Ever had the opportunity to try a Peloton workout?
Besides pushing yourself more than you ever imagined you would and sweating (a lot), the other absolute given is that you’ll love your instructor.
Peloton members rave about their instructors. So much so that many Peloton devotees even follow their favorite instructors on social media so they never miss a beat in their personal and professional lives.
But have you ever gone one step further and wondered: “Maybe I could do that for a living too?”
Though Peloton doesn’t release official instructor salaries, industry estimates put their fee per session at around $500 to $750 per class. Depending on how much the instructor works, that could work out to an annual salary of between $260,000 to $585,000.
It’s easy to see why roles as a Peloton instructor are so competitive!
In this article, we’ll give you the lowdown on how to become a Peloton instructor, the demands of the role, and what to expect from a typical Peloton instructor salary.
We’ll be covering:
- How Much Do Peloton Instructors Make?
- What Qualities Do You Need To Become A Peloton Instructor?
- How to Become a Peloton Instructor
Ready to learn how to become a Peloton instructor?
Let’s get started!
How to Become a Peloton Instructor
Becoming a Peloton instructor is a chance to reach thousands of members every day, helping people better their lives and health through exercise.
As enormous as the user base and expansive the offering of workouts both on the Peloton bike and Peloton Digital app are, there relatively few official Peloton instructors.
There are currently 58 Peloton instructors listed on their website, with one additional guest instructor.
The instructor categories are broken down into:
- 24 Peloton Bike Instructors
- 21 Peloton Tread Instructors
- 9 Peloton Yoga Instructors
- Plus a handful of instructors who teach the other types of Peloton workouts, such as strength or rowing, or who teach numerous types of workouts.
According to Peloton, because the Peloton instructors are the most visible employees at the company, they directly represent the company’s values, priorities, and expertise to the world.
When Peloton decides to hire a new instructor, they put a tremendous amount of thought and care into the hiring decision.
It’s a rare privilege to be invited into the Peloton family and into their members’ homes.
There are no set expectations or hurdles to clear that will automatically either land you a position as a Peloton instructor, or rule you out altogether.
Rather, almost every Peloton trainer currently on the roster has a unique background and hiring procedure.
Some Peloton instructors are recruited through talent agencies.
Others apply directly, some come with personal endorsements from trainers already on the roster, and some attend rare audition opportunities when the company is seeking to add a new instructor to their lineup.
Although most of the Peloton instructors have an instructional background in exercise alongside fitness certifications, some of the top instructors – such as Jess King – had no familiarity with leading workout classes before working for Peloton.
In King’s case, she had never taken a cycling class, let alone taught one, before becoming one of Peloton‘s first instructors. Rather, member-favorite King had a professional dance background.
What Qualities Do You Need To Become A Peloton Instructor?
All of the Peloton instructors have certain qualities and characteristics that they demonstrate through their personal and professional lives.
Examples of qualities you need to become a Peloton instructor include:
- A lifelong commitment to fitness as a lifestyle – rather than just something to check off your to-do list every day.
- A thorough understanding that working out is a lot more than the physical aspects of moving your body.
- The ability to lead, inspire, motivate, and connect.
- A unique angle or perspective, or an inspiring or monumental background.
- A drive to become your absolute best and inspire others to do the same.
- An interest in being a role model as much as you are an educator, motivator, friend, and supporter.
- A strong belief in themselves, in the power to bring out the best in every member even through a screen, and in the missions and values of Peloton as a company.
- A commanding, charismatic, energetic presence that lights people up.
How Much Do Peloton Instructors Make?
Becoming a Peloton instructor is not only an amazing opportunity to inspire and lead audiences to better health and fitness, but it can also be a highly lucrative career.
Peloton instructors are well-paid compared with other fitness professionals in conventional group coaching positions.
Peloton has never officially disclosed salaries for Peloton instructors.
However, an accepted industry estimate is that Peloton instructors make about $500 to $750 per class.
Most Peloton instructors lead about 10 to 15 classes per week, so this can add up to a six-figure salary.
Even at the lower end of the scale, this works out to $260,000 per year (10 classes/week x $500/class).
At the higher end of this estimated range, the top Peloton instructors make around $585,000 annually (15 classes/week x $750/class).
Some of these workouts may be taught in person at Peloton studios such as the Peloton studio in New York. Peloton members can come to the Peloton studios to take the classes in person.
Instructors may film other workouts shot in a Peloton studio without a live in-person class.
Peloton instructors are hired on full-time contracts, with that 10-15 class per week roster serving as a full-time commitment. This is generous compared to the expectations for group exercise instructors at many other companies.
The compensation structure that comprises a Peloton instructor’s salary is based on both a fixed structure and incentives.
Incentives or bonuses may be given to popular Peloton instructors who lead top workouts and bring in massive traffic.
Additionally, some Peloton instructors make additional revenue from Peloton stock options.
In the founding days of the company, Peloton handed out stock options to help attract the top instructors in the industry and recruit premium talent.
According to financial reports from Peloton, employees in the company collectively own stock options worth several billion dollars.
In addition to the base Peloton instructor salary, most Peloton instructors also have massive followings on social media, which enables them to capitalize on brand deals and additional revenue streams.
For example, popular favorite Peloton instructor, Cody Rigsby, currently has over 1.2 million followers on Instagram.
Such a large following can result in extremely lucrative ad income, which would be separate from the salary coming directly from Peloton for being an instructor.
Based on Rigsby‘s social media following, he can likely earn up to $50,000-60,000 or more per promotional post on Instagram alone.
Even doing just one ad per week could result in over $2.5 million per year from brand partnerships alone.
Rigsby himself has done advertising deals with large companies like Capital One, Gatorade, Adidas, and others.
Although most other Peloton instructors have notably lower follower counts, every Peloton instructor seems to have a very impressive social media following.
This provides opportunities to capitalize on revenue partnership deals to handsomely augment – if not surpass – their Peloton instructor salary.
Given that the fitness industry is notoriously poorly compensated, the high income of Peloton instructors is even more notable.
Now You know How To Become A Peloton Instructor…
Although Peloton instructors are extremely well-paid, you have to be driven by more than just the money to stand any chance of landing the one-in-a-million shot of becoming a Peloton instructor.
Although there is a little uniformity in how to become a Peloton instructor, and the opportunities are certainly few and far between. It’s certainly a privilege for the select few who make the cut.
Members across the globe stream Peloton workouts with their favorite instructors every single day, granting the opportunity for each Peloton trainer to change thousands of lives while getting paid handsomely to do what they love.
Sounds good to us!
