Opinions? For PTs, would you recommend group ex cert for boot camps?
I think there are overlapping skill sets, but also different needs of coaching a client individually vs. coaching a group of people. A group certification would be helpful in learning the differences between the two and provide you with information on how to motivate, educate and cue a group.
Is it a necessity? No. Helpful, educational and informative? Yes.
Hi Jason,
It depends on how comfortable the trainer feels about running group/boot camp classes. I personally don’t have any certification as a ‘group’ instructor, but I have been running boot camps for 6 years now. I have been and instructor for police SWAT units for a few years, which involves instruction of a large number of participants in each class, so instructing group classes and boot camps was not a difficult transition for me. But that’s me. Keep in mind that you’ll have to multitask (continually making the class format interesting and challenging, as well as correcting and/or modifying exercises for multiple clients at once). If you feel comfortable teaching boot camps then maybe you should give it a try and see how it goes. Better yet—before you start offering your own classes, maybe you could sub or work a few hours for someone who is already offering boot camp classes to see if this is something you want to get into. Or you can do it the way I did it—start training smaller groups (3-5) and when you get comfortable with that number, add more participants until you get used to training larger groups. Usually 10 participants per instructor is a good number, which helps you maintain control and make sure you give everyone a fair amount of attention and instruction.
I hope this helps.
Best,
Harris
I think that the more you know the better you will be. Group training is different than one on one, sometimes it’s not be easily transferred.
I would recommend a group exercise leader certification from ACE or ACSM – both nationally accredited organizations which does matter!
It looks good on your credentials and it’s important to be as educated as you possibly can.