Group Fitness Instructor or Group Fitness Imposter?

I instruct yoga and circuit training courses so a local gym thought I would be great at teaching an aerobics class. My first day was a learning experience for sure. I will admitt, I was not a very good instructor for about two weeks. I finally turned the job over to a certified group instructor who enjoys teaching aerobics, and took the class under them for about two months. I learned so much in that time about conducting group exercise outside of the military. That was about 8 years ago but the experience resinates with me even today. Like Michael said "imagine if a spinning instructor, yoga or aerobic instructor filled in while a Personal Trainer was out?"; its easy, just imagine feeling overwhelmed and a little out of place, then go get additional training before you try it again.

Hello Serena,
Wow, what a mess! I would not let this instructor teach out of his/her relm of certifications. Could you imagine if a spinning instructor, yoga or aerobic instructor filled in while a Personal Trainer was out?
How does the club management feel about this issue?

Sincerely,
Michael

Wow! That is one can of worms you opened.

It doesn't appear that the personal trainer who was covering is making a habit of teaching group fitness class. He/she was simply helping and something unfortunate occurred.

I wouldn't blame the personal trainer in this case. It appears he was directed to cover the class by management perhaps? Perhaps management learned a valuable lesson.

I know of some awesome personal trainers who teach group fitness classes--boot camp to be precise.

However, to answer your question what would I do in situation like that? I make it a habit of being able to teach what I offer at my studio, so likely, I'd teach the class.

As both a Certified Personal Trainer and Certified Spinning Instructor, I can attest to the fact that individual instruction and group instruction entail different skill sets. An entirely different level of focus is needed to scan a group, monitor form, provide appropriate cueing, and adjust the class intensity quickly to match what is happening in the group. Every fitness professional has an obligation to work within the scope of their training aand expertise.

Hi Serena,

you are really hitting on an interesting subject, particularly since personal trainers are more and more often beginning to train 'small groups'. So where is the demarkation line between small group personal training and group exercise?

I found it interesting that the incidence happened in a scuplting class; weight training is the 'bread and butter' of personal trainers, and I have a personal issue with that class format in group exercise exactly because of all the issues you raise. To be frank, I have seen my share of certified group fitness instructors who did not adequately rise to the challenge of a sculpting class.

It is a tricky issue. I teach group exercise but I stay within the formats I am comfortable with. But I can see how a personal trainer, when pressed, may decide to help out with a format like that.

On the other hand group training is not personal training and many group exercise leaders easily switch or add on personal training for income.
I think if you can teach you can teach, it's not something that occurs because you are a personal trainer.
I think these situations can occur during any class, not just because this trainer was not deemed as a group exercise leader.

I go back to our industry and our levels of professionalism. We need to maintain it at all times.

Possibly the manager of this studio would feel obligated to insist on more group exercise training and implement a certification policy.

We all have different talents. It sounds like in this particular situation it wasn't a good fit.

I train one on one, small group, and teach large group-ex (I went the other way around - started in group-ex, found a passion for small group, then moved into personal training). They're very different skills and energies, but it's possible for one person to be skilled at both. Someone already suggested Todd Durkin as an example of this ability.

The broader issue i see is club subbing policy. I have worked for clubs whose mentality is that it's better to have an unqualified warm body teaching a class than cancel a class for one day or find an appropriate sub.

As has been so eloquently addressed, teaching a group exercise class is quite different from conducting a one-on-one training session. Very different teaching skills are absolutely required. If a particular facility "plugs in" an unqualified instructor simply to sustain dollar numbers, that is sad.

Can a personal trainer be a good group exercise instructor? Of course. But it requires an adequate and qualified training. I guess it all comes down to the facility's commitment to professionalism.

Take care.

This is a common occurrence in the health and fitness industry.

A train wreck, right?

I teach at this studio that was a personal training studio and recently started offering classes, twice a week. I am close friends with the manager/owner. I am not sure she knows how bad the situation is. Being short staffed, she is overworked and possibly over looking a lot of things. Luckily her clients/ members have not made any complaints, yet. I have shared my opinions, hopefully they are taken into consideration. FYI - the trainer enjoys teaching wants to continue.

I think this is a very tricky situation because we have personal trainers like Todd Durkin who teaches group fitness. He calls it boot camp. However, it would be really crazay to see Todd teach--let's say Zumba.

This is definitely outside of the scope practice according to the credential the individuals possesses, and I am not condoning it in the least, but, a personal trainer teaching a well-planned and prepared boot camp and one who teaches a class off the cuff because the regular group fitness instructor wasn't available is very different.

All of us for the most part have attended workshops taught by personal trainers who lead a GROUP and have learned a great deal from them

I think this is a very sticky situation.

Thanks for the question Serena.

Not sure I have anything new to offer here, but wanted to chime in here. The situation descibed brings me to some assumptions about the situation that may or may not be true, so leaving that aside, I teach a bootcamp and some days I have 20 ladies and others I have 2. So my class changes from a group setting to almost a one-on-one situation. There are times I may have very experienced campers in a class with a person who has never attended a group fitness class before and needs additional instruction. I am comfortable wth leaving the more experienced to work independently for a time while I closer instruct the new member; which is not uncommon. So not knowing the personalities of the class, it is difficult to give a specific response but to agree with the consesus. Personal Training is a Professional Service. As such, it is the personal trainer who should decide whether they can safely and effectively take on a training class.

Depending on the personality of the trainer it could work, but usually not because of the different skill sets. I was certified as a personal trainer first and then moved to group fitness. I worked at a gym where there was a group exercise studio and then a small group personal training studio where the personal trainers taught small classes like Kickboxing, core, TRX, etc.

By and large, I noticed that the trainers were not that effective as group instructors. On of the hardest things for me was when I was in the kickboxing class and couldn't hear the trainer because his back was toward me and the music was so loud. I understand they didn't have a mic, but these are small things that trainers don't learn until they have to or care to.

Ultimately, if it's my space, I would require the certification and/or relevant experience. And, of course, an audition. We have to audition for our jobs and a PT shouldn't be covering a group class without the director really knowing if they have the skills to make that happen.

I think personal trainers CAN be equipped to teach group fitness. We all know how unregulated the fitness profession is with certifications etc. In addition, when privately owned clubs/studios are focused on income, its difficult to focus on quality instruction and safety. It's a shame, but money rules.

As both a personal trainer and fitness instructor, I believe that all fitness professionals have a responsibility to know their own skill set and to care enough about clients to say "no" when we aren't prepared for a specific task.

Hi Serena - Love the question! I've had to deal with it as a Training Director and as a Group Fitness Director (I am a Trainer and GFInstructor, as well) - and as many said, it depends upon individuals skills/training as much as just the "title". Some Trainers look at Group Fitness as an easy way to make an extra buck (disregarding or ignorant of the skills required) AND some Intructors who teach sculpting can get the idea that they can also be a Personal Trainer. It really depends on the individual - and while some of our skills overlap in looking at your comments about "no cueing, modifications, or class instruction for that matter", I might question the individual Trainer's personal training style/experience, and whether it can translate to group. As Trainer it is very important to que proper technique and form and to offer up modifications, if this person cannot do it as a Trainer then he/she definately couldn't handle a group. My qualifications for hiring Trainers (or GFInstructors) were to find out if they can identify, correct, and modify movements, for their relative "clients". That is a transferrable skill, and I would have to know my Trainer's ability to do so before I let them lead a group class which requires that same ability. Risk versus cancelling a class? You have to be the judge. I have learned that just having a title doesn't mean someone can do the job, in ANY profession.