personal trainer

member services representative

fitness instructor

general manager

manager in training

Crunch Fitness

I worked in this company for 6 years. I worked at 7 locations

Within those 6 years, I felt largely overworked, underpaid, and under-appreciated. I worked nearly everyday, and for extended periods of time, i actually worked everyday, including holidays like July 4, Thanksgiving, and New Years. While I was there, I requested a pay increase 3 times, but was constantly told that I needed to have, "just one more" certification, degree, class, etc. to get paid more or move up in the department. And after 3 degrees and 4 fitness certifications, I was told that I could not receive a promotion or a pay increase because of "budgeting" reasons. I was regularly congratulated for having some of the largest member turnouts for classes, being one of the hardest working instructors in the region, for performing exceptionally well during the trainings, and high reporting of member satisfaction. However, all of those praises fall short when stacked against the lack of support I received as an employee. When sick, it was my job to find someone to work for me, and if no one could, I was often pressured to come in anyway or risk being written up. 

There was a constant game of favoritism being played from  the local managers to the owners. There were several employees who came in after me with and were paid the amount I was constantly denied. When I experienced harassment from other employees and gym members, I was not given the same kind of protection and support that I knew the job had a history of providing other employees with. Instructors were often seen as the bottom of the barrel, and were left out of company updates and happenings. 

I decided that the job was not for me just before the pandemic shut down. A month prior to the shut down I was sick and was told that I HAD to find someone to sub all 11 of my classes for the remainder of the week or I had to come in. I felt extreme respiratory discomfort and coughed the majority  class. In the later months, I would discover that I had COVID-19 and felt extremely guilty that I potentially passed it to several members. 

I entered the job with optimism and a work ethic to prove that I was both highly skilled and knowledgeable. I wanted to enjoy the job, and I did most days. I loved the members and all of the support. Members were often complaining of dirty classrooms of bad management and member etiquette on my behalf. They were also always willing to find ways to make accommodations keep my class attendance consistently high. They were the reason why I stayed as long as I did. 

Crunch Fitness Whitby opened on April 15th 2019, most of us understand the growing pains of a new business but last week after 6 months finally tanning beds arrived and TV’s are operational.  Still waiting on Hydro massage beds.  These amenities are being sold as part of a membership tier without any discount being offered.  No explanation ever provided to employees to relay to paying member.  Lack of proper training.  No breaks or lunches scheduled ever.  Minimum wage only offered.  No room for growth unless other locations open.  Scheduling is not being done fairly to seniority employees.  Policies/rules continuously change.  Next to no organization.  Have to purchase your own uniform on minimum wage job, shirt cost $55.00.  Promos are not explained in full detail or provided in a timely manner to prepare employee to pitch.  Supposed to be a pressure free atmosphere yet we are told to sell/pitch a certain way with expectations.  Certain frustrations common with all employees are not being addressed.  Not enough staff to accommodate someone taking time off or calling in sick. Constant requests from members for equipment i.e. floor mats, billing, explanation of lack of amenities, not enough workers in day care to reserve etc.  Management and head office really no help at all.  Majority of employees not happy but to afraid to say so and the biggest issue with this is management has decided to take the 'worst' employee under their wing at the expense of the other harder working employees.

If you are a new trainer, expect to be put on early morning clients starting at 6am. It's not uncommon to train clients in time slots as late as 10pm and then have 6am time slots the next morning. This doesn't leave enough time to get a good night's sleep which makes it hard to lead by example as a trainer. It's also common to be given a piecemeal schedule, especially at first. A common experience was to show up for an early morning client, then to not have a client booked until 2 hours later. Clients often cancel, partly because gyms like this use coercive sales tactics to sell training packages. 

Crunch likes when trainers bring their own clients to train with them. If I'm going to go to the trouble of attracting my own clients, then what am I relying on the gym for? The answer is equipment, really. If you're adventurous, skilled as a trainer and have some business sense, you may be better off buying equipment and starting your own training practice. 

If this and other gyms like it cared about their client's well being more than money, these gyms would look and behave very differently than they do.

If this is your first job as a trainer, you can find value here by getting experience and paying your dues. But I hope for your sake that you have some kind of plan to progress your work and career unless you want to end up stuck working at a place like this for longer than you have to.

Oh boy.. where to begin!? Management/Ownership summed up in a few words; Immature, Liers, Manipulators. The general manager has the class, maturity, professionalism and managing skills that of an ex adult performer; In short, this gym is an absolute clown circus. If you are in/at the position of a regular front desk employee, or any position for that matter, prepare yourself for a whole distasteful world of politics and drama with the "Clique" of longtime employees, for even if you make one mistake... have fun! 
Other problems stem from the lack of maturity and just basic knowledge on how to run a gym properly, for example; Most proper gyms use an actual licensed cleaning solution to clean the gym machines, Crunch Stratford, heck no. They are only familiar with diluted vinegar water... yeah, might aswell spit shine their machines while their at it.. Should also mention the plethora of machines constantly breaking down and taking months on end to be fixed, not just that, but the utterly pathetic feeling that the gym is lacking overall in development, with 0% hope of it ever getting better. That's just the surface of issues..
Long story short; Atmosphere, environment and staff are/is  brutal, dont work here.. ever.

Not a good place to work at all. 
 They tell you that you will receive benefits along with compensation for additional training programs and certifications which is a lie
 Management is terrible. They pick favourites and if you are not one of the favourites they will make going to work miserable for you and try to do everything they can to fire you. They do not answer emails or help with any problems you may have.
You receive little to no training.
 Mistreatment of staff constantly is having people come and go
They ensure you full time hours and lots of clients which is a lie, you would be lucky if after 6 months you reach 20 hours a week 
Constant issues with equipment being broken and billing problems from members being over charged to there payments not showing up and having to work for free
They tell you after 3-6 months you will get an evaluation and if it goes well will receive a raise which is not true.

The clients are great but all management levels make working here not enjoyable. If you ever raise any concerns you will be ignored or picked on.

There is also a lot of gossip and drama 



I got hired on part time after a co op through highschool. From August 2018- Jan 2020 as a MSR

Overall while working here I can say I really really enjoyed the work, it's a great feeling to help customers start off their fitness journey. 

Great environment and easy going manager's. 
The only thing that I didn't like about the job was the pay, it was minimum wage and there was really no room for promotions (mind you I was part time)

And in the past the managers had a very low retention rate as it was stressful for them and compensation was simply not enough. (This might have changed since working there but I am unsure).

Other than that, if you're looking for an easy going job in the fitness industry and do not mind lower than average compensation (again this may have changed) than this is the job for you(

What is the best part of working at the company?
Free gym membership. Most coworkers were amazing to work with. 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Being screamed at by members because of pricing or because they were being charged when they weren't supposed to etc. 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
The company itself expects unrealistic membership sign ups and even if you meet the goal there is no praise or incentives. The supervisors/manager was extremely nice and accommodating. She cared about our well-being. 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Clock in, stand at a desk for 3-9 hours (depending on what your shift is) make 10 phone calls. Walk around every hour picking up weights and making sure paper towels dispensers and disinfectant bottles were full.

I have been an employee with Crunch Fitness for just over 2 years. The process began with an interview as a Group Fitness Instructor. They saw my passion for fitness in an audition interview setting and it was go time from there. Since I started, I have been given many opportunities to grow with the company. I have been given free continuing education, constant guidance and challenges to take me to the next level. The Crunch Fitness family is world wide and not only do you receive support from your home team management but also from managers, coordinators, and other instructors across the world. Every job comes with struggles but this company continues to work a long side their employees through the thick and thin. I highly recommend working for this company.

The work load you deal with on a day to day basis is way more than what you’re paid for and the commission is a joke. Secondly, management is an absolute circus and they’re constantly hiring people who don’t even know what they’re doing and then fire the ones that actually do things around the gym. Working here is not worth the headache you’ll receive from customers yelling at you and calling you names for mistakes that head office made or for something another worker did. Legally entitled to open and close with 2 people in the gym AT ALL TIMES and yet they always have just 1 person opening and wonder why the gym is late to open a lot of the times. This place is worse than high school for the drama that goes down between staff members. Overall I’d rather work with the devil than ever go back here  

Where do I even start? The job itself was not bad. It’s the management who do not care about your well-being just themselfs, no time off, no sick days and will ask you to come in even when it's unsafe weather (snowstorm,weather warnings) they also dont care if you have family emergencies  and will FIRE YOU without cause even if you worked there for 5+ years. DO NOT WORK FOR THIS COMPANY they scam people believe me I’ve worked there. Worst gym in town doesn’t matter what city you’re in. Only good thing was the members. Don't waste your time at this company they treat you like absolute garbage nothing but bad things to say honestly. Like i said will fire you even if you get them the most sale and do everthing right you are not safe with this company.

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Personal trainer 111 salaries reported	$19.26 per hour
Member services representative 129 salaries reported	$17.71 per hour
Fitness instructor 57 salaries reported	$32.15 per hour
General manager 23 salaries reported	$58,065 per year
Manager in training 1 salary reported	$20.00 per hour

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