Nov. 05, 2008 - Issue #681: Operation Filmmaker
Personal Trainer: Let’s get physical
Anyone can call themselves a personal trainer, but it takes education to really know how to keep people fit
What doesn’t change is the consensus on physical activity: to be healthy and ward off obesity and a range of diseases, we need to move our bodies. How much exercise we need is still up for debate, but the overall message is consistent: the more physical activity, the better.
But even though we know we’re supposed to get some sort of physical activity, it’s usually easier said than done. There are many reasons why we don’t get enough exercise, but it often comes down to motivation, or a lack of it. Maintaining an exercise routine takes motivation and commitment because, let’s face it, exercise is hard work.
That’s where personal trainers come in. They look at individuals as a whole, provide lifestyle counselling and design personalized programs that focus on achieving results specific to each individual.
Unfortunately, the fitness industry in Alberta is not regulated, so pretty much anyone can call themselves a personal trainer, even if they have no training whatsoever. Even among trained personal trainers, the qualifications and education can vary dramatically.
The most basic form of training is to get AFLCA (Alberta Fitness Leadership Certification Association) certification—essentially 44 hours of training through mostly weekend courses. Although some people call themselves personal trainers after achieving this certification, they aren’t. They are specifically trained to be group exercise leaders, and as such can lead a range of fitness classes, like spinning or step, that are offered in group settings. There is also a resistance training option, but that only allows people to complete the course to work in a weight room and instruct people on how to use the equipment. They are not personal trainers and are not equipped to design personal fitness programs.
Both NAIT and the University of Alberta offer much more extensive programs that can lead to actual certification.
NAIT offers a two-year Personal Fitness Trainer diploma program. They align their curriculum with the requirements of CSEP (Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology), so students are eligible to write CSEP’s Certified Personal Trainer exam once they graduate. This certification is only available to people that have at least two years of post-secondary training.
The next level of certification is CSEP’s Certified Exercise Physiologist, requiring, at minimum, a four-year university degree in kinesiology or another related degree. Alternately, you can already be a health professional in an associated field, such as a physical therapist or doctor.
Leanne Telford, the Program Chair for NAIT’s Personal Fitness Trainer program, recommends that anyone thinking about becoming a personal trainer first do a bit of research on the profession to make sure they are fully aware of what it entails. While the job itself is very gratifying, she stressed it’s also hard work which usually involves very erratic hours. Because personal trainers work with a wide assortment of people, many of whom work 9 to 5 jobs, training can happen very early in the morning, late at night and any time in between. And, as with most professions, the salary can vary.
She recommends talking to various trainers who are working in the field today, as well as visiting different fitness organizations and gyms to see how they work and what they have to offer.
Alexandra Senkow, founder and company director of Defining Eve, went through the NAIT program back in 2000, when it was a shorter year-and-a-half program. Her journey to becoming a personal trainer was a gradual process, and she readily admits that in high school she wasn’t physically active at all. After finishing high school, she went to Israel to work in an agricultural commune and discovered that the elderly people she was working alongside were much fitter and stronger than she was because they were more active in the course of a normal day and did more physical labour.
When she came back to Edmonton four years later with an improved level of fitness—by virtue of the physical nature of the work she’d been doing and her lifestyle in Israel—she wanted to maintain her new-found level of fitness, but hit a few setbacks. Winter was a big one.
“It was very cold and there weren’t the same opportunities to be physically active,” she recalls. Instead of walking and cycling everywhere, she was driving. Work that involved physical labour was replaced with work that involved a lot of sitting. That’s when the realization came to her: “To keep up that level of fitness I needed to do structured exercise. All the activity was being siphoned out of my day.”
So she started working out at a gym, and says she fell in love with the way it made her feel. Back and neck pain started to diminish and she had much more energy. The end result was her enrollment in NAIT’s Personal Fitness Trainer program.
Right from the beginning she didn’t think people were treating personal trainers with respect—partly because of being in an unregulated industry where anyone can claim they’re a personal trainer.
After she graduated, Senkow started out by training people in their homes, went mobile a couple of years later and in September 2004 opened up the first Defining Eve studio.
Senkow will only hire trainers that have either a NAIT diploma or a Bachelor of Kinesiology. She firmly believes that a personal trainer needs a strong foundation which is only achieved by extensive education—otherwise, she argues, they can’t acquire the necessary skills needed for quality exercise prescription. As she puts it, “Education is a huge part of what makes a trainer.”
In return, the personal trainers she hires are treated with respect. In order to maintain some semblance of sanity in their family life, her full-time trainers work regular hours—either 6 am to 2 pm, or 1 pm to 9 pm. There’s still no 9 to 5, but the hours are much less erratic than those that are seen elsewhere in the industry.
Senkow feels that personal training is about giving the client an education so that they can continue to train themselves. She also thinks there are a lot of false stereotypes out there. Sit down and watch TV and you’ll get the impression that a personal trainer is kind of like a boot camp instructor—harsh and severe. At Defining Eve, personal trainers are more like mentors, designing exercises to recruit the right muscles and offering lifestyle advice to work fitness into everyday activities. It’s a lot less glamorous than the image depicted on TV, but it’s also more rewarding.
Leanne Telford says that the NAIT program focuses on hands-on experience to ensure that when students graduate, they are fully prepared to start a career. Students in the NAIT program get more than 100 hours of practical experience. During the third semester, the program recruits other students, staff and the public, and the students train three people for 16 hours each—twice a week for eight weeks. During their fourth semester, students do an additional 70 hours of professional experience outside of NAIT.
There is also a lot of theoretical background—around 300 hours a semester. Since some trainers go into business for themselves, there are also a couple of business courses as part of the curriculum. By way of comparison, achieving the AFLCA certification involves just 44 hours of instruction.
University graduates have a more global perspective and more defined critical-thinking skills. Their education is broader, their science background is stronger and, as a result, the graduates have an opportunity to go on to more diverse careers, such as working in cardio rehabilitation at the Glenrose or training elite athletes.
Like any other profession, the learning doesn’t stop once you get your certification. There are professional development credentials, achieved through approved courses and conferences, that need to be met every two years.
To be considered for NAIT’s Personal Fitness Trainer program, applicants need to have Biology 30, Math 20 (pure or applied), and English 30 or 33. Chemistry 30 and Physical Education 30 are also strongly recommended. They also require a career investigation—just so potential students know what they are getting into. The next start date is August 31, 2009, with an application deadline of March 31, 2009. V
New comments for this entry have been turned off and any existing ones are hidden. We apologize for any inconvenience.