Careers
Find yourself. Or at least find a job.
Sports and Fitness Careers
Okay, okay, we get it. Your abs are spectacular. Could bounce a dime off ‘em. But…maybe you could stop admiring them in the mirror for a second and…lend us your ears?
Man, talk about running the gamut. On one end of things, you’ve got your top pro athletes, raking in tens of millions a year (some of them even more, when you take endorsement deals into account), and on the other, you’ve got the guy who works down at 24-Hour Fitness whose job it is to shout words of encouragement to you as you attempt to complete a single dip.
The one thing that can’t be denied is that people care about their bodies. Even those who don’t…appear to care about their bodies…wish they were in better shape. We all want to be that Olympian ideal. Even if some of us aren’t willing to put in the time on the free weights.
And the whole “being unhealthy” fad—especially here in the U.S.—is getting old. People are growing tired of killing themselves slowly. Thanks a bunch, biggie-sized fries. Healthier food options are popping up everywhere you look, new fitness programs are being instituted in our schools, and you can’t count on all your fingers and toes how many types of ways there now are to workout. We’re looking at you, yoga, hot yoga, power yoga, pilates, spinning, kick-boxing, CrossFit, P90x…
Okay, but…what are the numbers?
Well, if you want to go the professional sports route, the numbers are…not good. Let’s take a quick look at football. In any given year, there are well over a million kids playing high school football in the U.S. 70,000 of those will go on to play at the college level. So…7%. And then 250 of those will get drafted. We’re now down to .025%. Of those 250 draftees, only half will see much playing time, and only about 1 out of every 10 will become a successful player on their team. We’re now down to .0025%. And if you have designs of becoming the next Peyton Manning or Adrian Peterson…squeeze in a couple more zeroes. For the few at the top, the money is great…but you’ll never touch it.
Oh, and a majority of those superstars blow their earnings and are broke about five years into retirement. Like…78% of them. So…maybe not the best route to fabulous wealth and comfort.
Things are a bit more predictable and secure if you choose to go the personal fitness route…but you lose the highs along with the lows. Unless you’re a personal fitness trainer to the stars, where you can pull in $100k or more a year, you’ll likely be looking at an annual salary in the $20k-$40k range. Good thing jogging is inexpensive.
If you’re looking for opportunities, they’re definitely out there. Plenty of people nowadays are looking for someone to help them rehab their flab. Just be aware that, if you’re shooting for the moon…the slimmest thing about you may be your wallet.