6 February, 2020

A flurry of new gym openings in Wagga is driving unprecedented demand for fitness professionals in the city, with a TAFE NSW graduate urging locals to consider a career in the booming fitness field.

Shauna Lamotte, 19, initially wanted to pursue a career in nursing but pivoted to the fitness industry after realising she could help motivate people to change their lives through exercise.

The gym industry in Australia is worth $3 billion and is projected to grow by close to 20 per cent in the next five years, according to Ibis World. Wagga’s fitness industry is also in a steep growth phase, with a host of new gyms opening in the last two years.

Ms Lamotte, who graduated with a Certificate III in Fitness from TAFE NSW in August and works at Spin Fitness Wagga Wagga, said being a gym instructor was a deeply rewarding profession.

“You go on this emotional journey with your clients and see them put in the blood, sweat and tears, and come out the other side as improved versions of themselves,” Mr Lamotte said.

“To be able to help people really is a privilege.”                                                                                                                                          

As part of her role at Snap Fitness, Ms Lamotte leads and plans spin classes, manages memberships and runs the gym’s popular Six Week Challenge.

She completed the Certificate III in Fitness as a trainee and said her next frontier was to complete a Certificate IV in Fitness and eventually launch her own personal training business.

“There’s so much flexibility in this industry and it’s not hard to open your own business and really be in a career you love,” Ms Lamotte said. “I’m interested in studying sports science and nutrition down the track and I really like the idea of helping people through injuries and rehab. Personal training is just such a broad field.”

She praised TAFE NSW Wagga Wagga Fitness Teacher Helen Fisher for her industry knowledge and connections, and for going “above and beyond” as a teacher.

Ms Fisher said there had never been a better time to consider a career in fitness.

“There are 24/7 gyms popping up everywhere and with that comes a need for more personal trainers, gym instructors and group fitness instructors,” she said. “It’s an amazing industry to be a part of. There aren’t many industries where you can literally transform a person’s life and say ‘I had a hand in that’.”

Ms Fisher said TAFE NSW Wagga Wagga was launching a Certificate III in Fitness as a face-to-face course for the very first time in semester one, 2020.

To find out more about studying fitness at TAFE NSW, phone 13 16 01 or visit www.tafensw.edu.au/courses/sport-and-fitness-courses

Media contact: Daniel Johns, TAFE NSW Media and Communications – Business Partner, 6938 1441, mobile 0477 722 428.