Healthy Careers - Gym Instructor Qualifications...
You'll find a huge variety of courses designed to boost health and improve fitness. If you're going to work in this industry, you'll need recognised certifications to prove your level of competency - but make sure you opt for something that people want and will pay for. However, the demand for all types of fitness related guidance and teaching is evident nationwide. Therefore with the right level of enthusiasm and commitment, coupled with the correct qualifications and knowledge base, there's no reason not to succeed.
Find The Right Training
If you've already started looking at training options, you might have picked up that some of the courses are like chalk and cheese - in other words, they're very different!
It's really your first assignment - finding the exact training program to suit your needs. Finding the best company for you will be worth the effort - an afternoon checking out websites will be time well spent. Not only will you figure out what there is to learn, you'll be confident that the certification you're considering is appropriate.
There are usually a number of companies and colleges featuring on this website that will help you to get the ball rolling - why not start with them?
Which Direction Should You Take?
Let's look a little more closely at the kind of things you could learn about to work in the health and fitness industry. Different fitness trainers see their jobs in different ways, as some know a lot more about certain things than others. Fitness training isn't simply about learning the best cardio techniques - sure, if you're going to work in a gym or as a personal trainer you'll need to know that stuff, but an expert will also have learned about much more than that.
Seek out training that offers you a good scientific basis. You can be educated on kinesiology, anatomy, psychology, physiology and biomechanics. Plus there's weight and nutritional advice, along with attitude and motivation. And use of equipment, workout routines and strength programmes.
Of course there are also many health and safety requirements to be familiar with. On top of all that, those who choose to become self-employed (and many personal trainers are) will need to know how to produce a business plan, attract clients, understand the law and deal with finance and business banking. Good Grief!!!
Start Small and Grow...
But you don't need to be an expert on the whole list to begin with, and if you choose what you're most interested in, you may be able to consult in that alone if you learn enough about it.
There's nutrition and weight control. Our food all has a different nutritional content - discover which nutrient groups feature in which foodstuffs and what role they play. Learn about food absorption, metabolism and digestion. Progress to weight management, where you'll cover lifestyle, life stages, calorific values etc. Plus there are things to learn about exercise to calories burned, sports nutrition and healthy eating.
There's Personal Training for those with good confidence and motivational skills. A good personal trainer will understand how the body functions. To gain this knowledge for yourself, check that any training course you're considering has a section on physiology.
Perhaps you're a regular visitor to your local gym, and fancy taking up gym instruction yourself. Training will include scientific theory, practical application and standard procedures when working in a gymnasium. You'll need a good grounding in how to assess the fitness level of clients when they first join, and how to create the right level and pace of training. And naturally you'll expect to learn advanced skills relating to designing exercise routines, machinery, weights, resistance training and cardio training.
Possible Extra Add-On's...
You could build your CV by also knowing something about preventing and dealing with injuries. Some fitness experts extend their offering by getting into things like sports massage, yoga, pilates etc.
You could add on an extra service for your clients by carrying out personal health and fitness testing. This would mean being taught how to carry out a range of assessments which would monitor a person's fitness level. The kind of things to monitor are cardio fitness, posture, strength, muscle tone and blood pressure to name but a few.
Everybody Benefits
If you join any category of the professional health and fitness market (whether it's one we've mentioned here or not,) you'll find yourself part of a friendly, cheerful, spirited bunch of achievers whose goals are based on helping others to achieve. The fitness industry offers great careers for motivated and energetic self-starters who have a passion to be the best that they can be.
In addition, you can't help but add benefit to your own attitude and fitness when you're working with others to boost theirs. Do your research now - finding the right courses and training career could literally change your life!
