The Health Risks of Working In Fitness
The secrets no one tells you about your favorite fitness instructors.
Today I returned to work, in the middle of a pandemic (Coronavirus) and against direct orders from the Governor. I taught eight people who weren’t wearing masks. For nearly an hour at a time, I screamed as loud as I could behind my own mask so I could be heard. I had no water for hours due to my back to back classes and no assistance with the front desk.
So why did I return to work? Why did I break the governor’s order? Well, because I had no choice.
Countless people have told me, “you always have a choice,” but when you don’t have money, your job threatens to report you as resigned if you don’t return and stop approving your unemployment (you have to love those “at-will employment” states), you REALLY don’t have a choice. It’s not just me though. I am one of the thousands of fitness instructors who have been strong armed into returning into unsafe working conditions, taking on additional roles without additional pay, having hours stripped without any notification, and working with no benefits.
Yes, these studios are not only demanding we return to work without hazard pay for being in a room with UNMASKED heavy breathing individuals, but also not offering any of us health insurance. Even if instructors teach 40 classes a week (which I actually have done before, most recently at two studios owned by the same women) the studios get around offering vacation time, retirement, and health care by stating that because there are multiple studios, the instructor is only part time at 2–10 studios. So the people who are supposed to help other people stay healthy can’t afford to go to the doctor themselves or take sick time because of the strange accrual for “part time attendance incentivised employees.”
One of the biggest perpetrators of denying fitness professionals health care is Club Pilates, which is part of the huge fitness conglomerate Xponential Fitness (also including CycleBar, StretchLab, Row House, Pure Barre, YogaSix, AKT, and Stride). When confronted about their flippant disregard for the well being of employees, Club Pilates Corporate replied, “All Club Pilates studios are independently owned and operated. Franchise owners set their own employment procedures and policies, including benefits, and are individually responsible for handling matters regarding employment. Corporate does manage benefits of studio employees.” (Glassdoor, Club Pilates Benefits, Employee Benefit Reviews). I think they meant “does not” but you clearly see their lack of concern from the first sentence. Club Pilates and Xponential could have set a standard that needed to be implemented by their franchises for how to treat fitness instructors. If they showed even half the amount of care and attention to the benefits offered to employees as they do to the structure of their classes it would change the lives of countless neglected fitness professionals who’ve invested thousands to be certified instructors.
This isn’t just about one of the largest fitness institutions in the world, this is about all fitness studios and gyms treating their employees like living, breathing, susceptible to illnesses, needing sleep, needing food, needing time to prepare for sessions, needing time to go to the bathroom, having basic functions, human beings. The crass lack of care or concern for these human beings who have dedicated their lives to helping others is heartbreaking and disgusting. If you have forced your employees to return to work without offering them basic healthcare, protection, assistance, and freedom, shame on you. How dare you put our lives at risk for your bottom line. My life is worth more than lining your checkbook and I refuse to be another silent certified instructor any longer.
The risks to our health are real. There are studios across the country who have refused to listen to the lockdowns put in place by government officials. One such location is a yoga studio in the Pacific Northwest where instructors and students have tested positive for COVID after staying open through a mandated lockdown.
Luckily, there are people fighting for safe working conditions. One of the fitness instructors leading the charge is Emily Collinson of SolidCore in Washington D.C. Emily was fired from SolidCore after reaching out to fellow instructors about her concerns with safety protocols when returning to work. Another instructor who is speaking up and unionizing is Kate Trojan who formed CPY Coalition to advocate for Core Power Yoga instructors. With instructors unionizing at larger boutique fitness franchises, it begs the question, what about instructors at small gyms and studios? Is there another way to unionize across different companies? There is! Group Fitness Instructors United is fighting for safe working conditions for ALL group fitness instructors. Although they are a new organization, they are already making strides to protect instructors’ safety. To learn more about joining if you’re a group fitness instructor or supporting if you love your group fitness instructor you can go to gfi-united.org.
