Given that you don't have a four-year degree I agree that the NSCA-CPT is the way to go.
I haven't read bipennate's blog yet, so forgive me if I restate what he does.
I would get the study materials to help you out. If nothing else they will give you a good idea of what is on the test. I remember being surprised at the amount of anatomy that was on the exam. I had been led to believe by some of the materials that it wouldn't be stressed to the degree that it was. Of course, I think that anatomy is a key area of knowledge anyway so you should learn it! That might just be my biomechanics background talking, though.
My girlfriend just took the exam, so she's had a more recent view of it. They seemed to stress special populations a lot more in her prep than I remember in mine so pay attention to that.
They will stress the legal/ethical situations in training quite a bit. Know these. Remember: When in doubt, refer.
You won't have to have as much pure physiology or periodization understanding as you would for the CSCS, but at least have a handle on it.
As far as my advice in the business it's this: Try to get a job at a local big chain gym part-time. These gyms suck and probably are going to jack you for a large percentage of what you make. They do have a ton of benefits for new trainers, though.
-They'll probably have some sort of training program to learn the business.
-A big part of the business is sales. You'll need practice. These gyms are full of people and have an aggressive sales system. You'll get lots and lots of shots.
-You'll have an experienced staff (which may or may not be good) to ask questions of and probably get to work out clients for as a "Fitness Instructor".
-You'll see some things to do right and some things done very wrong.
It'll give you great experience and an intro to the business. Who knows, you might end up in the rare big, shiny gym that has a great training program. If you do then game on!
Best of luck!
|