To be effective and beneficial as a personal trainer, it is important to have a good knowledge base. A lot of trainers begin to build their knowledge simply by training by themselves. After they’ve developed an interest in the world of fitness, they get a personal training certification and begin a highly successful career as a personal trainer. In the health and fitness industry, all gyms look to get personal trainers on their payroll who have a certification.
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Why personal trainers need accredited qualifications
This means that if you want to be a successful personal trainer, you need an accredited personal training certification from a recognised fitness college. The reason for this is that if you have this type of qualification, you’re assured that you will have the best training out there and client will know – that you know – what they’re talking about. This is because personal training qualifications are only accredited if health and fitness institutions recognise that the qualification is of substance and are willing to put their name behind it.
In addition, if you go for an accredited personal trainer course, you’re assuring clients that you will be able to give them training that treats them in a holistic manner. In other words, you will be able to train your clients’ entire body (and even their minds). In addition, your will be able to advise your clients on the best possible nutrition principles – and provide them with eating plans which are tailor-made for them – so that they will be able to get the most out of their training.
What subjects do personal trainers need to study?
There are loads and loads of subjects that you need to study on your accredited personal training course. Here are some of them:
Anatomy and physiology
The term ‘anatomy’ refers to the study of various parts of the body. For example, in anatomy you’ll learn about organs such as the brain as well as the spinal cord. If you speak about ‘physiology’, you’re looking at how the body’s organs function. To utilise the example in the previous sentence, in physiology you’ll learn about the nervous system which consists of, among others, the brain in addition to the spinal cord.
If you want to become a personal trainer, it is necessary for you to know about how the body – and its various organs – functions. The reason for this is that if you’re training a client – and they experiences an abnormal reaction during the exercise – you will be able to isolate reaction and alter the exercise according to the client’s feedback.
Biomechanics
It is a personal trainer’s ultimate job to teach people the manner in which they should be exercising properly. To carry this job out effectively, you will need to know how the body moves. The science of how the body carries this out is called biomechanics. During their studies personal trainers will need to gain a thorough grounding in this area.
Personal trainers also need a good grounding in biomechanics because often they will find themselves with clients who aren’t able to do a particular exercise. Biomechanical knowledge and training will help you to adapt an exercise to suit the needs of your clients.
Programme design
When you decide to be a personal trainer, you’ll also need to learn about how to put exercise programmes together for your clients. This is so that you can assist the people you train to meet their fitness goals in the most effective way possible.
It will also be needed for you to gain a good understanding of fitness assessment techniques so that you can see where your clients are at, from a fitness point of view. With this knowledge, it will be possible for you to design the clients’ programme and to ensure that it takes into account the client’s current physical capabilities. This will give you a good basis from which to build up their fitness.
Many personal trainers will tell you that almost all of what they learn about how to train clients comes from experience. The best trainers have a lot of hands-on experience with training diverse clients. In addition, they are constantly seeking more knowledge in their field, be it through more advanced certifications, mentors, or studying independently.