Not all created Equal
Did you know that there are over 300 personal training certifications available today? Minus a handful almost all of these certifications are available to anyone willing to write a check for a few hundred dollars. It seems like every other day some new organization, trainer, or gym is offering a personal training certification.
Unfortunately, in today’s world with the immense popularity of the internet, questionable marketing morals, and seemingly every other celebrity jumping on the health bandwagon there is an overabundance of information. There are also over 4000 published books on the market today under the genre of health, diet, and weight loss. And that number does not even include the unpublished books. At no other time in the history of our nation have we ever had such an overwhelming amount of information.
It is no surprise that the average American is more confused now than ever. Just in the last week alone I’ve had three lengthy conversations with individuals asking me for my advice of all the conflicting information they have received. It is incredibly unfortunate but today getting the truth about health, fat loss, weight training, etc, is comparable to finding a needle in a haystack.
Fortunately there is a new breed of “trainers” on the rise that are working to change the industry forever. There are four main areas’ that separate these new professionals from the old style “personal trainers.”
1) First of all these individuals are typically educated formally having received a bachelors degree or higher, in exercise science, sports medicine, kinesiology, or similar.
2) Secondly they usually have achieved an advanced certificate in training such as the certified strength conditioning specialist otherwise known as CSCS. Pick up a copy of the latest women’s health, oxygen, men’s health, men’s fitness, or various others and you will commonly find the initials CSCS behind most of the contributing authors names.
3) Thirdly and probably most important all these individuals continue to pursue their education by constantly attending seminars, studying field related books, working with the other top coaches in the nation, and generally keeping abreast of all the latest information.
4) Last but not least these coaches all have real life in the field experience, knowledge and most importantly they get results! Overall this new group of professionals has the incredible practical knowledge, formal education and drive to help America become a better healthier country.
I am personally excited to watch as this new group of trainers transforms the industry and dispels the negative stigma of the old school “personal trainers.”