simeone says
The growth of social media and the internet in general is a great thing. It allows us to keep in contact with friends and family members who live considerable distances from us, has introduced the new hobby of “Netflix and chill”, and allows us the opportunity to share our opinions and passions with the world (this blog, for example). The downside to this growth is that with so much media readily available, it can be difficult to sort through the various information to find what is reliable. The barriers to posting something online are minimal; anyone with internet access and an electronic device can post content. This has created a culture of self-proclaimed “gurus”. We take our makeup advice from teenage girls with high-quality cameras on Youtube. We go to our doctors with self-proclaimed diagnoses we got from a Reddit thread. We take our fitness advice from people on Instagram with good bodies who post to their #fitfam.
While I love the idea of using social media for people to share their journey to and passion for a healthy life style, I cringe when I see some of the “fitness advice” that is floating through cyberspace. This is concerning to me because taking fashion advice from someone off of YouTube based merely off of opinion risks you mortification, at most; taking exercise advice from a video your friend posted to Facebook potentially risks you getting hurt. One of the most famous Instagram Fitness celebrities has not a single certification to her name.
So, why should we care about certifications? Arguably, anyone with a couple hundred dollars and a little luck can obtain a piece of paper. I agree. I will say, however, that people who pertain a certification in the fitness industry usually do so to pursue a job for which it is needed. If someone has a job in the fitness industry, they have experience training other people. While being able to train your own body to the level of #bodygoals is no doubt impressive and shows a lot of discipline, it does not mean that you have experience training other peoples’ bodies. Additionally, someones ability to obtain an admirable body speaks little to their ability to help you reach more specific fitness goals. It is worth looking into what kind of certification, if any, the person whose advice you take has. Not all certifications, however, are the same. They are just part of the bigger picture and should be taken into consideration along with a person’s professional experience
A person who has a bachelor’s degree in exercise science, exercise physiology, etc. most likely has course work, internship, and lab experience that has prepared them to administer wellness programs, assess and prescribe appropriate exercise regimes, and recommend healthful dietary strategies. While it is possible that someone with a bachelors degree may not have had practical applications of the knowledge they have learned, they can most likely be trusted as a good source of information. The title of the degree might appear different. For example, I have worked with people who have Sports Recreation and Management degrees who took the same core curriculum as an exercise science degree.
It is hard to talk about personal training certifications because I am sure there are a lot more out there then I am aware of and certainly more then I can cover in this post. A word of caution is that not all personal training certifications are good ones. Many can be obtained by anyone with a high school diploma and a CPR card. A good certification tests on knowledge related to Basic and Applied Sciences, Assessment, Exercise Technique and Training Instruction,Program Design,Basic Nutrition,Client Relations Behavioral Coaching,Professional Development, and Practice and Responsibility. To me, it is also important that a certification requires continuing education to remain active. This helps ensure that the person holding the certification is keeping up to date on the latest research in the field. The National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM), National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA), and American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) are a couple of organizations that offer good CPT certifications.
In addition to personal training, there are more specialized certifications in the fitness realm that deal with certain populations. I work with athletes who have special training considerations because they have more physical demands than the sedentary individual. Additionally, they have a variety of training goals that change depending on the sport and what part of the season they are in. I have the Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist certification from the NSCA which is one of the certifications required to work with college athletes. A similar certification is the SCCC (strength and conditioning coach certified) from the Collegiate Strength and Conditioning Association. These both require continuing education and have various upgrades that are achieved after a certain number of years of professional experience training athletes. Even if you are not an athlete, a person with this certification can (hopefully) provide you with knowledge about program design,exercise technique, and basic nutrition.
This is my own classification for some of the certifications out there in the fitness industry that have to do with coaching specific lift techniques. One of the two I am going to briefly mention is the USA Weight Lifting (USAW) Sport Performance Certification. This is a specific course that takes participants through progressions of the Olympic lifts (snatch, clean & jerk etc.) and variations. Unless someone is specifically a weight lifting coach, it is very seldom held as a sole certification. It is often obtainined in addition to one of the things I previously mentioned whether that be an NSCA certification or a Bachelors degree.
Another certification that you are likely to come across are the Cross Fit Certifications. Just as the USAW certification is specific to weight lifting, the CrossFit certifications are specific to cross fit. Having this certification shows you know CrossFit’s methodology and foundational movements, however, it does not necessarily guarantee a knowledge of general nutrition, program design, injury prevention, or other topics covered under other certifications. This seems to be more of a certification specifically made for trainers to be eligible to associate themselves with the organization
This is not an exhaustive list of all the options and certifications out there. Certification alone should not be the only thing taken into consideration when looking for fitness advice, it is merely a piece of the puzzle. You should also look at what experience a person has with applying their knowledge to training situations. Just because someone works at a hair salon doesn’t mean they give good haircuts. Similarly, just because someone gets a CPT certification doesn’t mean they are good at training clients. If you are going to pay for someone’s service, you should make sure you can trust them, they have a good reputation, and that they are qualified. Even if you are not paying for a service, I challenge you to keep similar standards when deciding what fitness advice to take from the internet. Doing research on the quality of the information out there will help you learn and, more importantly, it will help keep you safe.
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