Recent research has shed light on the amount of time and money the average Brit invests in personal trainers each year.
By analyzing data from The National Register of Personal Trainers and the Office for National Statistics, valuable insights have been uncovered. However, let’s dive deeper into this topic without specifically mentioning any source.
To determine the extent of this expenditure, average salaries from the 16 major cities in the North and South of England were examined, alongside the average price of a single personal training session.
Based on the assumption of two weekly sessions, the number of hours an individual needs to work in a year to afford a personal trainer was calculated. This analysis aimed to identify which regions of the country spend the most on personal trainers.
In 2018, a striking one-third of personal trainers reported losing clients due to cost-related concerns. This raises an important question: Can we truly afford personal trainers?
The findings reveal the cities in England where people work the most hours annually to sustain their personal training regimen. Please note that Plymouth was excluded from the analysis due to insufficient data from the NRPT.
On average, individuals in England spend £38.30 per session and work approximately 268.74 hours (or 16,124 minutes) per year to finance their personal trainer, equivalent to 33 eight-hour working days. In total, the annual expenditure amounts to an average of £3,983.85. Extrapolating from this data, it is estimated that the UK as a whole spends around £1 billion on personal trainers each year.
Looking closer, the average yearly expenditure in the South of England stands at £4,095.13, while in the North of England, clients spend slightly less, with an average of £3,872.57 annually. This means Northerners save £222.56 compared to their Southern counterparts, despite receiving five fewer sessions for the same price.
In Liverpool, residents spend the highest percentage of their annual salary (15.35%) and work the most hours (319.39) to afford a personal trainer. Wakefield comes in a close second, with 15% of their annual salary dedicated to personal training and an annual working time of 312.12 hours.
Conversely, if you reside in the South, Cambridge provides the best value for money, accounting for only 9.47% of your annual salary and requiring a yearly commitment of 197.1 hours.
Unsurprisingly, Londoners spend the most per session (£53.36) and per year (£5,549.44) on personal trainers.
Now, let’s explore what other possibilities arise when considering alternative uses for the funds allocated to personal trainers.
If you were to spend a similar amount to Londoners annually on personal training, you could instead finance almost two terms of university courses.
Alternatively, by diverting the UK average expenditure of £3,983 each year, you could opt for the Black Friday Mega Bundle from Sky TV. This bundle includes access to every Sky Sports channel, thousands of movies, Sky Box Sets, Netflix, and kids’ channels, amounting to £642 per year, for a duration of six years.
By replacing the expense of a personal trainer with a gym membership (averaging £33.98 per month) for slightly over three months, you can save a significant amount of money.
As an additional comparison, for the cost of just over four personal training sessions, the average Brit could enjoy a luxurious 4-star, 3-day getaway to Berlin in December, including flights and accommodations. Similarly, Londoners could afford a return flight with British Airways to
Bangkok, equivalent to the cost of nine personal training sessions.
Please note that these calculations are based on various assumptions and estimations using available data at the time of publishing. The intention is to provide an informed perspective on the expenditure associated with personal trainers and the alternative options available.