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For you to become a personal trainer in Wisconsin, you must meet the following requirements:

  1. Be 18 years or older
  2. Hold a GED or the equivalent qualification
  3. Have a current adult CPR/AED Certification
  4. Become certified through a recognized personal training organization
What type of Certification are you looking to get?

Personal Trainer Certification Wisconsin

Here are the best personal training certification options in Wisconsin: 

  1. International Sports Sciences Association (ISSA-CPT)
  2. National Academy of Sports Medicine Certified Personal Trainer (NASM-CPT)
  3. National Council on Strength and Fitness (NCSF-CPT)
  4. National Personal Training Institute (NPTI)

I suggest you take the quiz to find out which certification makes the most sense for your specific Wisconsin personal trainer career goals.

Personal Trainer Certification Wisconsin Cost

The cost of becoming a certified personal trainer in Wisconsin depends on which certification you choose but this will generally vary from $445 to $995.

Do you need a license to be a personal trainer in Wisconsin?

You do not need a license to become a personal trainer in Wisconsin. However, having a personal trainer certification in addition to first aid and CPR certifications will help you kickstart your career.

Personal Trainer Schools in Wisconsin

Having a personal trainer certification in addition to other relevant skills is a major step toward your career. As far as exercise science schools in Wisconsin go, you do have quite a few options.

If you haven’t yet, be sure to take the quiz to find out the best personal trainer certification for your career.

How Much Do Personal Trainers Make in Wisconsin?

As a personal trainer in Wisconsin, you can expect to make $65,567 annually, but this could range between $47,299 and $80,547 depending on various factors such as the city, your professional and academic credentials, years of experience and any other qualifications that the business might find necessary. You can see the salary report here.

Make sure to check out the general guide on how to become a personal trainer.

How To Become A Personal Trainer in Wisconsin

State Fitness Rating

Before we look at how to become a personal trainer in Madison and other parts of Wisconsin, it’s important to understand what the local fitness industry looks like.

To do that, I’ve decided to use data compiled by exercise.com.

They developed a ranking system of all states, looking at each state’s population health and ranking them accordingly.

This data primarily focuses on how healthy people are and helps us understand how viable each state’s industry is regarding career prospects.

We’ll be looking at two categories of data in this regard, those being the obesity prevalence and the top gyms ratio.

Obesity stats let us know how health-conscious a population is. The less obese, the more health-conscious, and the more likely to spend on health and fitness services.

Wisconsin has an obesity prevalence of 30.7%. This is considerably high and ranks state 28 regarding obesity.

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This isn’t ideal regarding potential opportunities, although worse places exist.

Next, let’s look at top gyms, but what even are top gyms before we do that?

Top gyms include the following well-known brands: 

  • Goldโ€™s Gym
  • 24 Hour Fitness
  • Anytime Fitness
  • Crunch Fitness
  • LA Fitness
  • OrangeTheory Fitness
  • Planet Fitness
  • Snap Fitness
  • YMCA

These are regarded as reliable indicators of a state’s fitness rating due to their widespread availability, affordability, and ease of use.

They represent the lowest-hanging fruit when it comes to access to fitness.

Wisconsin has 431 top gyms with a population of 5,778,708. That means for every 100 thousand people in the state, there are 7.46 gyms at their disposal.

This is a great top gym per capita ratio, putting Wisconsin in 3rd place regarding gym access.

And it’s also great news for personal trainers like yourself. That’s because you’ll have at least 431 potential employment opportunities.

Wisconsin ranks at number 9, making it one of America’s top 10 fittest states.

Fitness Market Makeup

Before jumping on Personal trainer jobs in Milwaukee, we must examine the market. 

Despite the high fitness rating, we must remember that Wisconsin has somewhat of an obesity problem compared to other fit states.

The high rating is really just bolstered by the huge availability of gyms. 

Using the “build it and they will come” approach means the market will develop simply because there are gyms available for them to achieve their fitness goals.

Your typical fitness consumer will likely be more on the overweight/sedentary side of the spectrum.

Personal Trainer Certifications in Wisconsin

Personal trainer certification in Green Bay and other cities is needed to get a job as a personal trainer in Wisconsin.

Overall here are my top 2 best personal training certifications in Wisconsin. Ensure you have all or any of them when you decide to become a personal trainer in Green Bay and other areas.

The nationally certified training certificate required is important to becoming a CPT, such as the International Sports and Fitness Trainers Association, National Exercise and Sports Trainers Association, or Ace specialty certifications.

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TA - Trainer Academy - Best Study Materials for Personal Trainer Certification Online - See MVP discount
A Good Option
ACE Certification- A Good Fitness Course Online Option - 25&percnt off
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Personal Trainer Jobs in Wisconsin

For the best odds of success, you should look at personal trainer jobs in Madison and other big cities.

Your best approach to working as a fitness professional in Wisconsin would be to take advantage of the many gyms, health clubs, and fitness centers available. 

This signifies numerous employment opportunities that will pay you and help you grow in skill and experience.

Other employment opportunities might crop up if you google “Wisconsin athletic club jobs,” “exercise physiology jobs Wisconsin” and “athletic training jobs in Wisconsin.”

From experience, checking out personal trainer listings for “fitness jobs in Milwaukee” is also not bad.

In fact, working as a fitness instructor at a gym won’t be that glamorous in terms of income, but your main objective is to gain stability at the beginning of your career while learning the ropes and paying your dues.

Beyond this phase, you will need to rely on entrepreneurship in your career, which means having good business acumen, discipline, and drive to create great exercise programs.

If you haven’t yet, be sure to take the quiz to find out the best personal trainer certification for your career.

Best Cities to Be a Personal Trainer in Wisconsin

As I mentioned, I’ll only be looking at the top 3 cities in Wisconsin regarding population.

This is an ideal approach since these cities are the only ones with population figures above 100,000 residents. 

I generally regard a population of at least 100,000 as good odds regarding business prospects in fitness.

Always look for personal trainer jobs in Milwaukee or personal trainer jobs in Madison, WI.

City In WisconsinPopulation
Milwaukee594,548
Madison254,977
Green Bay104,777
Kenosha99,688
Racine77,081
Appleton74,139
Waukesha72,412

Personal Trainer Salary in Wisconsin

The projected salary of any career field is an important primary consideration, and fitness is no exception.

Wisconsin has an annual average income of $61,070 per year for personal trainers there.

This is slightly below the national average of $61,802 but to a negligible degree.

To truly understand the value of an income, we need to measure it up against the stateโ€™s cost of living, and while we’re at it, let’s look at other measures of the Quality of Life.

Make sure to check out the full guide on personal trainer salary.

Quality of Life Rating

Quality of life is important to consider since you won’t just be working in Wisconsin but also living there should you decide to become a personal trainer in Madison and other cities.

Wisconsin is often placed as one of the best states to live in.

Leading factors are business opportunities, education, and health, all of which benefit your fitness career directly and indirectly.

As for the cost of living, Wisconsin is one of the most affordable states in the country, giving your potential income a massive boost.

Therefore, I’ll give Wisconsin an 8.5 out of 10 QoL rating.

Methodology  

I approached this review based on carefully curated facts and figures and my final verdict was based on the following:  

  • The population of the state and its major cities.  
  • The obesity figures as compared with other states.  
  • Personal trainer certifications are obtainable.  
  • Availability of personal training schools & colleges.  
  • Career prospects for personal trainers.  
  • Earning potential for certified PTs.  
  • Quality of Life (QoL).  

Final Words on How to Become a Personal Trainer in Wisconsin

Wisconsin is one of the best states in this series when providing stable footing for a fitness career. 

Personal trainer jobs in Green Bay and other cities are lucrative.

If you are ready to get on board, pick up the fastest personal trainer certification course, ensure you pass the certification exams, and decide whether you want to be a group fitness instructor or not.

With a great amount of opportunity, a relatively good fitness market, and a standard of living that makes it all worth it, you have a great shot at being based here.

FAQs on How to Become a Personal Trainer in Wisconsin

What is the best certification for personal trainers?

โ€“ National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM)
โ€“ American Council on Exercise (ACE)
โ€“ Action Personal Trainer Certification
โ€“ International Sports Sciences Association (ISSA)
โ€“ National Federation of Professional Trainers (NFPT)
โ€“ American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM)

They are all certified by DEAC and NCCA.

Do personal trainers need to be certified?

Yes!

Personal trainers must be certified to ensure they have the knowledge and training needed to handle the clientโ€™s fitness needs.

How to become a personal trainer in Wisconsin?

The requirements to become a personal trainer in Wisconsin are as follows:

โ€“ A high school diploma
โ€“ CPR/AED certification.
โ€“ Possession of a personal trainer certificate

You may enroll in a degree program in an exercise-related field to learn more about handling your clients.

How to get a personal trainer certification for free?

If you want to become a personal trainer for free, these are the options you have:

โ€“ Free Online PT Certifications
โ€“ Gym Sponsorship
โ€“ Military Tuition Assistance
โ€“ Community College Tuition Assistance

How much do personal trainers make in Wisconsin?

If you are a personal trainer in Wisconsin, your average salary will be $61,539 as of May 27, 2021, with a range that typically falls between $44,404 and $75,604.

What you will earn will depend on your city of residence, education, certifications, skills, and years of experience.

What certification do personal trainers need?

As a personal trainer, you need any of the following certification programs:

โ€“ American Council of Exercise (ACE)
โ€“ International Sports Science Association (ISSA)
โ€“ International Sports & Fitness Trainers Association (ISFTA)
โ€“ National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM)
โ€“ National Council on Strength & Fitness (NCSF)
โ€“ National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA)

References

https://www.exercise.com/learn/ten-fittest-states-in-the-us/

https://www.salary.com

https://www.americankinesiology.org/SubPages/Pages/Kinesiology%20Institution%20Database

https://www.teleport.org

Tyler Read - Certified Personal Trainer with PTPioneer

Tyler Read


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