In the light of the COVID19 experience which will have life-long influence on the manner we live, work and exercise and play sport, Fitness careers will need to get more innovative than ever. Gone are the days of mere barbells and dumbbells.
Certified Personal Fitness Trainer
Who is a Personal Trainer?
He is the “individual who educates, trains clients in performance of safe and appropriate exercises to effectively lead them to optimal health”. There is not much of a difference between a personal trainer and a fitness trainer. They are the same as opposed to the group exercise trainer.
There are 16 types or goals in Fitness. And, there are eight training technologies of which weight training is the most popular. The technologies include the more eclectic, light resistance or body weight training, a category that includes Pilates, Functional Training, Plyometrics, Water Fitness, etc.
We now have to live with COVID19. Life will undergo changes. We need to adapt. The successful trainer will be the one who can train clients at home, in the park, on the beach – and, in the gym. He needs to use a chair or a towel as a training equipment!
Online training will become prominent now on. For this, the trainer has to rely on flawless communication skills, empathy and his ability to motivate the client. So exercise psychology will be a critical tool going forward.
India has no national association for fitness professionals – we are not even recognized as an “industry”! The Register of Exercise Professionals (REPS) is NOT mandatory in India’s domestic fitness industry. The Registers that are operating in India are solely for overseas employment. The National Skills Development Corporation Ltd., under the Ministry of Skills Development and Entrepreneurship, Government of India, through its vertical Sports, Physical Education, Fitness and Leisure (SPEFL) sector has a National Skills Qualification (NSQF Level 4) examination and certificate the main purpose of which is to bring within the National Skills Register, as many fitness trainers as possible.
The result is that Indian Fitness has no centralised authority to lay down and monitor training and education standards, promote the welfare of stakeholders or lobby with the government for that matter.
Luckily, consumers and fitness centre owners are experiencing the benefits of having well trained and certified fitness trainers. Doors open and ears listen to well trained and certified trainers!
More attractively, personal trainers have very good opportunities in –
- Corporate fitness
- Sports coaching academies
- Education institutions
- Self-employment in personal training
- As mentioned above, online training will become a popular source of business.
There are a whole lot of certificate courses available in India. What should a candidate look for while selecting a personal trainer course? A course, after all, must not turn into a curse!
The candidate must select the course on basis of complete information secured by asking these questions:
- Is the course nationally authorized? In the absence of a domestic fitness industry association and a register, the most dependable course will be the one which is through a NAAC-accredited university. Sports associations are NOT fitness associations.
- Is the course internationally accepted? Courses accredited by Europe Active’s European Register of Exercise Professionals (EREPS) are recognized in over 35 countries. Interestingly, EREPS and SPEFL have jointly launches the India REPS (I-REPS) which has nothing to do with REPS India which is a member of the International Confederation of Registers of Exercise Professionals (ICREPS) which is recognized in its nine member countries.
[As we write this, there seems to have been a major shakeup in UK’s fitness accreditation world. In February 2020, at the end of protracted developments, REPS UK was taken over by the Chartered Institute for the Management of Sport and Physical Activity (CIMSPA). In the ensuing year, REPS UK will cease to exist. CIMSPA is now joined by Active IQ and Focus Awards. Since 2017, EREPS has an MoU in place with CIMSPA. How these developments will shape the future of ICREPS and its member countries’ Registers is not yet clear. We only hope all will come together for the betterment of world standards in Fitness.
Interestingly, there are many more countries including in the Middle East that have no REPS and will accept a well-established certification program that follows standards of training on par with those in the USA and UK will be accepted.]
- Is the faculty experienced enough and trained and certified to teach? Who is teaching? Find out the information from the education provider.
- What is the course content? Is it only theory, or more of practical training? Is the practical training restricted to weight training? Gāyo offers a whole range of practical training from weight training to water fitness.
- What are the learning resources given to the students? Textbooks written for the course or mere photocopies of some other course? Who has written the books? Are DVDs with practical training exercises provided? Gāyo offers 8 to 10 DVDs with about 1,200 exercises in different formats like weight training, functional training, Pilates etc. Please see below.
- Who is the certifying authority? It is from a university? India does not have its own Fitness accreditation policy or framework. It is best to rely on university education and examination system: credibility matters!
- Is that certificate accepted nationally and internationally? Acceptance will depend on the structure of the training syllabus, credibility of the exams and post-certification mentoring.
- Does the academy offer free post-enrolment and post-certification guidance and mentoring? This is critical. No certificate in the world will guarantee you the experience required to train different types of clients. To launch a career, you need guidance ranging from professional training through business development and legal issues! Most certificate programs end their relationship with the student once the certificate is issued but with us at Gāyo, relationship starts at the time of enrolment and, happily, accelerates post-certification!
- Fees must suit your pocket! Compare various courses on the basis of fees versus what they teach. Is there am EMI payment facility?
- Does the academy offer other courses which will help you develop your career? For instance, after working as a certified personal trainer for a year or two, you will like to do a good course in Pilates or Fitness Centre Management. The fitness professional, as in other service industries, must grow horizontally and continually innovate.
To enrol to a good personal trainer course, the student –
- Must have passed 10 + 2 years of School Education
- Must be physically and medically fit
- Must have passion for fitness / sport
- Must have a sociable, helpful personality
- Physically Challenged persons can apply if they have exposure to fitness / sport
- BEFORE EXAMINATION, must attend and be certified in First Aid & CPR with AED by First Aid International (UK) / equivalent
- Exceptions may be entertained subject to University, Academy rules and international standards
- Course delivery is bilingual, however students ought to have working knowledge of English
It will be interesting to see various personal trainer courses being compared with our Mumbai University approved and certificated course: https://www.gayofitnessacademy.com/course/certificate-course-in-personal-fitness-training-ccpft/
Horizontal mobility
A personal trainer will now need to widen his experience and skills sets. The wider and deeper the professional skills sets, the more successful he will be. Some of the many specialist courses that have become popular in the last five years and will, in the COVID19 related environment during the lockdown and thereafter, become essential are –
- Pilates Instructor. Pilates offers low-cost opportunities to fitness professionals. For Pilates on Mat, Ball and Reformer, see our https://www.gayofitnessacademy.com/course/certificate-course-for-integrated-pilates-teachers-ccipt/
- Functional Strength Trainer. Gym training is considered to be far from reality. Real life involves physical activity in conditions that are replete with unstable surfaces, unequal resistance, asymmetrical body balance and full ranges of motion. This is a great for improving stability, mobility and strength. Teaches a trainer to convert simplex exercises into complex. See our https://www.gayofitnessacademy.com/course/fst-functional-strength-training/
- Water Aerobics Instructor. Water is becoming a great medium for exercises for aerobic endurance, body fat management, strength and even post-injury rehab. We offer “Ira” (water in Sanskrit) – https://www.gayofitnessacademy.com/course/ira-water-fitness-conditioning/
- Sports Yoga. This is another great tool in the hands of not just the personal trainer but also the S&C specialist. This course offers a permutation and combination of Yogasanas that will supplement training and conditioning programs according to clients’ fitness goals and sports specific goals. We offer Kridasan. Check it out on https://www.gayofitnessacademy.com/course/kridasan-yoga-for-sports/
- Advanced Strength Training. Most personal training courses restrict weight training to about 25 exercises. But, there is a huge world of exercises and variations in weight training. The same dumbbell and barbell but they can be used by a bodybuilder as much as by am 8-years old child! We offer two levels of Advanced Strength Training – Level 1 is great for personal trainers. Level 2 is well suited to S&C specialists. Check out https://www.gayofitnessacademy.com/course/advanced-strength-training-level-1-ast-1/
- Looking for a specialization in Flexibility and stretching? Check out our Functional Range of Motion – https://www.gayofitnessacademy.com/course/from-functional-range-of-motion/
- Plyometrics? We have that too! https://www.gayofitnessacademy.com/course/ply-plyometrics-for-agility-power/
Fitness Centre Manager
Fitness buffs open gyms but they have no clue of business processes. A 6-pack does not get in footfalls! Businessmen get into fitness but they are not aware of the complexities of fitness sciences. Creating an organization with a tall hierarchy of general managers, managers for exercise verticals, etc is not going to get customers.
There is no doubt that the Fitness industry across the world is in the doldrums. In the best of times, enrolling customers was tough and retaining them difficult.
In the post COVID19 conditions, management of fitness centres and the business of personal trainers will require application of professional, specialized techniques. Lower revenues will mean managing fixed and variable costs, coming up with marketing and training innovations, increasing per-square meter (not per-member) yield and maximising consumer fulfilment.
Apart from economy-related issues, there are several COVID19-specific problems. Let’s consider the basic effect of social distancing we all are practicing and its implications in fitness and sport!
- Standing as in a queue: maintain distance of at least 1.5 metres
- Walking: maintain distance of at least 5 metres so that the droplets do not reach the person walking behind
- Running and slow cycling: maintain at least 10 metres distance
- Hard cycling or motor bike riding in city: maintain at least 20 metres distance
Scientists have found that the aerodynamic effects produced by a person’s movement leaves the trailing person at high risk. The person behind gets into the slipstream produced by the person ahead. Air flow patterns created by the movement, air currents – natural or due to air circulator fans or air conditioners, etc. When a person is walking from front and past you, it is advisable to change the lane and / or stay out of the slipstream of the person ahead.
Lydia Bourouiba, associate professor in fluid dynamics in Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has observed peak exhalation speeds of the droplets reaching 10 to 30 metres per second creating a cloud spanning 7 to 8 metres. This may be relevant in the case of people who have very strong sneezes – or who exhale forcefully during weight training or while running. Airconditioning is thus not the solution – natural cross ventilation is cheaper and more effective!
Besides, how will you stagger your operating timings and your equipment layout? How will you educate the client? Somebody said: “Tough times never last but tough people do”. I might add: Smarter people will last longer. This is the time for innovation and planning and setting outcome and process goals.
To enrol to these courses, the student –
- Must have passed 10 + 2 years of School Education
- Must hold National / International Certification in –
- Nationally accepted certification in fitness have minimum three years of training experience
- Sports Coaching certificate in IOC recognized Sports or Indian Sports
- Must be physically fit
- Physically Challenged persons can apply if they have exposure to fitness / sport
- BEFORE EXAMINATION, must attend and be certified in First Aid & CPR with AED by First Aid International (UK) / equivalent
- Exceptions may be entertained subject to University, Academy rules and international standards.
The immediate need of the hour is education in fitness centre management.
Training the client is the easiest part! Marketing and client counselling, conversion of enquiries into sales, psychological profiles of consumers, types of members and types of memberships, legal and safety aspects, basic knowledge of accounting & taxation, risk management and facility management are some of the skill sets that the fitness centre owner / manager requires right now! Check our Mumbai University approved and certificated, value-for-money course – https://www.gayofitnessacademy.com/course/certificate-course-in-fitness-centre-management-ccfcm/
There are some common pre-requisites to all the careers I have outlined above! I list them here.
- Empathy: He or she must learn to understand the personality, psychology and the performance goals of the client. Every client is uniquely different.
- Patience: Avoid short-cuts! Long-term maintenance of nutrition goals is not possible through short-cut methods! Resist the temptation of adopting fad diets!
- Experience: If the nutritionist is going to counsel a marathon runner, then he or she must train to run a few kilometres weekly. “How are you going to advise a post-workout meal if you have not experienced it?, she asks. From experience is born conviction.
- Knowledge: Flaunt your degree and post-grad degrees, she advises. Certificates are reasonable evidence of sound professional knowledge that has been tested through rigorous training, internship and examinations. Educate the client about your professional abilities!
- Professional edge: Sharpen your professional edge with some “horizontal” skill sets. For example, pick up a well-respected certificate or diploma in Yoga or Pilates.
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