Newly certified … need advice on next step
Hi everyone. Early this year I made the unlikely decision to become a personal trainer. I say “unlikely,” because I didn’t think of myself as the ideal candidate for the job: I’m in my 50s, I don’t like gyms, and I’ve never been a competitive athlete. But I’ve been a regular exerciser my whole life, have tried lots of different fitness methods, and have enjoyed experimenting with different movement disciplines. As I looked around, I noticed a lot of people my age and older who seemed to have given up on their physical health, and I thought it would be worthwhile to try to help some of them get back into functionality. I decided my target market would be people like me: boomer adults who may not be gym goers.
Last week I completed the first step: I passed my NASM exam. But I’m uncertain what’s the next best move. As I want to work with older adults, I was thinking about taking NASM’s course for senior clients. I’m also very interested in NASM’s Corrective Exercise certification.
But I’m wondering if I should stop with the “book learning” for now and just start getting some practical experience under my belt. I’ve done only a few assessments as part of my studies, and I’m pretty far from feeling competent/confident in performing them. I was thinking of approaching some gyms like the local Y and the JCC to see about volunteering there, but again, my interest is in not working in a gym. (Or should that matter at this point?)
Any thoughts, insights, suggestions? Thanks everyone.
Tom
Any opportunity you can create that will get you hands-on experience will be valuable to you.
Some gyms have a shadow program where you can watch existing trainers train for a few hours and then discuss how they planned that workout and why.
Ask friends and family if you can practice your assessment skills on them, for free. Get used to finding key landmarks on people of all shapes and sizes.