Certifications: What's the Big Deal? Part 2

I am often approached at the gym by guys who see me training a client and would like some input as to what avenue to pursue to get their own training cert. When the time comes to get out of the air force, they want fitness to be their new career. This posting is an excerpt from an email describing my point of view.

Just as with Part 1 of this blog, there are plenty of folks who have certs not listed in this email who do a fantastic job. Generally, folks know who cares enough to continuously learn and explore new avenues of their training mantra. I certainly have changed my approach from when I started in 2005.
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First, let's approach the ever-important "who should certify me?" question:

There are a handful of reputable professional organizations that I trust for
certifying personal trainers. They are:

• American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM)   http://www.acsm.org OR http://certification.acsm.org  (ACSM does the majority of research upon which most certifications base their guidelines)
• National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM)   http://www.nasm.org
• National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA)    www.nsca.com (get the CSCS sub-cert if you want to work with sports teams)

These are okay:

• American Council on Exercise (ACE)
• International Sports Science Association (ISSA)  (I actually ordered ISSA material back in 2005 and was extremely disappointed in the presentation and how juvenile the questions seemed. I sent it back and got hooked up with ACSM; I understand that they have improved since then.) 

These are poor:

• NFPT
• AFAA

In light of the Crossfit craze and the increase in many people's interest in olympic lifting and kettlebells, I recommend these agencies for education on form:

• USA Weightlifting   http://www.teamusa.org/USA-Weightlifting.aspx
• StrongFirst    http://www.strongfirst.com    (Dragon Door's RKC was once the gold standard in kettlebell certs, but there was a company dispute...SF is now what you should pursue)

I am a big stickler for form, and if you are serious about teaching others, be sure to teach them correctly! I learned more in a 1-day KB course than in a week-long professional conference. I use that knowledge in all aspects of my training, not just teaching KB technique.

There has been talk in "the community" for a few years about creating some sort of national licensure exam for personal trainers. This would be very helpful so that no matter what certifying body you go through, your clients or the gym that hires you knows for sure that you know what you are doing and have taken the time to educate yourself. I have no idea if licensure is going to happen, but we can dream....I have seen lots of unqualified people with certifications through the years.

I guess the real question is, "What do you want to do as a personal trainer?" This might seem silly, but some certifying bodies have sub-specialties that better suit your career goals. When I was first certified, I really wanted to work with athletes. After a few months on the job, I quickly realized that those clients are few and far between. Most of the clients you come across will have limitations of some sort, such as old injuries that weren't rehabbed, limited range of motion, chronic health issues, limitations due to medication...you name it. I have been employed by pregnant ladies, cancer survivors, folks with multiple sclerosis, persons medicated for depression, IBD, total hip replacement, etc. I guess the point I am trying to make is that you will rarely encounter clients who are "normal" or completely "healthy". The 3 organizations that I listed above all do a decent job of covering different types of clients in the general CPT of CFT educational material. If you want to focus on getting people moving better and significantly reducing the risk of future injury, I love the Functional Movement Screen (FMS) as a method of "pre-habbing" clients.

The fitness community understands that normal is a rarity and many organizations have sub-specialties. Once you get certified as a personal trainer, you might want to expand your knowledge by diving into one of them. For example, ACSM (my cert. body) has sub-certifications for working with cancer patients/survivors and another one for individuals with chronic diseases and conditions (ie, multiple sclerosis, chronic pain, HIV, etc). The second is called an "inclusive fitness trainer" and I hold that cert.

Costs: Most certifications will cost about $300-500 (including textbooks). Continuing education credits or conferences will set you back about $300-400 every two years. It can seem quite pricey, but after a few years I have noticed that the more expensive certs and conferences almost always have better, more inspiring information. 

What you charge depends on the market and who you work for. Here in Clovis, $30/hour is the norm. In Saint Louis / Scott AFB, $45-75 was average ($45/h for large packages, or $60+/h for individual purchases). Gyms will take anywhere from 10-55% of your hourly rate.

Finally, give yourself plenty of time to study and prepare. Even though I have a background in science, it still took me about 6 months to prepare for my ACSM exam. The language of the textbooks is scientific and professional in nature so it isn't always an easy read. But, this is a good thing! The test itself takes up to 3 hours and some of these tests require a practical component, where you have to instruct an actual person or respond to 

a case study.

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A great trainer will admit when he or she has a client whose acute or chronic problems exceed his/her scope of practice and will suggest an appropriate replacement or complementary professional (massage therapist, chiro, physical therapist, physician, etc). Trainers are not diagnosticians, and should never dole out medical advice without first suggesting a client seeks medical attention.

No matter what agency you decide to go with, or what type of trainer you work with, don't be afraid to talk to them about their scope of practice and what type of clients they prefer to work with. One trainer does not fit all!

Certs: What's the Big Deal? Part 1

In the past couple of years, I have seen a few group exercise instructors lead their class participants through some very questionable (and downright unsafe) workouts. I won't go into detail, but needless to say it makes me cringe. From crazy high intensity to poor form to reckless exercises to no offerings of modifications...I have witnessed the gamut. I recently met a woman who was so turned off by the instructor of her first cycling class that she actually stopped going to the gym all together. It's situations like this that make me question the motivation of some instructors and wonder who certified them in the first place. Not to mention the gym that allows them to teach without any quality control or standards concerning which certifying agencies they recognize. Many gyms don't care who certifies their instructors, as long as they are "certified".

When I was first looking into fitness as a fun way to make some money on the side, I wasn't really sure where to start. It was 2004. I was living in Enid, Oklahoma and had fallen in love with Spin classes at my local gym. Wouldn't you know, one of my favorite instructors was planning on moving and she offered her classes to me, assuming that I got certified. Score! FYI: Spinning and indoor cycling are not the same thing. Johnny G Spinning refers to a certification given by Mad Dogg Athletics. Indoor cycling is a blanket term that covers all types of cycling certs across a variety of agencies.

It seems like a simple task: "Go get certified to teach indoor cycling!" But, as someone who was relatively new to the "gym scene", I wasn't sure if there was a difference between all of the certifications. You just get in there and hammer, right? Most instructors that I knew held cards from Johnny G Spinning. But there are other companies out there, too: Schwinn Cycling, Reebok Cycling, Cooper Institute Indoor Cycling, Keiser Cycling, Les Mills, Krank & ICG, just to name a few. At the time, the YMCA held a Group Instructor training course that spent less than a couple of hours on indoor cycling in it's 1-2 day seminar.

Overwhelming was an understatement. Although I had been cycling outdoors for a few years, I had only been taking Spin classes for a little under a year. There is a big difference between heading out for a ride for a few hours, enjoying the weather, scenery and your friends...and leading a group of focused riders as you imitate hills, headwind and sprints to music on an indoor bike.

I spoke extensively with a variety of instructors in the community as well as the AF Base exercise physiologist. Ultimately, I went with Johnny G Spinning, the original indoor cycling certification. I appreciate their standards and the longer that I teach, the more differences that I see between Spin and other certs. Does that mean that someone with a Schwinn or Keiser cert is less qualified? Absolutely not! In fact, there are a few JG Spinning instructors that have strayed from the values upon which they were certified and have gone off the deep end with some of their workouts. I mean, seriously, jumps for 5 minutes?

I guess the point I am trying to make is that you should feel confident enough to ask your instructor about their certifications and why he/she chose the one(s) he/she did. If they care about the quality of your workout and structure it with a plan in mind, you will rest assured. If they can't tell you why, and choose to ride/teach however they want as long as the music is good, there is a problem.

And let's be frank: your workouts should have balance. If you think that you had a crappy workout because you can walk out of the gym afterwards, something is wrong. Exercise and training should make you feel good, not worse. Yes, work hard...but blurred vision and nausea isn't always a sign of a good workout.

As I enter my 9th year as a Spinning instructor, I continue to learn about balance, technique and cues. Some of this comes from the thousands of dollars of continuing education through the years, but mostly I learn from the students. Keeping my eyes and ears open in and out of the Spin studio has benefitted me immensely. Hopefully my students have benefitted from it, too! As a friend of mine likes to say, we never stop learning.

I'm not naive enough to start listing the things that point out an instructor that needs some educating....I live in a town far too small for that. If you have questions about why a workout was structured a certain way, or if your form needs improvement, how to modify movements due to pain, etc, then a good instructor will oblige. A fantastic instructor might even say, "I'm not sure, but I can find out for you. That's outside of my scope of practice."

I am also not so naive to think that I am the goddess of all Spin instructors. As I said before, I never stop learning. And some people simply don't mesh well. Some participants appreciate a different style of instruction than I offer. Sure, it hurts a little to know that someone does care for you, but I totally understand. If I were in their shoes, I would have my favorite teacher(s), too.

What qualities have you noticed that make an instructor stand out (in a good or bad way)?

Stick Your Neck Out

Thanks to the career paths of many family members, I have had the great opportunity to live in various places. Some more rural than others. In my experience, larger cities typically have lots of activities and ways to stay occupied, especially in the fitness realm. There are always races (running, multisport, cycling, adventure, themed events) and fitness-related seminars, lectures or conferences.

Having lived in a markedly smaller community for the past four years, I decided to stop complaining about having to travel hundreds of miles for these sorts of things. I will sponsor seminars and this April, I'll try my hand as a first-time race director.

A local friend who grew up in the area puts on a successful 5K every July 4th. I was talking to him about dabbling with race directorship. To paraphrase my friend: "I grew up racing dirt bikes. There weren't many weekends when I wasn't participating in an event of some sort. If it weren't for folks willing to donate their time and resources, I would never have been able to take part in something that I loved. So, if you need help getting the ball rolling on a race, I will do all that I can to help."

The older that I become, the more statements like this really "click". So often we complain and hope that someone else will step up to the plate. Screw waiting around. Do it yourself. To make a change in the community, you've got to stick your next out. Work your network, ask for help and do what you can to make your event a success. Chances are, there are lots of folks just waiting around, wanting to help, but never dared to take the first step.

The same is true of wanting to make a change in your body - inside or out. You've got to stick your neck out: put in the time, ask for support and do everything that you can to ensure that you get the results you want. Hopefully things will go so well that folks will notice and will want to change, too.

I won't lie. The process is scary. You've seen it done before...shoot, it can't be that difficult, right? Wrong. You need a plan. You need support, and you need follow-through.

So what are you waiting for?

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