Turn to "Hire" Education

The last few months have certainly been busy for me, as any of you who routinely listen to The Fitcast (and really, isn't everyone?) already know.

Who's that handsome Devil addressing his graduating class?

Unfortunately, of course, as my workload increases, my time to focus on things like the blog gets cut short. Luckily, I have some great readers such as Katie Wilson that offered to help keep the blog warm until I get back.

Katie writes her own website, AdvantageEDU, which is an excellent resource for navigating the many choices for continuing education and online degrees. For those of you interested in learning more about health and wellness, or hoping to advance your clinical skills as trainers, take a look below, then make sure to check out her website for more information.

Thanks Katie!

Educational Opportunities for Personal Trainers

The road towards becoming a personal trainer does not have to be restricted within one realm of health and fitness, nor end with simple aerobic instruction. To begin with, most trainers will have typically graduated with a degree in kinesiology, although this is not necessarily a required major; there are many personal trainers who majored in a degree as unrelated as geology. Additionally, many gyms will also offer continuing education packages to their trainers in order to allow them to grow within the gym. There are many different educational opportunities available in separate sectors of personal training, depending on what field you are most interested in or have the most experience with.

For example, should you wish to remain within the realm of actively teaching a type of fitness or recreational activity, there are many different kinds of classes available to become certified in. Most fitness centers require Yoga and Pilates instructors, as well as instructors who are more centralized to particular groups, such as senior fitness, water aerobics or even kindergarten aerobics. These specific types of certifications require knowledge about the target group, as well as experience with instructing.

However, if you wish to deal with a field outside the typical personal trainer arena, there are other opportunities available, such as nutritional consultants, weight management specialists, or physical therapy/rehabilitation. Many of these programs offer online courses or home study programs which grant you with a new certification at the end of the course, although advanced degrees are usually preferred in rehabilitation certifications. These correspondence courses allow you to leap ahead in personal training without disruption your current job or location, as well as hone in to your specialty in order to perfect teaching methods.

More and more personal trainers have been acquiring advanced certifications in order to keep up with the rest of their colleagues. Health and fitness has begun to make an impact on the corporate world, and in order to keep up with this merging of the two realms, personal trainers have become an entity which Corporate America uses in order to fulfill their fitness needs. This requires many different types of specializations to keep up with modern advances in aerobic technique, which is why the educational opportunities offered are constantly changing and will never be lacking.

All in all, no matter what type of personal training you wish to go into, whether it be advanced specializations, or rehabilitation techniques, there will always be a need for further education should you wish to advance in your field. Personal training is all about providing that ounce more of motivation to your clients, and with the proper motivation you can also leap ahead and find what you truly enjoy doing in your field.

This post was contributed by Katie Wilson, who writes about the trade schools online. She welcomes your feedback at KatieWilson06@gmail.com


-Jonathan