Description
Minimum age of entry : 16+
Learn: Personal Training and Fitness Instruction to an advanced level
Pre-requisite: No previous experience required
Ideal for: Individuals who want to work as a professional fitness instructor, wishing to become self-employed running their own personal training business or Gym Instructors who want to work as a professional personal trainer
Venue + Timescale: Duke Gym Residents Courses taught January to July 2024 will take place every Tuesday and Thursday for 2.5 hours over 16 sessions.
Venue + Timescale: T3 Fast-Track Intensive Training taught in April and June 2024 will include 10 days of intensive training plus home study of 10-14 weeks.
Diploma: Level 3 & 4
After this course, students can work as a fitness instructor and personal trainer worldwide as this qualification is internationally recognised.
The purpose of a fitness instructor is to build fitness participation for new and existing members. A fitness instructor welcomes and introduces new members to fitness by providing inductions and supports existing members with ongoing programmes. A fitness instructor leads members through programmes and is responsible for the resulting member fitness experience, which should be positive and meet their individual needs.
The purpose of a personal trainer is to coach clients individually according to their fitness needs, through an agreed exercise/physical activity plan and assist with behaviour change. A personal trainer’s role includes designing, implementing and evaluating exercise/physical activity programmes for a range of individual clients by collecting and analysing client information to ensure the effectiveness of personal exercise programmes. A personal trainer should also actively encourage potential clients/members to participate in and adhere to regular exercise/physical activity programmes, employing appropriate motivational strategies to achieve this.
Occupational Role:
- A fitness instructor should be able to:
- Provide effective and safe fitness instruction.
- Promote a healthy lifestyle.
- Identify individual motives and resulting short, medium and long-term fitness goals.
- Suggest relevant exercise adaptations or options to allow for individual client differences or needs.
- Provide participants with advice on intensity and how to progress their individual performance and results.
- Observe clients and correct unsafe technique.
- Provide clients with technical models for exercise technique.
- Positively interact and motivate clients using appropriate tools in order to promote adherence to exercise.
- Deliver good customer service and be a positive role model at all times.
- Promote healthy activities and related strategies for daily living to clients (lifestyle management).
- Promote customer referral: invite customers to bring friends and family along and promote their fitness activities in their social environment.
- Promote a healthy and clean environment.
- Work within the parameters given at Level 3, recognising the standards and professional limitations that this provides, referring to appropriate members of staff for guidance and support.
A personal trainer should be able to:
- Collect information relating to individual clients.
- Select and conduct fitness assessments to establish client fitness and skill level.
- Analyse information relating to individual clients, assessing the client’s skills and abilities.
- Identifying specific threats and possibilities to start the training process.
- Co-operate with or refer to an exercise health specialist or an allied health professional as necessary and as required by the scope of practice of a personal trainer.
- Identify, agree and review short, medium and long-term goals to ensure the effectiveness of exercise programmes.
- Design a range of exercise programmes in accordance with the needs of clients by applying principles of exercise programming.
- Conduct assessments of the exercise space, equipment and environment in order to identify potential hazards and undertake necessary modifications to provide safety and reduce risk for clients and the personal trainer.
- Provide clients with accurate and credible information on the principles of nutrition and weight management, referring to a dietitian/nutritionist as necessary.
- Develop and apply strategies to motivate clients to engage in and adhere to an exercise programme.
- Evaluate how current technology can help clients stay motivated to adhere to exercise/physical activity guidelines and structured exercise programmes.
- Deliver good customer service and be a positive role model at all times and keep up to date with industry developments.
- Promote healthy activities and related strategies for active daily living to clients (lifestyle management).
- Make appropriate decisions relating to clients and their programmes/goals and, where required, refer the client to a more appropriate professional.
- Apply business, marketing, and selling strategies and best practices to achieve success as an employee, independent contractor or entrepreneur.
- Work within the parameters given at Level 4, recognising the standards and professional limitations that this provides and referring to appropriate staff members for guidance and support.
Course Content:
- How to conduct individual instructions in a gym-based environment
- How to support exercise adherence and a healthy lifestyle
- The skills to plan, instruct and supervise safe and effective exercise and physical activity sessions
- How to deliver exceptional customer service
- Professional conduct
- How to encourage healthy lifestyle behaviours and strategies for change
- The skills to plan and conduct exercise sessions with different types of clients in a variety of environments with a range of resources
- The lifestyle and medical factors that affect wellbeing
- How to deliver exceptional customer service
- Professional conduct
- Anatomy and Physiology
- Nutrition
- Health and Safety
- Legal and professional requirements for personal training
- How to set up and manage a personal training business
- How to manage, evaluate and improve own performance
