• Personal trainers are responsible for applying fundamental exercise science and fitness program design principles for the achievement of health and fitness goals of clients and fitness enthusiasts in a public or private setting.
• Personal trainers implement and promote the use of safe and effective exercise prescription through appropriate client screening, consultation, and evaluation.
• Personal trainers motivate and educate their clients, and other fitness enthusiasts, in an effort to improve levels of fitness and maintain an enhanced health and well-being.
• There are many reasons to choose a career as a personal trainer. As with any career choice, it's a personal issue that is driven by passion and potential. If you have a passion for healthy living and you enjoy teaching others how to reach their fitness goals, than a career as a trainer just might be the perfect fit. In addition to teaching others about something that will impact their lives, as it has yours, there are an incredible number of tangible and intangible rewards in store for the Certified Personal Trainer, or CPT.

Other resources: http://www.nfpt.com/becoming-personal-trainer.htm

Although this question may seem obtuse by this point in your decision process you should know the answer quite clearly.  The answer to this question will drive you to become a better trainer, avoid burnout, and determine what direction you should take your business.  Some reasons may be to help people become healthier, or let athletes maximize their performances; other reasons may include sharing with others the gift of health or it could be that you just like hanging around the gym and want to make some money in the process.  There is no “wrong” reason, just as there is no single “right” way to train people.

It is the goal of the NFPT to show you how to train a large variety of clients with a large variety of goals according to valid, time-tested techniques that have been shown to be effective.  It is important the applicant understand a couple of organizational facts about the contents of this manual before going through it.  The charts and tables in the appendices of the manual are very helpful to use while training people.  The clients you accept may have hidden or somewhat obvious diseases or disease states and you need to be very careful of not harming them or letting them harm themselves.  For the previously mentioned reason they should be thoroughly screened and assessed.  Two important documents you will find are the cardiovascular risk profile and the PAR-Q & You.  You have a high level of responsibility and liability when training someone and you must be cautious when selecting your clientele.

Understanding the vehicle you are working with, the human body, is very important in your ability to deliver a quality training program.  The NFPT goes beyond many of the standard personal training programs by delivering several chapters on the human body, skeletal muscles, cardiac muscles, smooth muscles, etc. It is also important to understand the mental or psychological aspects of training. Another chapter in the manual will deal with the fuels you put into your body, as they relate to the body’s ability to perform. In another section the nutrition and diets for weight loss or more appropriately fat loss are discussed in detail and many new facets and discoveries are also covered.

Training effects and training programs- resistance, cardiovascular, flexibility, and functional modalities are then discussed with an emphasis on using the principles of the sciences previously covered.  Since the individual you train is not just a body but rather an entire human being, the next section addresses wellness and the process of getting someone to change a bad habit or adopt a new one.  Also you want to do everything possible to keep your client injury free.

The final section deals with client-oriented matters ranging from injury & legal concerns, to marketing your business effectively.  This manual is in no way inclusive of all there is to know in personal training.  The trainer should enlist in one of the many specialty programs or advanced certifications available through National Federation of Professional Trainers.

A final note- the NFPT provides support services to its trainers and the website- www.nfpt.com is full of up-to-date information and other helpful training services to include consultation software and downloadable educational materials. In general, the quality of a personal trainer is directly reflected by how much effort is put into the front end. There are characteristics such as experience, knowledge, enthusiasm, leadership that simply cannot be taught that all make up a great fitness trainer.  We here at the NFPT hope you put a lot of energy and academic efforts into this program and into your business. Call us for assistance during your studies.

There will always be new ways of looking at the same problem or situation as new knowledge is discovered and new paradigms are developed as a result of incorporating that new knowledge.  The nutrition world is going through a very radical change now with the ability to understand genetics. The interaction of nutritional components on gene expression (nutrigenomics) and looking at the interaction of the environment on gene expression (epigenomics) has changed a paradigm on looking at disease as the result of this interaction not just a breakdown or weakness in the system or cell.

Similarly, the field of exercise is going through some shifts and some of these involve a going back to basics.  The term “functional training” or “functional exercises” is being applied to many areas now. Some programs really are just complex, destabilized training than truly functional.  Other programs truly address the human system in a logical, stepwise manner. The need to rush into training someone has shifted and the need to build the foundational properties of the individual are becoming increasingly important.  Just like the nutrition field, greater and greater attention is being focused on the individuality of the client or patient and how they respond to a given nutrient or exercise.  Because of this individual attention paid to each client the term “personal training” is appropriate. However, many trainers are no longer training people on a one-to-one basis and the term “health and fitness professional” actually describes what that individual does much better.

Before someone lifts weights, this individual should first be assessed.  They should be assessed for various safety precautions (blood pressure and resting heart rate), and they should be assessed for the potential to have chronic diseases (waist circumference, waist to hip ratio, body mass index- metabolic syndrome or cardiovascular disease).  They should also be assessed by their physician for certain predictors of disease such as lipid profiles, apolipoprotein ratios, inflammatory markers, and certain biomarkers of the presence of toxins.  After this, they should be analyzed on basic movement patterns.  Weaknesses and imbalances can often be detected by these simple tests. Finally, the client is given the “good to go” from the assessments, physician’s tests or releases, and the client’s waiver of liability and acknowledgment of risk, and do a fitness assessment on the basic elements to establish a sound baseline for where they are and where you want to take them.

After a thorough assessment, and activity plan has been developed, you must address the basic postural alignment issues during movement, possibly induce some myofacial release or corrective exercises and teach them proper form for basic movements.  Core training, balance training, and multi-joint muscular endurance type training are good places to start before engaging in the “heavy lifting” portions.

The fitness industry has transitioned back to basic training equipment and apparatus as well. Heavy ropes, suspension training, body weight training, kettle bells, tubes and bands and balls are simple but effective ways to develop functional movement and cause weight loss and tone sleek muscles. The industry is also moving away from “personal” training, and towards group and semi-private training. While it is nice to be able to have a one on one session, and it is probably necessary for everyone to have some at some point in time in their training program, the ability to hang with the group, be encouraged by a partner or class, and to share in the cost are all positives for the client. Corporate Wellness will be taking an increasingly greater share of the fitness market as companies realize the cost savings and the possible mandatory provision of health care. Besides this, many corporations have on-site gyms and employees enjoy the convenience and camaraderie of training at the work site. The manual discusses these new practices in Section VII- Training Special Populations.

There has also been some evolution with the politics and delivery of personal training that may not be for the best for all parties. One good shift is the awareness of society to use a “certified” personal trainer. The term is being popularized and it is starting to put some standards to an industry greatly missing them due to the “muscle head” in the gym being the trainer. Unfortunately, the term “certified” is still not policed or standardized. Despite the fact that most of the major certification agencies have NCCA accredited tests and standards, it is not necessary to be accredited to use the term certified.

Along those same lines, in the major U.S. cities, the mom-and-pop type gyms, or personal training studios are being pushed out by the large chain fitness facilities.  The number of different classes, amount and type of equipment, capacity to provide shower facilities and other amenities, and low prices makes it hard for an individual to compete.  As a result, to be a personal trainer, you must work for the gym, and they will often take the majority of the fee paid by the client. Not only this, but they will limit which accredited certifications they accept from trainers, and reward a trainer who has obtained multiple basic trainer certifications versus more advanced.  Finally, many big chains force supplement sales onto their clients despite the client’s needs or the trainer’s knowledge in nutritional sciences or nutritional assessment techniques.  Trying to up-sale the client is the top priority versus cater to their needs.

The video age is among us and many different at home fitness programs are available, both the interactive ones where your body is actually recognized and virtually moving on the screen, to the good old fashioned follow-along type videos.  Convenience and a lack of intimidation are keeping many in the home for the training.  Along those same lines, many are finding certain devices like Garmin watches, Nike Plus “interactive shoes” and iPods are attracting or engaging some in their workouts for better adherence and they can more easily visualize their progress.

This manual will address many of these new trends and paradigms shifts.  This manual will try to keep things simple and focus on what will actually make an individual be a better trainer.  Remember, the job of a good trainer is to deliver a safe, effective, fun, and interesting workout to your client (in that order). You should not injure your client, give them a workout that actually improves their health and performance, is fun for them to do, and stimulates their interest to keep coming back and try new things and explore new areas or activities.

Scope of Practice- Protect your House

It is not the job of the trainer to treat injuries or heal illness.  While you may know of some helpful techniques that will aid the recovery of your client back to health, it is not in your scope of practice.  The trainer is the expert on the “healthy side” of the perspective.   Other health care practitioners, who have gone to special schools, gotten special training, and have taken the appropriate test and or practicum, are there to treat and heal the sick. By the same token, don’t pretend you are an expert in areas such as nutrition, psychological counseling, or massage therapy. A qualified trainer should have a team of people to refer to for these services and those professionals will refer their clients to you as the expert in exercise training as well.  A Jack of All Trades- is a Master of None.  The NFPT has a specialty course in fitness nutrition, which will prepare you to give nutritional advice to apparently healthy people to improve their health and lose weight, but not cure some pathological condition.  The more knowledgeable a trainer becomes in movement sciences, and exercise physiology, etc., the less competent the other professionals who try to give advice in this area will seem.  Protect your house by becoming good!