What are Fitness Affiliate Programs?
Affiliate programs are types of partnerships between brands and individuals. Partners promote products through unique links and earn a commission for each sale they refer. Cookies track referrals from the unique links and typically last for 30 days. The referrer could earn a commission even if the purchase happens weeks later.
The 13 Best Fitness Affiliate Programs: What Makes Each Great?
Here is a quick comparison table of the 13 affiliate programs we’ll be discussing below:
Brand | Commission Rate | Cookie Duration |
NASM | Flat $25 per sale | 30 days |
Rogue Fitness | 4% (commission payouts via PayPal if your balance is $100+) | Not specified; possibly forever |
Monkii | 8% | 30 days |
Titan Fitness | 5% | 30 days |
TRX | 10% | 30 days |
ACE | 5% | 90 days |
Life Fitness | 8% | 30 days |
BowFlex | 3% | 30 days |
Onnit | 15% | 45 days |
Horizon Fitness | 8% | 30 days |
Under Armour | 5% | 30 days |
Nike | Up to 11% | 30 days |
Transparent Labs | 30% | 60 days |
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Let’s now take an in-depth look at each affiliate program:
1. National Academy Of Sports Medicine
The National Academy of Sports Medicine, also known as NASM, is a program aimed at people who want to earn a certification in the fitness industry and work as a coach or personal trainer.
We’ve written about NASM previously (you can read about it here). The organization offers multiple certification options, such as:
- Certified Personal Trainer (NASM-CPT)
- Certified Nutrition Coach (CNC)
- Certified Sports Nutrition Coach (CSNC)
- CPR/AED Certification
- Certified Wellness Coach (CWC)
NASM also offers bundle options. For instance, interested people can enroll in a program to earn a personal training certification and a certified nutrition coach. Doing so is a quicker, cheaper, and more efficient way to advance and create work opportunities.
In addition, NASM offers specialization programs. Examples include:
- Physique & Bodybuilding Coach (PBC)
- Performance Training (PES)
- Corrective Exercise (CES)
- Stretching & Flexibility (SFC)
- Weight Loss (WLS)
- Group Fitness Instructor (GFI)
- Group Personal Training (GPTS)
So, if aspiring coaches make up a percentage of your audience, you can promote NASM to them. In addition to providing high-quality educational materials, NASM certifications are some of the most prestigious in the fitness industry.
As an affiliate marketer, you would earn a flat $25 for every successful sale, regardless of the price of the product or service you promote.
What’s also great is that the cookie duration is 30 days. Even if someone doesn’t purchase something on the NASM website through your link right away, you can still earn a commission if they change their mind later.
Commission rate: $25 per sale
Cookie duration: 30 days
URL: NASM
2. Rogue Fitness
Rogue Fitness is one of the most popular and successful fitness equipment companies in the world. Based in Columbus, Ohio, the company was founded in 2007 and grew to over 800 employees by 2020.
It is well-known for its stylish, premium-grade home gym equipment, including the classic Ohio Bar and Echo Bumper plates.
Their affiliate program is easy to join, with a four percent commission rate. That might not seem like much, but remember that Rogue is a brand that offers premium-grade exercise equipment, and orders can easily reach $1,000+. In such a case, a mere four percent would be $40 sent to your PayPal account for doing nothing.
What’s great about Rogue is that you can rest assured that any product you promote is of excellent quality, and the customer is likely to be satisfied. This is important for your success in the long run because people need to trust your recommendations.
If you promote just about anything, so long as the commission rate is good, people will eventually catch up to your practices and stop listening to your recommendations.
Also, given Rogue’s large arsenal of training equipment (barbells, collars, weight plates, dumbbells, squat racks, cable attachments, and much more), there are plenty of opportunities to create content in the form of reviews and comparisons.
Another thing that sets Rogue apart is their excellent customer service. Each customer is taken care of, which means the risk of refunds (and losing potential referrals) is quite low.
Commission rate: 4% (commission payouts via PayPal if your balance is $100+)
Cookie duration: not specified (some sources say it lasts forever)
URL: Rogue Fitness
3. Monkii
Monkii is a brand that puts a spin on traditional workout equipment. Rather than manufacturing dumbbells, barbells, and squat racks, they offer:
- Ruck packs (and weights)
- Suspension trainers (similar to TRX, which we’ll talk about in a bit)
- Resistance band sets
- An ultralight kit for bodyweight exercise
- Special training surfaces for outdoor workouts
There’s also Neon Buffalo––a product advertised as ‘complete gym in a bag.’ With it, trainees can do strength and conditioning movements, including the overhead press and Renegade rows.
The brand also offers something for those looking to build something at home. Eloquently named, Dash is a training system designed to be installed against a wall outside or inside.
It’s essentially a ladder with a pull-up bar, which trainees can use for strength, core, cardio, flexibility, and calisthenics exercises. Trainees can also use it as an anchor point for their resistance bands or exercise kit to do even more fun and engaging exercises for the whole body.
So, while the brand primarily targets outdoor fitness enthusiasts and those looking for reliable workout tools while traveling, Monkii’s products can also fit at home and be the centerpieces of your gym or exercise area.
The company pays an eight percent commission for each successful sale, which is 1.5 to 2 times more than what we see from many other exercise equipment brands.
Cookie duration is the standard 30 days, which means you can earn a commission even if someone clicks on your link and doesn’t buy anything from the brand for three to four weeks.
Commission rate: 8%
Cookie duration: 30 days
URL: Monkii
4. Titan Fitness
At first glance, Titan Fitness looks a lot like Rogue. They sell many of the same products, and even their websites look identical, with their dark colors and layout.
However, while that may be the case, there are unique advantages to being an affiliate for Titan alongside Rogue.
First, there is the fact that Titan’s products tend to be more affordable. For instance, the T-3 Series Power Rack costs roughly $600, which is far less than what someone would pay for a Rogue rack.
The same is true for many of their other products, including gym benches, barbells, weight plates, dumbbells, etc.
Second, Titan offers a large variety of plate-loaded gym machines that are perfect for building a home gym on a budget. Folks can pick up a seated calf raise, fly, seated row, and squat machines for less than $1,900. Now that’s a good deal.
There are plenty of other products for gym enthusiasts, including dumbbells, cardio machines, strongman equipment, and items for storing resistance bands, weight belts, and plates.
So, if you’re building an audience of fitness enthusiasts, consider Titan Fitness’ affiliate program to promote products through video reviews, comparisons, how-to article guides, and other pieces of content.
Their program is easy to join (no special requirements exist), and the commission rate is five percent.
Commission rate: 5%
Cookie duration: 30 days
URL: Titan Fitness
5. TRX
TRX (Total Resistance Exercise) is perhaps the most popular suspension training system.
Former U.S. Navy SEAL Randy Hetrick developed the prototype in the 1990s. While deployed in Asia, Mr. Hetrick was looking for a new and interesting way to work out, which led him to create a suspension kit out of on-hand items: a jiu-jitsu belt and parachute webbing.
After realizing the commercial potential of his invention, he went on a mission to bring his product to the market. Following a few years of development, TRX hit the market.
Despite some setbacks, such as the company filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in June of 2022, TRX continues to sell and looks to be recovering from the sales draught in the post-Covid period.
The TRX affiliate program can be quite lucrative, as the commission rate is ten percent, and the 30-day cookie duration is similar to what you can expect from other fitness affiliate programs.
Commission rate: 10%
Cookie duration: 30 days
URL: TRX
6. American Council on Exercise (ACE) Fitness
The ACE affiliate marketing program is similar to the one NASM offers because both organizations provide identical products and services.
As a certification program, folks interested in career advancement can enroll in their preferred course, undergo extensive training and study materials, and earn a certification that boosts their credibility and helps them land their dream job.
Along with NASM, ACE is among the best certifications, especially for personal trainers. It’s popular among employers, and many prospective clients are familiar with the organization. Simply put, ACE-CPT means a lot in the fitness industry.
ACE offers extensive training and education resources for aspiring personal trainers, group fitness instructors, health coaches, and medical exercise specialists. There are also specialist programs, such as:
- Fitness Nutrition
- Senior Fitness
- Corrective Exercise
- Functional Training
- Weight Management
- Youth Fitness
- Sports Performance
As a content creator, you can promote numerous programs to your audience through reviews and comparisons.
For instance, the cheapest study program for personal trainers costs $675. A five percent commission on a single successful sale would be $33.75. The most expensive program for personal trainers costs $975, and the commission for you would be $48.75.
Even a handful of successful monthly sales could add up to some decent side income.
That said, the payout periods are longer than on other fitness affiliate programs, so it’s best to review their rules during the sign-up process.
Commission rate: 5%
Cookie duration: 90 days
URL: ACE Fitness
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7. Life Fitness
The Life Fitness affiliate program is also an excellent option for promoting products in the fitness niche.
Known for its premium-grade and durable exercise equipment, this brand can earn you more money on fewer sales because of the high price tags on most products.
Even better, the company has been around for over four decades and is well-known among exercise enthusiasts. Therefore, you wouldn’t need to do much convincing to get people to purchase a workout product they want for their home gym or spare bedroom.
Speaking of products, Life Fitness offers something for everyone. From complete beginners to experienced athletes, everyone can pick up something useful from this brand, which means you can successfully promote their products to a larger audience.
Some of the workout equipment sold by Life Fitness includes:
- Treadmills
- Stairmaster machines
- Elliptical trainers
- Recumbent and stationary bikes
- Rowing machines
- Premium-grade gym machines
- Cable machines
- Benches
- Squat and power racks
- All-in-one functional trainers
There are also countless accessory items, including weight plates, resistance bands, medicine balls, plyo boxes, and more.
Simply put, this is one of the top fitness affiliate programs. While the eight percent commission might not seem like much, the average order value is $3,000.
A single successful sale could earn you as much as $240. A couple of these every month would provide quite the extra income.
Commission rate: 8%
Cookie duration: 30 days
URL: Life Fitness
8. BowFlex
BowFlex is another well-known brand in the health and fitness industry. It was founded in 1986 and has slowly become an industry leader, known for its high-quality and (mostly) affordable workout equipment.
The company makes promoting fitness products a breeze for a few reasons. First, it offers fitness equipment for everyone.
Whether someone wants to build a home gym in their garage, get a few items to lift weights in the spare bedroom, or do cardio in the privacy of their home, there are plenty of products to pick from.
Some of the cardio products Bowflex offers include:
- Exercise bikes
- Elliptical trainers
- Rowing machines
- Functional trainers
- Treadmills
It doesn’t stop there, however. BowFlex is also well-known for some of its resistance training equipment––most notably, the SelectTech 552s, which consistently rank as some of the best and most affordable adjustable dumbbells today.
There are also the SelectTech 1090s, which are identical to the 552s, with the primary difference being they range from 10 to 90 lbs. In contrast, the 552s go from 5 to 52.5 lbs.
BowFlex also offers an adjustable barbell/curl bar set, an adjustable kettlebell, and adjustable gym benches.
So, fitness professionals looking to promote affordable and practical lifting equipment should consider BowFlex. The commission rate could be better (only three percent), but a decent conversion rate and the high average order value can compensate for it.
Commission rate: 3%
Cookie duration: 30 days
URL: BowFlex
9. Onnit
Founded in 2010, Onnit is a company that started by selling supplements and food products designed to improve our health, productivity, and well-being. Since then, it has branched out to workout equipment and apparel alongside its growing supplement collection.
One thing that set Onnit apart from many of its competitors was the focus on health and cognitive function.
Where other companies took the safer path with more common supplements, Onnit pushed boundaries and established itself as the brand for people interested in better cognition, memory, and focus.
One of the company’s most popular products, Alpha BRAIN®, is a nootropic specifically formulated to boost overall cognition, memory, and focus.
New MOOD® is another popular product by the brand, claimed to promote a better mood and help with stress management.
Onnit also sells protein powders, with one of their popular options being the plant-based blend that consists of peas and pumpkin, sunflower, and watermelon seeds. This ensures a more balanced amino acid profile with adequate amounts of all nine essential amino acids.
Another great thing about the brand is that it offers ‘goal-based stacks,’ which are essentially the products they recommend people take based on the outcome they desire. For instance, there is the Mood & Sleep, Keto Collection, and Performance Collection.
As a fitness professional and content creator, you can promote some or all of their products to your audience, depending on their goals and interests.
The great thing about Onnit is that their affiliate program is far more generous than what you’re likely to see from other brands. You can enjoy good profits with a commission rate of 15 percent and a cookie duration of 45 days.
Commission rate: 15%
Cookie duration: 45 days
URL: Onnit
10. Horizon Fitness
The Horizon Fitness affiliate program is another excellent option if you want a good, respectable brand to promote in your content. Horizon Fitness has been around since 1999 and has proven to be one of the best companies for cardio equipment.
Some of the products sold by the company include treadmills, elliptical machines, stationary and recumbent bikes, and rowing machines. Their cardio equipment is of excellent quality and often more affordable than one might imagine.
That said, there are also some high-ticket products you can promote for juicier commissions. For instance, the 7.0 AE Elliptical Trainer costs $999 and has fantastic features to make the workout experience more enjoyable.
Most notably, it has a large touchscreen display and Bluetooth connectivity, which means users can connect their devices to listen to music, stream shows, and more. It also comes with 20 resistance levels to provide the ideal challenge for trainees.
What’s great about Horizon Fitness is they offer advanced delivery (including to the very room where you want the cardio machine to be) and assembly, making everything as convenient as possible for customers.
Plus, should the customer change their mind, they can return the device within 30 days and get their money back. Of course, that’s not ideal for you as an affiliate marketer for the brand, but it goes to show how much they care about the customer experience.
Coupled with their products being great and highly rated, you can expect decent conversion rates without doing much promoting.
Commission rate: 8%
Cookie duration: 30 days
URL: Horizon Fitness
11. Under Armour
While once an obscure company for sports apparel, Under Armour has slowly made a name for itself, turning into a multi-billion dollar brand. All of that is thanks to their excellent marketing and fantastic products.
The company is mainly known for making sportswear––clothing that keeps you dry during physical activity. However, they also make shoes, athletic recovery garments, and fitness accessories.
While not exactly applicable to the traditional gym goer (let’s face it, we don’t need fancy clothes or gadgets to have a good lifting session), the brand is popular among everyday fitness enthusiasts and sports fans.
So, if you’re looking to promote somewhat different products to a new audience, Under Armour could be a fantastic brand to partner up with. Their affiliate program pays a five percent commission, and the cookie duration is 30 days.
Interesting fact: Steph Curry, one of the most impactful basketball players today, was a Nike athlete until 2013, when his contract expired. During negotiations, Steph attended a presentation given by a Nike executive. The executive butchered Curry’s first name, repeatedly calling him Steph-on. In one of the slides, the content was geared toward Kevin Durant, another NBA player, making it look like they were repurposing the same content. These things made Curry feel like less of a priority, pushing him toward Under Armour and Adidas as potential business partners. He eventually signed with Under Armour, largely because he felt valued there and was a priority for the brand. |
Commission rate: 5%
Cookie duration: 30 days
URL: Under Armour
12. Nike
Nike, arguably the most popular sports brand on the planet, is another good option for affiliate marketers looking to earn additional income.
What sets Nike apart from other companies is that everyone knows this brand and is at least somewhat familiar with their products. Most people have owned at least one Nike product, whether a pair of running shoes, a hoodie, or shorts.
Despite the somewhat high price tag on some of their products, there is no shortage of Nike fans who don’t mind paying a bit extra to rock the iconic Swoosh logo.
As an affiliate marketer, this is excellent news for you because it means you don’t have to do much promoting to facilitate successful sales. In most cases, all you have to do is mention specific products with your unique affiliate link and watch as commissions roll in.
Like Under Armour, you can promote these products to fitness enthusiasts and sports fans, especially Michael Jordan fans. The iconic shoe line Air Jordan has been around since 1983 and continues to bring more and more revenue to Nike with each passing year.
According to a report, the Jordan brand brought $4.8 billion in revenue in 2021 and $5.1 billion in 2022 with no signs of slowing down.
What’s also great about the Nike brand is that its affiliate program is more generous than those of other companies. You could earn up to 11 percent commission and enjoy the standard 30-day cookie duration.
The only potential downside is that Nike’s affiliate program isn’t as easy to join. You must fill out an application and hope to be approved. Owning a simple blog would make you eligible, but they look at metrics like traffic and content quality to decide.
Commission rate: up to 11%
Cookie duration: 30 days
URL: Nike
13. Transparent Labs
To finish off the list, we have another supplement brand that’s been making headlines in the last few years. As its name suggests, Transparent Labs differentiates itself from countless other supplement manufacturers by giving consumers something they rarely get: transparency.
Transparent Labs is an online supplements store that sells various products for gym goers and fitness enthusiasts. Among their popular products are:
- Whey protein isolate
- Mass gainer
- Prebiotic greens
- Electrolyte formula
- Muscle recovery and sleep aid formula
- Creatine
- BCAA + Glutamine
- Pre-workout formulas for bulking and cutting
Each product is made with natural ingredients with no artificial sweeteners or coloring agents. The formulas are clinically dosed, ensuring the user gets the advertised benefits, whether energy from a pre-workout or a high-quality protein from a whey formula.
Additionally, Transparent Labs products undergo third-party testing to ensure that what’s on the nutritional label is present inside, with no harmful or banned substances.
They also offer free shipping in the US for orders over $149, and there is a subscription option where people can get a new order of a specific product every 30, 45, or 60 days. Doing so offers perks like small discounts and free shipping.
What’s also great is that their affiliate program is quite generous. The commission rate is 30%, which you don’t see anywhere else. Plus, the cookie duration is 60 days, double what other programs offer.
Commission rate: 30%
Cookie duration: 60 days
URL: Transparent Labs
Conclusion
Regardless of how you feel about it, affiliate marketing has been around for a long time and can be a highly profitable and mutually beneficial way for individuals to work with brands.
The premise is simple: you bring these brands business, and they give you a cut. It’s important to note that your earnings don’t come at the customer’s expense. Instead, the brand gives you a small cut of their revenue as a thanks for generating orders.
Promote products you believe in, be honest with your reviews, and you can enjoy significant earnings.
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FAQs
1. Is fitness a profitable niche for affiliate marketing?
Yes, fitness can be a profitable niche for affiliate marketers. There are plenty of programs to join and various products to promote. Some programs, such as the one by Transparent Labs, also have high commissions.
2. Why is the failure rate in affiliate marketing high?
Affiliate marketers typically fail because they don’t generate much traffic and link clicks or promote bad products people don’t want to buy.
3. Is it easy to become an affiliate?
It’s easy to join most affiliate programs and get your unique links. However, generating enough traffic takes time, and you might not see significant earnings if you’re yet to build an audience online.