you can recruit members of your aerobics classes and in turn, offer your classes to any current personal trainer clients. It’s more likely they will take up your services too as they will already know you and how you instruct.

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Take a look at these articles to find out more about this career and similar ones:

• Aerobics Instructor's Salary Explained
• How To Become a Group Fitness Instructor
• What Qualifications Do I Need To Teach Fitness Classes?

Where Can You Work When You Become An Aerobics Instructor?

For those who become aerobics instructors, there are plenty of available career paths. You can either become self-employed and run classes in private venues or outside, freelance for a particular company, or get a job working full time at a fitness centre.

Let’s break these down!

#1 - Employed Aerobics Instructor

If you choose to go down the route of employment, the amount of work will be determined by the gym or fitness venue you work at. 

Unlike being a self employed aerobics instructor, you won’t need to contact gyms or venues to negotiate times to teach classes as you will run classes based on the gym’s existing timetable.

Aerobics instructors who have their own businesses or are self-employed have to market their services and classes themselves. However, the benefit of working in a fitness venue means the majority of attendees will be existing gym members.

Full-time employment is the ideal route for beginner aerobic instructors to take, especially if you’re brand new to the fitness industry. This allows those who are newly qualified to gain confidence and develop their skills as well as increase their experience.

This career path also comes with a salaried wage, providing much more security as you build yourself up and become a more experienced aerobics instructor.

#2 - Freelance Aerobics Instructor

For those seeking a more flexible role with a level of stability, it’s worth considering going freelance as an aerobics instructor in a gym or fitness centre.

This kind of option would usually be similar to that of a personal trainer. It would involve an agreement between the aerobics instructor and the gym, specifying how you can use their facilities to run your classes in exchange for working hours at the fitness centre for free or paying ‘rent’.

Becoming a freelance aerobics instructor is a great option for those wanting to experience the benefits of running an independent business while reducing the risks that come with opening your own studio and sourcing a stable income for your classes.

Most of the equipment will be covered as the gym will already have it and while you may have to pay some rent, the cost will be greatly reduced compared to renting a space you have no prior arrangement with.

This is an ideal choice for those who are looking to one day become self-employed but are just starting out and may not have enough of an income to open their own business. It also allows people to see if having their own business really is the right option for them.

#3 - Self-Employed Aerobics Instructor

For more experienced aerobics instructors, you may find your preferred route is to become self employed by setting up your own classes. This is ideal for those who are seeking independence and have been in the fitness industry for a while.

The process of this is to hire out venues such as:

• Community centres
• Village halls 
• Labour clubs
• Church halls

Similar to personal training marketing techniques, you will then have to advertise your business and services yourself. This can be tough when first starting out but if you gain experience as a freelancer or teach classes in a gym, you can gain class members this way.

Even in a digital age, word of mouth can be an effective yet simple way to get your business out there. You can ask your friends and family to recommend your classes to others. If you’re still doing freelance work in a gym, you can speak to people there or put up posters to advertise these classes.

Opportunities For Progression When You Become An Aerobics Instructor?

There are opportunities to become an aerobics instructor in the UK. However, these positions can be competitive so it’s important to separate yourself from the crowd by gaining further qualifications and skills.

#1 - Combine Aerobics With Power Yoga

Although Power Yoga isn’t an official type of yoga, it provides a fast-paced cardiovascular workout with a focus on building flexibility and building strength. As it’s an intense form of yoga, this activity is suited to those who become aerobics instructors.

To become a yoga instructor who also instructs aerobics classes, you will need to complete a Level 3 Diploma in Yoga. This will help you instruct yoga classes, allowing you to improve your teaching technique and skills as well as make yourself more employable.

This is a quicker, more intense form of yoga meaning you’ll find it easier to instruct these kinds of classes rather than slower ones as the skills you use will be similar to those in aerobics.

#2 - Become An Aqua Aerobics Instructor

Another option for progression when you become an aerobics instructor is taking your activity to the water. While aqua aerobics is low impact, you still have to work much harder to do the same movements as water is around 12 times more resistant than air. 

As the water provides support, attendees don’t put strain on their bodies, making it great if people have problems with their joints and muscles. By gaining a further qualification in something such as Level 4 Lower Back Pain Management, you can carve out a niche for yourself by helping people with injuries or disabilities keep active.

However, you will require an additional qualification to become an aqua aerobics instructor. As you can see from the job advertisement below, David Lloyd Clubs specifies not only the Level 2 Exercise To Music Qualification, but also a Level 2 in a water based exercise:

With these qualifications, you’ll be able to split your classes between ordinary aerobics and aqua aerobics. This means giving people the option of being able to choose what they prefer and gives you the opportunity to expand your clientbase.

#3 - Combine Zumba As An Aerobics Instructor

If you’d like to offer additional classes with fun social elements, you should look to become a Zumba instructor. Although similar to aerobics, Zumba is a workout based on Latin dance movements in which you have to involve the entire body for each movement.

However, you can’t teach under the Zumba trademark without an official licence from the company. When you receive this certification, you can then apply for positions such as the one below once you gain more experience:

By teaching classes such as these, you will continue to improve your instructing skills and will be able to refer clients from both classes to try something different. As these two activities are similar, they will likely take you up on this offer.

#4 - Become An Aerobics Instructor Who Teaches Les Mills Classes

If you want to offer a range of classes alongside aerobics, you may be interested in becoming a Les Mills instructor. These classes became a fitness phenomenon with over 20,000 venues across the globe. Les Mills expanded with different disciplines and many forms of exercise.

We have a whole article breaking down how to become a Les Mills instructor here, but the basic classes you could teach are:

• BODYPUMP (Fast-paced barbell-based workout)
• BODYCOMBAT (Elements of martial arts, and high-energy non-contact combat movements)
• BODYBALANCE (Incorporates yoga movements and poses)

Although you’ll find these gym classes across the country, they’re still branded classes. Similar to becoming a Zumba instructor, you will need an additional certification from Les Mills to teach classes.

For jobs such as the BODYPUMP instructor posted below by David Llloyd Clubs, you’ll need a Level 2 Exercise To Music Qualification:

As a way to increase your earning potential, you may consider completing a Level 2 Fitness Instructor Course as well. With the range of Les Mills classes, you can continue expanding your skills and getting as much experience as possible.

Before You Go!

With our breakdown of everything you need to know to become an aerobics instructor, it’s time to get started on your new career change.

Develop your skills and knowledge as an aerobics instructor with our range of personal training courses, especially our Personal Trainer Diploma. This is the ideal place to start to help you build your career in this area of the industry.

Download our complete course prospectus here to find out more.