Question on the CSCS

[ivey]

Originally Posted by Allerious

If you're talking about collegiate level training facilities for athletes, then I could certainly see them requiring more formal credentials. My comments were made in reference to corporate gym chains and private training studios, since that's where I work. I had that in my original post but it got lost.

I was actually talking about high-end commercial operations. Their clients have a lot of money and like to know that their trainer is highly qualified. Village Clubs (dmbclubs.com} is the one that wouldn't even talk to me without the degree. Lifetime is the one where I lost the position to someone with a degree.

I don't understand why someone would choose to get more than two certs of the same type. One of our trainers is certified through ACE, ISSA, and NASM - all of them being CPT certs. What's the point of that? I'm getting additional certs, but I'm going for things like Group Fitness Instructor, Sports Conditioning Specialist, Corrective Exercise Specialist, etc.

Some places, like 24-Hour increase pay based on the number of certifications you have. I guess some people are lazy and just take a bunch of certs that cover the same material to get there. Your idea is the better one. Why wouldn't you want to increase your knowledge and be able to work with different populations with equal success?

Actually, the biggest thing that I'm going to do, education-wise, is to go to massage school and become a licensed muscular therapist. I want to practice ART. Then I will bundle that with the training and become a one-stop-shop for my clients. I think it's far more practical than getting a formal degree. It will also be much cheaper and take less than a year, instead of 3-4.

I think that's a great idea. An acquaintance of mine (he might actually be a member of this board...not sure) is doing this right now. He already had the knowledge through working with different physical therapists, but had never formalized it. He worked on my shoulder once for about 20-30 minutes, and it felt 100% better. I realized at that point how valuable that could be in a training situation.