Calling all personal trainers!

Discussion in 'Health and Fitness' started by tang_sou_dao, May 4, 2005.

  1. tang_sou_dao

    tang_sou_dao YoU cAnT sEe Me!

    hey, well for most gym qualifications you need to be 18+ before u can start the course, so i am wondering what the best option would be, and what option you made after you left school. I'm currently doing an A level in PE and Business.

    Thanks
     
  2. Rhizome

    Rhizome Super Valued Member

    Sadly after school i went to college for highers in Computin nd Information systems along with an HND in Web Development but found it wasnt the thing for me it gt me too stressed nd started to bore me. So then i turnd to fitness now that im 18 and am doing a course with an org called WABBA its a pretty gd course and i think you can be any age to do it. Its a home study course.

    Or you could go to college/university nd do a course there
     
  3. sky

    sky Valued Member

    i am training to be a fitness instructor, and as far as i know you can be 16 to start.. but if it requires you to go to university then yeh you, have to be 18
     
  4. tang_sou_dao

    tang_sou_dao YoU cAnT sEe Me!

    sky hu are u training with? website?
     
  5. Ad McG

    Ad McG Troll-killer Supporter

    Unfortunately though, unless you own a gym or work your way up out of the fitness and into management or become a pro coach for a sports team, there are very limited career options for fitness coaches.
     
  6. tang_sou_dao

    tang_sou_dao YoU cAnT sEe Me!

    but if thats the are of work i enjoy, I wouldnt need anything else?
     
  7. Ad McG

    Ad McG Troll-killer Supporter

    Steady income? Pension? Ya know, general stability? Cool if it's all you want to do, just letting you know that it usually isn't the road to a great career, and you have to be VERY lucky to get places with just being a general fitness trainer. That said, you could make a great career out of it and do very well for yourself.
     
  8. Mo Lung

    Mo Lung Hard work!

    It's easier where I live, given the climate, but there's lots of different opportunites for a good fitness instructor here.

    If it's what you want to do, then go for it.
     
  9. Colucci

    Colucci My buddies call me Chris.

    I may be on the wrong side of the ocean to give advice, but over here, there's a boatload of certifying agencies. I'm gone through the International Sports Sciences Association, which was one of the first of it's kind. I believe you need to be 17 or over, and you'll need to be CPR-certified as well.

    I went to school as an English major (creative writing, actually), but that didn't pan out too well. :eek: I basically got certified through a 16-hour seminar, and began work at a few gyms. Now I'm out of the gyms, training people in their own homes, and in the next few years (1-3), I'llhave a place set-up. I've seen a great article "So, you want to be a strength coach?" that's definitely worth a read. Again, it's U.S.-based, but we won't hold that against you. ;)
     
  10. Mo Lung

    Mo Lung Hard work!

    :eek: Are you serious!?

    Man, the standards over here are a lot higher before they'll certify you. You need a Cert IV here now to be a Personal Trainer, or Cert III for an employed gym instructor. You need to have cert III to then go on and do cert IV. Both of these require either a short lecture series plus workbooks and exams and practical tests, or a longer correspondence version of the same thing. There's a lot of work involved.

    I trained through the FIA (Fitness Institute Australia), which is admittedly a more work intensive certifying body, but they do teach a lot. But even the slackest bodies here couldn't certify someone in 16 hours!
     
  11. blessed_samurai

    blessed_samurai Valued Member

    I started out as a English education major (still am) and in the process decided I wanted to coach. My particular interest is in strength coaching and conditioning. So, I'm at the university taking courses like anatomy, exercise phys, strength training, injury assessment, etc to get my CSCS through the NSCA. I'm also doing theory coaching classes at the university for wrestling and track and field.

    As for BeWater, I can vouch the guy knows his stuff and that goes a lot further than the actual certification (at least in my books). I've dealt with quite a few of these people who hold BAs in exercise science and extensive certifications that are complete idiots.
     
  12. alister

    alister Huh?

  13. ninjamonkey

    ninjamonkey New Member

    Ugh, I come home and get on the net to get away from what I do at TAFE! :bang: :D

    Cert. III then IV and maybe diploma on the side. Piece of cake :cry:
     
  14. Colucci

    Colucci My buddies call me Chris.

    Maybe I was a bit to general with the "basically" part. Before you can attend the seminar, you do need to pass a comprehensive test on the 33-chapter textbook, which covers everything from anatomy and physiology to program development to special populations (people with pre-existing conditions). Also, the I.S.S.A. is one of only a few organizations which require Continuing Education Units. That means that every 3 years, you need to show proof that you're staying knowledgable and up-to-date in the field (either through more coursework or special training seminars) otherwise your certification is voided.

    Plus, the I.S.S.A. is leading the charge to have a national review board for fitness trainers, which would set national "standards of practice" to ferret out fly-by-night certifying agencies and to insure that trainers can perform with a certain level of professional efficiency. This step alone could be one of the most influential events in the fitness industry ever, as it will help to keep Bobby Big-Arms from declaring himself a "trainer" for no reason other than that he's been curling and benching since before you were born.

    So, yeah...I am serious. ;)
     
  15. sky

    sky Valued Member


    were abouts are u from... i am doing my trainig with the vocational collage.. but i think they are only based around the northwest area... i am not sure if i hear about them being anywere else i will let you know.. ad try searching for them se if they have a site
     
  16. MattN

    MattN Valued Member

    I was just about to ask this....

    So, I decided that being a personal trainer is what I want to do (It was a toss-up between this and secret agent), but I have NO idea how to get there.

    What certifications can I get when I'm 16 (or under, so I can start when I turn 16, if that's possible) so I can try to get some experience under my belt?

    What major do you guys reccomend?

    What college would be good for that?

    Anything special I need to know?

    Thanks
     
  17. Colucci

    Colucci My buddies call me Chris.

    I'd recommend talking it over with your folks, and looking into the I.S.S.A. ( www.issaonline.com ), they're based in Santa Barbara (I don't know how near that is to you). At 15 or 16, I think the only thing you could do to get started is to get CPR-certified.

    As for majors, Samurai would know better than me ('cuz we're like Charlie's Angels; he's the smart one, I was stuck with the good looks, and McG has the cool accent :D ), but I've heard either kinesiology, phys. ed., or applied biomechanics (I may have made that last one up).

    As it stands now (with so many agencies), it's almost guaranteed that you'll be a certified trainer within a year or two ('Trainer to the Trainers' Phil Kaplan just wrote an article about how his cat got certified online, that's comforting). The bigger point is making sure you learn from the right people along the way.
     
  18. blessed_samurai

    blessed_samurai Valued Member

    I would have wayyyy picked the secret agent over the personal trainer but that's another story...then again, I've always wanted to be a train conducter. :D

    You can always pull off being a personal trainer by studying cirriculum from the ISSA, NSCA, NASM, and etc. I'm not overly sure what the NASM requires but from the NSCA if you want your CSCS certification, you have to be a college graduate.

    It wouldn't hurt to pick up a major in exercise science, kinesiology, or a human kinetics major of some sort, some universities have it listed as a strange title. Generally a degree in the area will hold a bit more weight than a certification without a degree or it at least looks better on paper you might say when it comes to being hired. However, sadly we have a couple of guys graduating here with their BAs and MAs in kinesiology and I just roll my eyes at some of the things they say.

    A phys ed degree wouldn't be to bad as you'll have to take some classes that will prepare you for your CSCS or PT certification, plus you'll get to coach and that definately wouldn't hurt your resume.

    Okay so I'm rambling now...anyway, at 16, like BeWater said...go get your CPR certification, get some study materials from one of the sites I listed and by the time you graduate high school you should be ready to take the tests.
     
  19. MattN

    MattN Valued Member

    CPR certs are good forever, right? And where I would go about looking to get one? Hospital? Doctor's office? Fire department?
     
  20. Mo Lung

    Mo Lung Hard work!

    Sorry, I certainly didn't mean to sound disparaging to you. It's quite obvious that you know your stuff which, as someone else pointed out, is way more important than certificates.

    Anyway, your description of the pre-requirements makes things sound a lot better. Over here we also have CEC's - Continuing Education Credits. You need at least 18 every two years as you have to renew your registration every two years with Fitness NSW or Fitness Australia, etc.
     

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