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在线翻译:
szdaily -> In depth -> 
Booming gym industry faces shortage of trainers
    2015-07-28  08:53    Shenzhen Daily

    EVERY night at about 10 p.m., just as the surrounding stores and restaurants are closing for the day, rush hour begins at NowFitness, Beijing’s first 24-hour gym and workout center.

    Entering the well-equipped, two-story facility located in a commercial complex in the capital’s eastern downtown, it’s hard not to react to the adrenaline rush generated by the scenes on display. The sound of dumbbells smashing together, treadmills buzzing at high speeds and members groaning and creaking competes with a background of electrifying pop music that energizes customers and encourages them to work out, no matter what the hour.

    Lin Peng, a white-collar employee who lives locally, is one of NowFitness’ 500 members and he exercises three times a week at the gym, a 10-minute walk from his apartment.

    “It’s really cool to have a gym running day and night on your doorstep so you can make full use of your spare time, even late at night. Not to mention the cutting-edge facilities and motivational atmosphere,” the 32-year-old told China Daily.

    Lin is one of a new wave of middle-class Chinese who has enthusiastically embraced exercise as a way to keep fit. The 2008 Beijing Olympics signaled a shift in China’s sporting focus from simply winning medals at major events to extending the benefits of a high sporting profile to public health and well-being.

    The appetite for a healthier lifestyle has resulted in a surge in memberships at fitness clubs, a trend compounded by urban consumption leaning further toward leisure and recreational activities in recent years.

    As a result, working as a fitness trainer has become a promising and appealing career choice for college graduates and retired athletes.

    Challenges and rewards

    When he arrived in Beijing in September, Wang Gang, originally from the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, had no idea how he would make a living. He was 18 and had just retired from semi-pro weightlifting.

    As an up-and-coming athlete, Wang had received a very limited education. He had little hope of a lucrative post-athletics career until he signed up for a two-month course to earn a national fitness trainer certificate issued by the General Administration of Sport of China, the country’s top governing body for sports. “To be a professional fitness instructor seems a natural fit for me because I will be able to make a living by using my long experience and knowledge of physical training and strength exercises to benefit other people,” he said.

    Wang obtained the certificate and was hired by NowFitness in December. He has since become one of four trainers that offer personalized one-on-one courses to members.

    On a typical day, Wang works with at least four clients individually for 60 minutes each and spends the rest of his time patrolling the gym and offering guidance to regular visitors.

    His leisure time is mainly devoted to designing tailor-made training programs for his clients and maintaining his own workout routines.

    Earning a cut of 25 percent of the fee for each one-on-one session and a low basic wage, Wang can earn at least 12,000 yuan (US$1,933) a month, almost three times the monthly per capita disposable income in Beijing.

    “I’m happy with my income, but what satisfies me more is the sense of accomplishment after helping my clients stay in good shape and seeing my expertise deliver,” he said.

    According to an analysis undertaken by the Sports Industry Commission at the China Sports Science Society, professional fitness trainers in urban China have joined the upper-middle income group, with estimated average monthly incomes ranging from 8,000 to 15,000 yuan.

    Still, challenges such as heavy sales pressure and picky customer requirements present tough learning curves for up-and-coming trainers such as Wang, who are desperate to succeed.

    Hidden agenda

    Irrespective of their size, all fitness clubs in China are heavily reliant on sales of lucrative private training courses. The market is highly competitive and low membership fees mean few clubs can make ends meet.

    “Gyms always attract customers by offering affordable, discounted membership fees, and then try to make a profit by selling private classes, with prices varying from 300 yuan to 800 yuan an hour,” said Han Bing, manager of a branch of Tera Wellness Club in northeastern Beijing.

    “Sales assignments are allocated to the trainers, who are forced to practice networking and sales techniques rather than the things they are supposed to do at gyms,” Han said.

    “Firing trainers because they rank low on the sales list, regardless of their actual training ability, is a sad but normal practice adopted by many clubs nowadays,” he said.

    The recent boom in the fitness industry has resulted in a new problem rearing its head — a massive shortage of qualified trainers.

    Yang Bin, the NowFitness owner who started his career as an entry-level trainer, said the key asset for a successful gym, no matter how heavily it has invested in equipment, is always the training team.

    “Newcomers enter the industry every day, but clubs are always short of well-trained employees,” said Yang, who opened NowFitness in January after working as a personal trainer for more than 10 years. “The use of inexperienced trainers has taken a toll on several hard-won reputations in the business.”

    A report examining China’s gym, health and fitness club industry, released in June by the market research organization IBISWorld, estimated that more than 16 million people will visit China’s fitness clubs this year.

    The report found that approximately 202,025 people are employed as trainers in the nation’s 2,322 fitness franchises and private studios, but by the end of 2014 only 15,909 of them had passed the theory and practical tests necessary to be awarded the national fitness trainer certificate issued by GASC’s Vocational Skills Assessment Center.

    Liu Qingzao, deputy secretary-general of the China Sports Science Society’s Sports Industry Commission, said that although several organizations, such as the Asia Academy of Sports & Fitness Professionals in Hong Kong, offer training courses for a large number of trainers, the industry is plagued by unprofessional practices.

    “The introduction of a mandatory entry requirement for employees in the fitness and health industry is urgently needed because the country has set goals to boost the sports industry,” Liu said.

    Since 2010, GASC’s Mass-Fitness Department and Beijing Sport University have jointly organized the annual National Fitness Trainers Convention, which provides a national platform for exchanges related to personalized fitness training, sports science, sports medicine and nutrition, and weight management.

    “We expect to help improve the overall standards of fitness instructors while raising the bar for fitness services in China,” Liu Guoyong, director of the department, said.

    In October, the State Council issued measures to boost the sports industry. The sector has been tasked with generating a gross value of more than 5 trillion yuan by 2025, when it’s expected to account for 1 percent of GDP, compared with 0.6 percent in 2012.

    The measures also stipulate that the number of people participating in exercise regularly, at least three times a week, is expected to reach 500 million by 2025.

    According to the IBISWorld report, the health and fitness club sector — which has recorded average annual growth of 17.5 percent for the last five years — will generate US$5.14 billion this year.

    (SD-Agencies)

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