- This topic has 9 voices and 15 replies.
-
Posts
-
I lift at the YMCA. Its cheap, but it opens up my eyes to how low the bar is set in the fitness industry. I saw a guy who must have been between 30-40% bodyfat in there.... and he was a personal trainer. In fact, he was leading a hip-hop aerobics class. He was moving around, fat swaying hither and yon, and it was very hard not to laugh. It was one of those things you would expect to go viral on youtube. Kinda embarrassing.Anyways, it occurred to me. If he can do it, I can do it. I already take pleasure telling others what I learned form Kiefer's books/ articles. I think I would have allot of fun doing it.Also, I an currently a substitute assistant teacher. So I don't have to work on any given day. So I could train clients when I have them, and teach children when I don't.But which certification should I go for?I hear ACE is the most widely recognized, but its expensive and I would prefer not spending an ungodly amount of time studying for a test that will force me to answer the wrong thing; "What should you have your client eat for breakfast?" and the like. Anyone else went through the process of being a certified trainer who wasn't already a biochemist or something?Which certification should I be shooting for? I don't have that much lifting experience under my belt myself, so I wouldn't be training pros or anything. Any general advice is welcome as well.
I went ahead and got an ISSA course.
It's a peice of paper. That's all it is. Just get something to get a job, you'd be best of forgetting everything you would learn from any of them
Ya. That is the plan.Quick question... what advice would you give someone who wanted to be a good Personal trainer?Asides from reading Kiefer's books?What Podcasts/ books/ articles should I be reading? Who should I be following?(again, asides from Kiefer)
Ya. That is the plan.Quick question... what advice would you give someone who wanted to be a good Personal trainer?Asides from reading Kiefer's books?What Podcasts/ books/ articles should I be reading? Who should I be following?(again, asides from Kiefer)
I depends on what your main goals will be and your clientele.If you are gonna be more focused on performance, look into performance podcast/writers.If you are gonna be more for general health look at health world, Kresser, Wolf, Sissons.
Ya. That is the plan.Quick question... what advice would you give someone who wanted to be a good Personal trainer?Asides from reading Kiefer's books?What Podcasts/ books/ articles should I be reading? Who should I be following?(again, asides from Kiefer)
I depends on what your main goals will be and your clientele.If you are gonna be more focused on performance, look into performance podcast/writers.If you are gonna be more for general health look at health world, Kresser, Wolf, Sissons.
Most likely almost all of your clients will want improved aesthetics and better health. While the stuff Trevor mentioned would make you more knowledgeable on the nitty gritty of nutrition and supplements, I think more than anything you should learn all the exercises.The diet stuff is easy. Just tell them to do Carb Nite or if they are inexperienced dieters, have them skip breakfast and hold the carbs off until night until the are comfortable enough to do CNS. The exercise part is the hard part when it comes to be being a trainer. I can't tell you how many times I have seen people do exercises incorrectly while their dumbass trainer just sits there daydreaming. Make sure you know how to do the exercises correctly.Lastly, you are gonna want to know what exercises are appropriate for what your clientele want. I highly recommend reading Bret Contrares's work. He gives excellent advice for training women, which is going to be probably 90% of your clientele.
Thanks ibobland. Thats just what I was looking for.Your posts elsewhere are equally informative. I wish there was a rep button for you.
I agree with the above comments that you'll want to learn enough to get the cert… then forget it as quickly as possible! I did it for a couple months and it just made me dis-like going to the gym (at least to an extent). And I didn't make much money either (unless I worked a ton of hours). So I went back to the business world.My advice is to be a free lance trainer if you can find a gym that will let you do it (or use yours or your clients' home). That way you can dictate prices and you get what you deserve. The gym I worked at gave me 30% of the session rate and didn't let me determine rates... felt like I was getting screwed. (plus they encouraged deception to get clients to sign up for training).It wasn't what I thought it'd be.
There is more too it than just telling people what exercises to do. In a a certification program you aren't getting half of the information that is necessary to make you a great trainer. The problem lies in some of the questions being asked, “What does it take to be a good trainer” and “What should I be reading”. These types of questions make me question what type of background you have. I deal with this all the time with students that come into my college program. They say they want to work with athletes, help people lose weight, etc etc etc. and they realize they have to learn anatomy, physiology, kinesiology, etc. and math and they freak. The frustrating part is that they will let anyone who has $500 take a certification test to be a trainer, but the worst part is that if you are a good test taker and pass the test, you aren't truly doing the fitness world any justice.I know this sounds harsh, but if you think that the fat guy teaching the group fitness class is horrible, someone with no knowledge of nutrition or exercise will be just as bad.
The more reputable ones (off the top of my head anyway) are NSCA-CPT, NASM-CPT, ACSM-CPT, or ACSM-HFS. Of course, there's also the ones more geared to people wanting to be strength and conditioning coaches in a high school/college/professional sports setting like NSCA-CSCS, CSCCA-SCCC, or NASM-PES. Of course, there's as many certifications out there now as you could ever want to get, so a lot of it depends on your background, financial resources, and goals as far as what you want to do with it. Most of the ones I listed require at least a college degree, and in a lot of cases a degree specific to health and fitness. No matter what, don't be like Timmy the Trainer:http://asp.elitefts.net/qa/training-logs.asp?qid=107590
There is more too it than just telling people what exercises to do. In a a certification program you aren't getting half of the information that is necessary to make you a great trainer. The problem lies in some of the questions being asked, "What does it take to be a good trainer" and "What should I be reading". These types of questions make me question what type of background you have.
I know the cert program is not where I learn the craft, that is why I am asking those questions.I reread my OP, and I realize in came off as kind of entitled. At the time, I had the ability to get a cert, and I just wanted to make a decision based on reputation.This is because I know that the real information that will make me a great trainer will be learned outside of that cert course. I remember Kiefer saying that when he got certified, he had to answer questions he knew were wrong just because he knew that was what they wanted to hear because the certs are behind on the research.After taking the ISSA course for a while, I see what he meant.What is my background? Not much to be honest. I listened to all the Biojacked podcasts, then started reading the blogs, then started reading the references, then started reading CBL, then started branching out and following Dave Tate and Rob Wolff and other people Kiefer recommended.I am just a kid who genuinely wants to learn and knows that that process will never stop. I feel I have the right attitude and now seek knowledge and experience. If you want to poopoo that because I don't already have the required "background" to impress you, then fuck you very much.
http://bulletproofathlete.com/ <<< Mike Robertsonhttp://www.8weeksout.com/ <<< Joel JamiesonBoth of these guys are great. You can learn a lot from them.
There is more too it than just telling people what exercises to do. In a a certification program you aren't getting half of the information that is necessary to make you a great trainer. The problem lies in some of the questions being asked, "What does it take to be a good trainer" and "What should I be reading". These types of questions make me question what type of background you have.
I know the cert program is not where I learn the craft, that is why I am asking those questions.I reread my OP, and I realize in came off as kind of entitled. At the time, I had the ability to get a cert, and I just wanted to make a decision based on reputation.This is because I know that the real information that will make me a great trainer will be learned outside of that cert course. I remember Kiefer saying that when he got certified, he had to answer questions he knew were wrong just because he knew that was what they wanted to hear because the certs are behind on the research.After taking the ISSA course for a while, I see what he meant.What is my background? Not much to be honest. I listened to all the Biojacked podcasts, then started reading the blogs, then started reading the references, then started reading CBL, then started branching out and following Dave Tate and Rob Wolff and other people Kiefer recommended.I am just a kid who genuinely wants to learn and knows that that process will never stop. I feel I have the right attitude and now seek knowledge and experience. If you want to poopoo that because I don't already have the required "background" to impress you, then fuck you very much.
I think learning basic anatomy and some basic kinesiology would be a good idea, but yea you don't need a formal education in all of those subjects to get someone in shape. It's not that hard. I would imagine the hard part to be inspiring and motivating your clients. Now there are special cases that would require someone who is more educated, such as working with people who want to improve athletic performance and people who have medical issues.
You must be logged in to reply to this topic.