If fitness is your thing, here’s a role you might not have thought about. While the majority of instructors are ladies, the success of coaches like Lance Fermor at AAA members Move it or Lose it shows that there’s a real demand for more men to join their ranks.

After spending all of his working life in road transport and logistics, Lance Fermor felt he needed a change… but he wasn’t ready for retirement.

“I was 63 and coming to the end of my career. I had to make the choice to sign up for a new car in return for three years of salary sacrifice and that was the trigger, really.

“I was working with a great team of people and I loved what I did. But it was shift work, which meant that I was seeing less of my wife Helen than I really wanted to. She works in a school, so getting time to take holidays together was often difficult.

“The two of us sat down and had a proper long talk about where were wanted to be in the years ahead… and I started to look around at my options.”

It was Helen who saw the advertisement for Move It Or Lose It instructors. “She knows how keen I’ve always been on keeping fit and on encouraging others to keep fit too. I thought, yeah, this looks right up my street… and phoned up Julie straight away. A month later I was on the training course.”

While he was doing his training, Lance remained in his old job, helped by the fact that he could do so much of it online.

“I started in the April and by November I was ready to take the practical exam,” he says. “About 10 of us met up in Essex over two days and, yes, they do put you through your paces… but you can see why it’s important for everyone to reach a high standard.

“I don’t come a gym background… my main activity is cycling… so I was a bit out of my comfort zone to start! But I was lucky to get some mentoring from another local instructor, and had been to her classes, which really helped.

“I passed the exam… and within a week, I was running my very first class!”

So how did that go?

“My mentor was really kind and bravely said, “Oh, now you’ve passed, Lance, come and run one of my classes! Of course, I was nervous, but she made that so easy for me.”

That was in November 2023, and Lance’s first step was to start and advertise his own classes, one on a Wednesday, one on a Thursday, for the start of 2024.

And how did your business grow?

“To begin with, I advertised the first class on Facebook, ran off some leaflets and put them through local letterboxes, advertised in a local parish magazine and put up posters in local cafes and shops. But I still thought, “I wonder if anyone’s going to turn up…?

“In fact, I needn’t have worried. A few friends and family came along to support me for the first one, but a small group also came from the local church… they were absolutely lovely and have stuck with me for the last two years!

 “I kept two classes going while I was still working at my old job, swapping shifts with the other guys when the classes clashed. But by April I was ready to make the leap. I’d left school at 16 and had always had a steady job with an income coming in every month. The job I was leaving was well paid. So it felt like going into the unknown… exciting, but a little bit scary as well!

“But by then the classes had started to build up, we looked at the finances together and thought: ‘We’re ready to take a chance on this.

“Word obviously got around and soon I was adding more classes to keep them at the right size. I’ve now got six classes, with about a dozen or so in each… which is the size that works best for me.

What do your classes look like?

“Most of the classes are mixed ability, but I know everyone there… I can monitor each individual and make sure they are doing it at their pace and within their own range of movement.

“That said, there is one class where everyone is very strong, and I can push things on a bit. Another one has several people with restricted mobility so I pace that differently.

“And the latest one I set up in conjunction with the Stroke Association, so I do things a little differently. We have so much laughter in that group! And at the end of one class, I saw a lady was crying. What have I done? I thought. She said she hadn’t lifted her arm up for eight years. “But with the music and with everyone else doing it, I didn’t even realize I was doing it.”

And in terms of age range?

“It’s mainly people in their sixties through to their early nineties. Our youngest guy is still in his 40s, and I’m really proud of him. He was referred to me by an NHS weight loss team… and he recently completed the couch to 5k challenge. He’s a lovely chap and all of the class have embraced and supported him.

Another lady I’m really proud of I met at an NHS day, and she was there with her physiotherapist. I started talking to her, and she said, “Oh, you don’t want me. I can’t do this sort of thing.

I said, come and have a look. Sit in the back. And if you want to join in, join in. And she did, and she carried on coming. And, yes, she does struggle, but she’s also really improved. That is so inspirational.”

Does being in your 60s yourself help?

“It probably does. I can relate to everyone very easily, and they see someone close to their own age.”

Is six classes a week enough to give you a reasonable living?

“Of course, it’s nowhere near what I was earning. But matching my old salary was never my ambition anyway. I could easily make it a full-time job, as other instructors do by running more classes and making them bigger.

But I earn enough for what I need and live the life I want to lead outside of that. I’ve got five grandchildren. I’ve got a mother in care, and I like to get out of the cycling group on a Tuesday.

“I’m really, really fulfilled and loving what I do. For the next however-many years, it’s the perfect way to transition from a full-time employment into retirement… at my own pace.

“So that, for me, is perfect. And my advice for anyone thinking about becoming an instructor, I’d say: ‘If you’re looking for something that is rewarding and fulfilling, then definitely try this this.

“You’ll have to work hard, but the training and support is just brilliant.”

You can find out more about becoming an instructor at Move it or Lose it at https://www.moveitorloseit.co.uk/become-a-fitness-instructor/