by Verity Addams
If you’re passionate about fitness and fascinated by film, your Cert 3 and 4 in Fitness might be the perfect backstage pass. This qualification provides a foundational understanding of anatomy, physiology, program design, and client coaching. Here are the six on-set careers where your fitness expertise can truly shine.
1. Set Fitness Coach / Trainer
A set fitness coach works directly with actors to help them achieve the physical look and capabilities required for their role. This could involve building muscle for a superhero part, leaning down for a historical drama, or developing specific skills like fight choreography endurance.
Your day-to-day includes conducting one-on-one training sessions (often in a trailer or makeshift gym), creating period-specific nutrition and workout plans, and providing motivation and accountability to talent during long, stressful shoots.
Cert 3 and 4 in Fitness can provide the essential framework for designing safe, effective, and individualised and group exercise programs. By taking these certification courses, you’ll understand how to periodise training, manage nutrition, and adapt workouts to an actor’s changing schedule and energy levels, ensuring they hit their “peak” when filming.
2. Stunt Performer
Stunt performers are the elite athletes of the film industry, executing dangerous actions safely. While specialised stunt training is mandatory, a background built on exercise science is an enormous advantage. The skills you gain from planning exercise sessions and developing fitness programs translate directly to this high-octane role.
Your understanding of biomechanics, cultivated through conducting client assessments, is critical for performing stunts effectively and avoiding injury. This expertise allows you to break down complex movements, understand their impact on the body, and condition yourself to withstand incredible physical demands.
A typical day involves rehearsing choreographed fights, falls, and vehicle manoeuvres working closely with the stunt coordinator and maintaining peak physical condition to perform on demand. The principles you learn from designing programs for group fitness or individuals in fitness facilities help you condition your body for the specific rigours of stunting.
3. Stunt Coordinator / Assistant
A stunt coordinator directs all action sequences, a role that represents a unique and high-stakes career in fitness. They design the stunts, manage the stunt team, and enforce rigorous safety protocols. An assistant supports this effort by helping with logistics, training, and preparation, requiring a deep knowledge of human movement rooted in fitness instruction.
This role leverages the core skills of a fitness instructor (assessing capability, designing safe movement plans, and educating others) but on a cinematic scale. The process begins with a form of extreme health screening, evaluating the physical strengths and limitations of both stunt performers and actors to ensure every action is assigned to the right person.
A typical day involves planning intricate action sequences, conducting detailed risk assessments, training actors for simple stunts, and managing a team of elite performers. While their workplace is far from traditional community spaces, the foundational principle remains the same, creating a safe environment for physical achievement. Your certification is invaluable because it teaches you how to assess an individual’s capabilities and limitations systematically.
4. Wellness Coordinator / Mental Health First Aider
Film sets are high-stress environments and productions are increasingly hiring wellness personnel to support the mental and physical health of the entire cast and crew. This proactive role is a growing niche within the fitness industry that moves beyond traditional gym settings. The work can range from organising morning stretches to being a designated point of contact for stress management and resources.
A typical day involves leading group exercise sessions like warm-ups or yoga, providing resources for mental health support, and conducting ergonomic assessments for crew members like camera operators who work long hours in static positions.
This role is a natural fit for a qualified personal trainer as the core units of both the Certificate III in Fitness and Certificate IV in Fitness provide the perfect foundation. Your qualifications equip you with essential skills in client consultation and motivation and a deep understanding of the mind-body connection.
5. Animal Wrangler Assistant
Animal handlers are responsible for ensuring the safety and well-being of animal actors on set. This is a physically demanding job that requires significant strength, patience, and a deep understanding of animal behaviour, a role that often requires additional specific qualifications beyond fitness.
The day-to-day work involves safely moving and handling animals, carrying heavy equipment like crates, barriers, and food supplies, and working with the team to ensure scenes are executed efficiently without stressing the animal performer.
The physical strength and stamina you build and, crucially, understand through your fitness education are a major asset for handling large animals and heavy gear. Furthermore, the discipline, consistency, and understanding of routine that you develop from creating and following structured training plans translate exceptionally well to working with and caring for animals.
Bottom Line
Cert 3 and 4 in Fitness does more than qualify you for the gym floor. It provides a science-based understanding of the human body that is valuable in countless dynamic environments. By combining this knowledge with networking, specific on-set safety courses, and a passion for film, you can step into a thrilling career where no two days are ever the same. The set is calling!
