ISSA is actually a decent cert. I like them, NSCA, NASM. I'm NFPT, and I like it too, but keep in mind that the cert is just the beginning. As you have done in this forum, you have to continue to learn, and eventually who you're certified with will become irrelavent.
I can say that I don't recommend ACSM after attending the last two of their big summits. You being an oly lifter would clash with their philosophy, which seems heavily in favor of avoiding loaded lumbar exercises at all costs. I wonder how many clients of ACSM trainers end up with bad backs from being careful to never load the lumbar muscles.
When you get ready to sit down and talk about opening a gym, let me know. You could say I have a little experience in that area.
Congrats on figuring out what you want to do. It is pretty gratifying when you finally give in to your calling. Despite the challenges that face you, when you follow your bliss it truly is the path of least resistance. It has been a wonderful and rewarding career for me.
What education/knowledge do you have so far? If you haven't taken anatomy and physiology I would either take it or buy a book on it. Also I wish that I had done more work in finding a good gym to allign myself with which helps in learning to build your clientel.
-Ned
FYI, Eric has a good list of resources on his site if you are interested. He even gives the books in a list of progression to make it easier to understand and apply.
Now I commence the neverending process of becoming a good trainer.
Perhaps for all us aspiring fitness pros might JP or others in a hiring position be kind enough to give some tips on what, aside from certs & experience, you look for in a trainer? What qualities would tip the odds in favor of one applicant if education were equal (aside from being Hartman-certified of course)?
__________________
Working "hard," or the perception of working hard, doesn't really mean anything. Sweating, vomiting, and breathing hard could be a good workout or a tropical disease kicking in.-Dan John
Now I commence the neverending process of becoming a good trainer.
Perhaps for all us aspiring fitness pros might JP or others in a hiring position be kind enough to give some tips on what, aside from certs & experience, you look for in a trainer? What qualities would tip the odds in favor of one applicant if education were equal (aside from being Hartman-certified of course)?
Now I commence the neverending process of becoming a good trainer.
Perhaps for all us aspiring fitness pros might JP or others in a hiring position be kind enough to give some tips on what, aside from certs & experience, you look for in a trainer? What qualities would tip the odds in favor of one applicant if education were equal (aside from being Hartman-certified of course)?
Congratulations!
Hartmas certified can't be beat, of course, but I think the most important quality is an ability to get along with people. Qualities like being able to communicate what you know, being a good listener, having empathy for the client's situation, and a willingness to work with what they're currently capable of (I mean emotionally as well as physically). A personal trainer is half phychologist, but our certifications do not cover very much of that aspect of our jobs!
__________________
And major action will certainly make you feel a bit uncomfortable, which is absolutely fine. You've gotta get excited about feeling uncomfortable, you've gotta love feeling slightly uncomfortable, because you know that you're stepping outside the boundaries that you used to create.
Zach Even-Esh
I've made some huge mistakes, but they were necessary, because without them I wouldn't have learned anything.
-Dave Tate
Not many people here live in Canada, but I'm hoping someone can still tell me if these certifications are actually good for anything. This was taken from my college's website, from a description of the program I'm taking.
Quote:
Nationally recognized certifications are conveniently built into the curriculum. Students will earn certification from the Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology as Certified Personal Trainers (CSEP- CPT). This certification consists of Module I The Canadian Physical Activity, Fitness & Lifestyle Approach Protocol (CPAFLA) and Module II Certified Personal Trainer (CPT). Additionally, students will earn certification from Can-Fit-Pro as Fitness Instructor Specialists (FIS) and Personal Trainer Specialists (PTS).
__________________
And major action will certainly make you feel a bit uncomfortable, which is absolutely fine. You've gotta get excited about feeling uncomfortable, you've gotta love feeling slightly uncomfortable, because you know that you're stepping outside the boundaries that you used to create.
Zach Even-Esh
I've made some huge mistakes, but they were necessary, because without them I wouldn't have learned anything.
-Dave Tate
__________________
Working "hard," or the perception of working hard, doesn't really mean anything. Sweating, vomiting, and breathing hard could be a good workout or a tropical disease kicking in.-Dan John
Matthew, which college are you at? George Brown or Humber I assume?
Basically you have a few PT cert's in that list as well as the the FIS which will allow you to teach various group exercise classes. Then there is the CPAFLA which you will need if you want to administer the CPAFLA fitness testing protocols.
Really all you need is one PT cert. unless you plan to work at a location which you will need a CPAFLA but this is very rare. Or if you plan to teach any classes you might want to look into the FIS, I'm not even sure if that's a requirement.
If anything I would recommend getting the NSCA-CPT and then the CSCS if you end up going the university route and getting a degree.
Some people like to amass a ton of different certifications just because and so they can have a bunch of letters next to their name. It's getting wild with so many fitness professionals offering certifications these days, everyone is trying to cash in. The strength and conditioning coach at my university was at a CHEK seminar once I think it was, and he was helping show people an exercise that everyone was having trouble with. Somebody asked him;
"Are you a CHEK practitioner?"
"No, I'm a Lidstone practitioner."
"Who's that?"
"Me."
Coupla weeks? Uh... yeah... more like a few months of memorizing that damn book front to back and around again. It was a fun process though and now the real learning starts.
__________________
Working "hard," or the perception of working hard, doesn't really mean anything. Sweating, vomiting, and breathing hard could be a good workout or a tropical disease kicking in.-Dan John
__________________
Robert dos Remedios, MA, CSCS,
HCC (Hartman-Cosgrove Certified)
Director of Speed, Strength & Conditioning
College of the Canyons, CA http://www.canyons.edu/departments/pe/strength
"NO CHAMPION HAS EVER ACHIEVED HIS OR HER GOAL WITHOUT SHOWING MORE DEDICATION THAN THE NEXT PERSON; MAKING MORE SACRIFICES THAN THE NEXT PERSON; WORKING HARDER, TRAINING, AND CONDITIONING HIM / HERSELF MORE THAN THE NEXT PERSON; ENJOYING HIS / HER FINAL GOAL MORE THAN THE NEXT PERSON"
__________________
Working "hard," or the perception of working hard, doesn't really mean anything. Sweating, vomiting, and breathing hard could be a good workout or a tropical disease kicking in.-Dan John
Matthew, which college are you at? George Brown or Humber I assume?
Basically you have a few PT cert's in that list as well as the the FIS which will allow you to teach various group exercise classes. Then there is the CPAFLA which you will need if you want to administer the CPAFLA fitness testing protocols.
Really all you need is one PT cert. unless you plan to work at a location which you will need a CPAFLA but this is very rare. Or if you plan to teach any classes you might want to look into the FIS, I'm not even sure if that's a requirement.
If anything I would recommend getting the NSCA-CPT and then the CSCS if you end up going the university route and getting a degree.
Some people like to amass a ton of different certifications just because and so they can have a bunch of letters next to their name. It's getting wild with so many fitness professionals offering certifications these days, everyone is trying to cash in. The strength and conditioning coach at my university was at a CHEK seminar once I think it was, and he was helping show people an exercise that everyone was having trouble with. Somebody asked him;
"Are you a CHEK practitioner?"
"No, I'm a Lidstone practitioner."
"Who's that?"
"Me."
It scared me that you knew what colleges to ask about, until I realized you live in Ontario lol.
I'm actually in Humber.
I was looking at the NSCA-CPT, actually I had it bookmarked but never really got around to reading it until now. According to the site it has
Quote:
continued to set the standard for personal training as the most well-respected personal trainer certification through national and international recognition.
so that's good.
I still haven't decided what I'm going to do after I graduate, though.
Right now it's between going through a kinesiology program in university and hopefully skipping through some of the classes because of the program I'm in now, or going through a psychology program. One road might eventually lead me to a career as a strength coach for a college team or any team below pro level, but that will be all I do. The other road will possibly lead me to teachers college and eventually a highschool where I can teach psych and put my certificates to use as a strength coach for the sports teams there.
If I go down road one I'll have to set my sights on the CSCS, but if I go down road two I can get the NSCA-CPT (or not, the school would probably be happy enough with my education from Humber seeing as how no highschool I've ever heard of hires strength coaches for their teams) and not worry about the CSCS.
I guess those two will be my top choices though.
It's something for me to think about. Thanks a lot jdford.
__________________
And major action will certainly make you feel a bit uncomfortable, which is absolutely fine. You've gotta get excited about feeling uncomfortable, you've gotta love feeling slightly uncomfortable, because you know that you're stepping outside the boundaries that you used to create.
Zach Even-Esh
I've made some huge mistakes, but they were necessary, because without them I wouldn't have learned anything.
-Dave Tate
ISSA is actually a decent cert. I like them, NSCA, NASM. I'm NFPT, and I like it too, but keep in mind that the cert is just the beginning. As you have done in this forum, you have to continue to learn, and eventually who you're certified with will become irrelavent.
I can say that I don't recommend ACSM after attending the last two of their big summits. You being an oly lifter would clash with their philosophy, which seems heavily in favor of avoiding loaded lumbar exercises at all costs. I wonder how many clients of ACSM trainers end up with bad backs from being careful to never load the lumbar muscles.
When you get ready to sit down and talk about opening a gym, let me know. You could say I have a little experience in that area.
Congrats on figuring out what you want to do. It is pretty gratifying when you finally give in to your calling. Despite the challenges that face you, when you follow your bliss it truly is the path of least resistance. It has been a wonderful and rewarding career for me.
Thanks for the input JP!
I'm looking forward to the info pack from ISSA. I really do LOVE training and always enjoyed helping others. I've been training off and on since i was 12 years old but i've been consistent now for close to 2 years.
I can say that I don't recommend ACSM after attending the last two of their big summits. You being an oly lifter would clash with their philosophy, which seems heavily in favor of avoiding loaded lumbar exercises at all costs. I wonder how many clients of ACSM trainers end up with bad backs from being careful to never load the lumbar muscles.
Unfortunately, I'm starting to agree with this more and more...the testing is still very difficult and stringent, but the organization is being run by HIT-tards and their courses have been echoing that dogma for years. Although it's an excellent cert for someone working in hospital and controlled disease settings, I don't know that I would recommend it to the "normal" gym trainer anymore. I keep up my HFI basically because they accept my grad courses as continuing ed, but I can honestly say that I don't really follow anything that I learned from the cert anymore...
Not many people here live in Canada, but I'm hoping someone can still tell me if these certifications are actually good for anything. This was taken from my college's website, from a description of the program I'm taking.
I use to live in NS now I live somewhere warm. I chose NSCA because they were international. CAN-Fit is good but it if you ever plan on a move outside Canada that cert will not mean as much.
Dammit. My kettlebell cert seminar got rescheduled for the 14th & 15th too. Functional Movement Screen workshop the previous weekend. And I had already paid for it. Maybe I can get them to do it in Little Rock...
I'm with BIP, JP you gotta stop scheduling this summit when I'm busy
Seriously man, I'd love nothing more to attend but it's just too hard this year.
__________________
Working "hard," or the perception of working hard, doesn't really mean anything. Sweating, vomiting, and breathing hard could be a good workout or a tropical disease kicking in.-Dan John
Hmmm....that's pretty interesting stuff about ACSM. Are they simply saying no direct axial load or are they literally saying keep away from all exercises that can cause veterbrae compression
__________________
"If you do most of your training on a balance board, a Swiss Ball, or a Bosu ball, you'll have a tremendous core and a small, weak body that we'll all laugh at."
TC Luoma
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