I have routinely asked myself why I have kept writing. There is no obvious answer but maybe it is my desire for a healthy community and the chance to create sustainable, healthy changes in my clients’ lives. As I utilize this space to bring to flower my life’s task I hope it will be a happy home for you, my reader, or client for some time to come. Together let’s continuously strive to make a positive shift to being our best physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. Just as the Lord looked at all He had created and said “it is good”. My goal is to encourage you to exercise because you value fitness, not because you are told to exercise.
Would You Walk Into An Unqualified Doctor’s Office?
It is one thing to know what is good for you and quite another to know what is good for another person. Structuring a fitness program for a single person is very different from doing the same for a group class of participants with varied needs. Would you walk into a quack doctor’s office to seek treatment? Maybe, I should ask. Does succeeding in a toned physique automatically qualify one to be a trainer?
Who Certifies A Personal or Group Fitness Trainer?
Roy Gichuhi stated it very well some days back in the Saturday Nation dated 29th February 2020. “Most of the fitness trainers, over the years, through trial and error have gathered practical instructional skills in conducting classes and some knowledge about weights and machines. Many of them, however, know dangerously little. Who certifies a personal or group fitness trainer anyway and where are gym instructors trained?” Is there a standard curriculum that professional gym instructors have to follow?” He wanted to know.
Supervised Exercise Programs.
Some Physical Education teachers have injured school children by pushing them beyond their limits while some coaches have ruined athletes’ careers by giving inappropriate routines. Some clients, having joined gyms have ended up with chronic back, knee, and shoulder injuries. Sadly, some members and even athletes have collapsed and died in the so-called gyms and fields doing exercise.
Their deaths and woes only underline the need for knowledgeable fitness professionals to provide sensibly supervised exercise programs. For those of us who self train through Google, she doesn’t accept liability for her prescriptions either. With the hundreds of fitness apps and You-tube workouts, whatever happens to you if Googles’ advice goes wrong, that will be your cross to carry. Ask Google.
Feel Fitness.
In the interest of Public Health and safety, all gyms should be regulated and all fitness professionals should be certified. The Fitness Professionals Association of Kenya is pushing for this. This break from the norm might be a perfect opportunity for us, fitness trainers, to upgrade our skills. It is important that we stay active and continue to look for ways to BOOST our immune system during this season as well. Before you resume your workouts or go back to training,
Ask Yourself.
- Can they prescribe activities at the appropriate intensity, duration, and frequency consistent with test results and personal goals?
- Can your gym instructor or trainer respond to an emergency?
- Does your trainer understand the components and principles of fitness?
- Is your gym instructor also a dietitian and nutritionist?
- Does your trainer provide meaningful feedback?
- Does your trainer ensure a majority of your objectives are met?
- Is your trainer a role model, are they helping you take appropriate steps towards unhealthy behaviors?
- Does your trainer record your progress and challenges?
- Did they carry out any fitness assessment on you?
- Does your trainer understand anatomy and physiology?