EDUCATING AND TRAINING THE PERSONAL FITNESS TRAINER: A Pedagogical Approach by Aaron C. Craig, M.S., HFS, NSCA-CPT, and JoAnn M. Eickhoff-Shemek, Ph.D., FACSM, FAWHP Learning Objective • It is important that individuals who want to become personal fit- ness trainers are well prepared to provide high-quality (safe and effective) programs for their clients. After reading this article, health/fitness professionals will learn the key components of an educational program that was designed to educate and train per- sonal fitness trainers and incorporated both classroom and real- world practical experiences. Key words: Personal Fitness Training, Educational Training Programs, Program Planning, Exercise Plans/Lesson Plans, Student Reflection P ersonal fitness training services are offered in nearly all health/fitness facili- ties. Concerns regarding the quality of those services have existed for several years, for example, what educational credentials and/ or certifications should personal fitness trainers possess, and should they be licensed before practicing personal fitness training. Efforts to attend to some of these concerns have been addressed. For example, in addition to offering certifications for personal fitness trainers, or- ganizations such as the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), National Strength and Conditioning Association, and many others have obtained accreditation for their certifica- tions through accrediting groups such as the National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA) (12). In addition, academic programs in personal fitness training and exercise science also can obtain accreditation through the Com- mission on the Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (5). Some states also are proposing licensure for personal fitness trainers (6). We believe that all of these efforts have resulted in enhancing standards for the personal fitness training profession, but more still needs to be accomplished. Often, employers will hire a personal fitness trainer if he/she possesses a personal fitness trainer certification that is accredited by NCCA or some other accrediting body, assuming that such certification qualifies him/her for the job. Although passing a certification examination that is accredited has raised the bar for entry into the field of personal fitness training, it is important to realize that the preparation an individual receives before sitting for these certification examinations often is limited, for example, attending a 1-day workshop and reviewing self-study materials. 8 ACSM’s HEALTH & FITNESS JOURNAL A | www.acsm-healthfitness.org VOL. 13/ NO. 2 9 Copyright @ 200 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. Unauthorized reproduction of this article is prohibited.
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EDUCATING ANDTRAINING THE PERSONALFITNESS TRAINER:
A Pedagogical Approachby Aaron C. Craig, M.S., HFS, NSCA-CPT, and JoAnn M. Eickhoff-Shemek, Ph.D., FACSM, FAWHP
Learning Objective
• It is important that individuals who want to become personal fit-
ness trainers are well prepared to provide high-quality (safe and
effective) programs for their clients. After reading this article,
health/fitness professionals will learn the key components of an
educational program that was designed to educate and train per-
sonal fitness trainers and incorporated both classroom and real-
9Copyright @ 200 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. Unauthorized reproduction of this article is prohibited.
We believe that personal fitness trainers should not only
develop excellent pedagogical (teaching) skills V a key
function/responsibility of personal fitness training V but also
have their practical skills (i.e., their ability to safety and
effectively apply theory of safe principles of exercise)
adequately evaluated before becoming a personal fitness trainer.
To help develop these specific skills, a pilot program was
implemented at the University of South Florida (USF) called
USF FIT (FIT) for exercise science majors.
The FIT program was implemented as a service-learning
opportunity that represented the major project in one of the
required senior-year professional development courses in the
undergraduate Exercise Science program V PET 4406
Individualized Fitness/Wellness Programming. Service learning
has been defined as ‘‘a teaching/learning method that connects
meaningful community service experiences with academic
learning, personal growth, and civic responsibility’’ (4[p4]).
Service-learning projects have been shown to be effective in
helping students achieve important learning outcomes (13).
FIT was developed on the premise of service-learning theory
that students’ learning experiences would be enhanced as they
are provided opportunities to participate in and respond to real-
life personal training situations within a well-supervised
teaching/learning environment. In this program, students were
immersed in the underlying theory of personal training through
class lecture/activities and, at the same time, were provided
opportunities for direct application of their knowledge, skills,
and abilities (KSAs) through personal training actual clients V
USF College of Education (COE) faculty and staff members V
in the USF Campus Recreation Center. Implementing this
pedagogical approach also provided opportunities for the
students to apply what they learned in course work previously
taken (e.g., exercise physiology, biomechanics, fitness testing/
prescription, strength and conditioning, and program planning
and evaluation) as well as to help prepare them for their full-
time internship the following semester and future jobs. The FIT
program took place in the fall semester, along with three other
courses, before the full-time internship course in the spring
semester.
The purpose of this article is to describe the specific program
planning steps and procedures of the FIT program so that other
professionals will have the necessary information to replicate
such a program. Although implemented in an academic setting,
several aspects of the program can be applied to personal fitness
trainers and coordinators/managers who work in health/fitness
facilities as described later in the article.
STEP 1 V ESTABLISH GOALS ANDLEARNING OBJECTIVES
While developing the goals and learning objectives for the
program, it was critical to focus on student learning outcomes
that would help students acquire both pedagogical and practical
skills. The three major goals of FIT (4) were as follows:
• provide students with an opportunity to learn the theory be-
hind personal training and actively apply it by training actual
clients
• provide practical experiences for students that would prepare
them for success in future internships and/or full-time jobs
• obtain student and client perspectives to evaluate the effec-
tiveness of the program
Learning objectives established for the FIT program are
presented in Table 1.
STEP 2 V DEVELOP CLIENT RECRUITMENT/SELECTIONPROCEDURES, COURSE STRUCTURE, AND
PROGRAM PLANRecruitment and selection V before the beginning of the se-
mester, a mass email was sent to potential clients (USF COE
employees) describing the FIT program as well as enrollment
and eligibility requirements and the like. The subsequent pro-
cedures were followed to determine the eligibility of respon-
dents and then, once selected, match them with student trainers:
• Respondents completed a preactivity health screening ques-
tionnaire. Information from this questionnaire was then used
to classify them into low-, moderate-, and high-risk catego-
ries using ACSM guidelines (2).
• The first 15 COE employees who completed the enrollment
process were selected to participate as clients. Because of the
program being nonmedically supervised, high-risk individu-
als were not accepted as clients but were referred to other
personal training services available that could accommodate
their needs. Moderate-risk individuals were required to
obtain physician clearance as part of the enrollment process.
TABLE 1: FIT Learning ObjectivesUnderstand and appreciate how to bridge the gap between the theoryand practice of personal training
Provide experiences that will lead to success in their internshipsand/or full-time jobs
Increase proficiency in health/fitness testing skills and interpretationof assessment results
Enhance organization, communication, preparation, and timemanagement skills
Develop and augment teaching/training skills
Increase self-confidence and ability to develop safe and effectiveexercise plans for a variety of client populations based onindividual goals
Obtain mastery of ACSM’s KSAs for Certified Health/Fitness Specialist
(Reprinted from: Brathwaite A, Eickhoff-Shemek J. Preparing qualitypersonal trainers: a successful pilot program. The Exercise Standardsand Malpractice Reporter 2007;21(2):25Y31. Copyright B 2007 PRCPublishing Inc. Used with permission.)
VOL. 13/ NO. 2 ACSM’s HEALTH & FITNESS JOURNALA 9
9Copyright @ 200 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. Unauthorized reproduction of this article is prohibited.
• Student trainers (N = 30) were divided into pairs and matched
with clients using various criteria. Pairing was done to create
synergy that would benefit the student trainers and their
clients in terms of creativity, support/resources, and skill sets. In
addition, research has shown that students who worked in pairs
on service-learning projects, compared with those who served
alone, were more likely to show increases in social responsibility
and indicated future plans to continue service to others (14).
Although the student trainers were not directly involved in
the recruitment and selection processes, they did participate in
classroom simulations of these important preactivity health
screening procedures as a part of the course content. The course
was designed for students to meet 2 days per week. Each day,
the class met for 90 minutes and incorporated the following
format each week throughout the semester:
• Day 1: classroom lectures, presentations, and discussions
based on the course textbook (8)
• Day 2: student trainers personal train their client (60-minute
training session followed by 30 minutes of classroom discus-
sion) (Figure 1)
The program plan involved establishing the course activities
for an 11-week period as described next.
Week 1: Initial Consultation andPreYHealth/Fitness AssessmentsIn the initial consultation, student trainers conducted an
9Copyright @ 200 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. Unauthorized reproduction of this article is prohibited.
exercise frequency (10), clients were encouraged to include a
third exercise session during the week on their own time.
Because personal fitness trainers have similar roles and
responsibilities to those of teachers, it is important for personal
fitness trainers to develop good teaching or pedagogical skills.
Therefore, various teaching methods were incorporated into the
FIT program. To help ensure a valuable and productive
‘‘teaching-learning’’ experience (16), student trainers were
required to develop individual exercise plans before each
session (1,15). The development of a written exercise plan
(Figure 2) for each training session was an integral part of the
educational process.
Each exercise plan was submitted to the course instructor for
review and feedback before each exercise session. This review/
feedback process is helpful in the development of pedagogical
skills (15,16). This process focused primarily on ensuring that
student trainers acknowledged the health/fitness goals of their
clients through the established objectives as well as the proper
selection and placement of activities/exercises within the
exercise plan. This process became less time consuming for
the course instructor as student trainers progressively learned to
adapt their clients’ exercise plans for maximum efficiency and
effectiveness. Additionally, the student trainers were continu-
ally supervised by and received ongoing feedback from the
course instructor during the actual training sessions to help
ensure student trainers were properly applying safe and
effective principles of exercise and accommodating client needs
and/or limitations as well as using effective teaching methods.
In addition to preparing exercise plans for each session, it was
important to integrate reflection into this service-learning
experience (1). There are several strategies that can be identified
as contributing to reflection, for example, learning partners, self-
assessment, and learning journals (3). A self-assessment ap-
proach was used in the FIT program to help student trainers
Figure 2. FIT exercise plan.
VOL. 13/ NO. 2 ACSM’s HEALTH & FITNESS JOURNALA 11
9Copyright @ 200 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. Unauthorized reproduction of this article is prohibited.
critically think about the attainment of their exercise KSAs as
well as their evaluation and pedagogical skills. This involved
having them complete a reflection form (Figure 3) after each
training session. The process enabled the student trainers to
immediately recognize the value of preparation in providing an
effective exercise plan/training session for their clients as well as
to address challenges/issues that occurred and make adjustments
for future exercise plans.
The students submitted their reflection forms after each
exercise session to the course instructor to obtain feedback on
their reflection skills. This feedback helped students prepare
more in-depth reflections toward the end of the FIT program
than they did at the beginning of the program.
Week 11: PostYHealth/Fitness Assessments,Celebration of Accomplishments, andCourse EvaluationsUpon completion of the 9 weeks of personal fitness training
9Copyright @ 200 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. Unauthorized reproduction of this article is prohibited.
One of the purposes of the summative evaluation was to
determine if the student learning objectives of the FIT program
(Table 1) had been achieved. Therefore, 6 months after the FIT
program (i.e., 2 months after completion of the students’ full-
time spring semester internship), students were sent a survey to
evaluate the FIT program. The quantitative results presented in
Table 2 indicated that the FIT program was successful in
achieving the learning objectives. The survey also involved
gathering qualitative data, for example, students were asked the
following question: describe how the FIT program prepared
you for your internship and/or professional career. Some of the
most common answers to this question are provided in Table 3.
APPLICATIONS TO PERSONAL FITNESS TRAINERS ANDFITNESS COORDINATORS/MANAGERS
Although FIT was implemented in an academic setting for an
entire semester and designed for students preparing to enter the
profession as a full-time professional, the various components
of FIT can be adapted to benefit personal fitness trainers as well
as fitness coordinators/managers that have the responsibility
and oversight of personal fitness training services offered in
their facilities.
Personal fitness trainers can consider completing exercise
plans and reflection forms using the samples presented in
Figures 2 and 3 as one way to enhance their pedagogical and
training skills. These strategies can be beneficial by
• improving the quality of the services they provide to their
clients and thus improve client satisfaction. For example, by
developing an individualized exercise plan that includes
specific objectives and activities for each training session, it
is more likely that personal fitness trainers will be successful
than if they do not prepare an exercise plan. As the old
saying goes, programs don’t plan to fail, they fail to plan.
• establishing documentation of the client’s exercise program
history for various purposes (e.g., tracking progress, com-
municating results/outcomes periodically with client’s per-
sonal physician, and providing evidence for legal liability
purposes).
Documentation is a ‘‘key’’ risk management strategy (9).
For example, if a client complains about experiencing knee
pain, this could be recorded on the reflection form as well as
what was recommended by the trainer, for example, advising
the client to make an appointment with his/her physician for
diagnosis and treatment.
Fitness coordinators/managers can design a training and
education program similar to FIT for newly hired personal
fitness trainers and/or for individuals who would like to become
personal fitness trainers (trainees). The credentials of the
instructor who would teach the course are important. For
example, the instructor should possess a degree in exercise
science (or related area); be an experienced and successful
personal fitness trainer; and have good organization, commu-
nication, and evaluation skills as well as a genuine passion for
teaching and helping others become successful.
The design of the program will likely be different. The
course may be shorter (perhaps 8 to 10 weeks) and would entail
TABLE 3: FIT Follow-up Survey (6 Months)Qualitative ResultsDescribe how the FIT program prepared you for your internship and/orprofessional career.
• Having to keep files in order seemed like a pain then but hasgreatly prepared me in my line of work as a personal trainer wheremy files are randomly reviewed.
• Working in partners gave me insight on how to work with otherpeople that do not necessarily have the same work ethic, which issomething that will happen again in my professional career.
• The program required us to outline goals of our client andobjectives for each exercise sessionIthis prepared me tounderstand that the exercise sessions were all towardattaining her goals, furthering her education, and adopting ahealthy lifestyle.
• It gave me confidence to work with someone on a one-on-one basis.
• I am grateful for the programIit showed me that I was not asgood as I thought I was as a personal trainer. I think the programwould be an asset for experienced and novice trainers.
(Reprinted from Brathwaite A, Eickhoff-Shemek J. Preparing qualitypersonal trainers: a successful pilot program. The Exercise Standardsand Malpractice Reporter 2007;21(2):25Y31. Copyright B 2007 PRCPublishing Inc. Used with permission.)
The FIT Program prepared me for my internshipand/or full-time job in the following areas:
Means*
• Knowledge and skill of providing personalexercise programs
3.56
• Proficiency with fitness testing skills 3.56
• Proficiency with interpreting results of fitness testing 3.56
• Increased self-confidence 3.56
• Ability to interact/communicate with clients/individuals 3.56
• Improved teaching/training skills 3.78
• Mastery of ACSM KSAs 3.22
• Preparation for ‘‘real world’’ not-so-perfect situations(e.g., clients not showing up, emergencies, timemanagement, and planning)
3.56
• Ability to develop exercise/lesson plans appropriate tomeet the need(s) of clients from various populations
3.67
*Means based on the following scale: 1 = strongly disagree, 2 = disagree,3 = agree, and 4 = strongly agree.(Reprinted from Brathwaite A, Eickhoff-Shemek J. Preparing qualitypersonal trainers: a successful pilot program. The Exercise Standardsand Malpractice Reporter 2007;21(2):25Y31. Copyright B 2007 PRCPublishing Inc. Used with permission.)
VOL. 13/ NO. 2 ACSM’s HEALTH & FITNESS JOURNALA 13
9Copyright @ 200 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. Unauthorized reproduction of this article is prohibited.
a smaller number of student trainers or trainees, (perhaps 4
to 6). To establish the goals, learning objectives, and course
content, it will be necessary for the course instructor to as-
sess the level of KSAs of the trainees before the program so
that the program is then designed to meet the needs of the
trainees.
Although the design and content may be different from
the FIT program, many of the pedagogical strategies described
in this article could easily be included. For example, the ex-
ercise plans and reflection forms could be used as previously
described, and the course instructor could observe trainees while
working with clients to provide feedback from both training
and pedagogical perspectives. Of course, it will be important
to communicate upfront with clients who enroll in the program
that the personal fitness training they will receive is being pro-
vided by trainees with oversight from the course instructor.
Another benefit for fitness coordinators/managers for im-
plementing a program like FIT at their facilities is that the
course also can include instruction on the philosophy and
policies of the personal fitness training program at that facility,
resulting in the trainees understanding their roles and re-
sponsibilities upon hiring and what the facility considers as
important traits of quality personal fitness trainers. Fitness co-
ordinators/managers also may want to involve their experienced
and successful personal fitness trainers as teaching assistants in
this course where they could serve in a mentoring role. This
may be a good way to retain these individuals and recognize
them for their contributions to the facility’s personal fitness
training program.
CONCLUSIONSThe success of any educational program can be generally
determined by how well the program met its established goals
and learning objectives. Based on the results from the eval-
uation, the FIT service-learning program was successful (4).
This educational training program implemented as a service-
learning opportunity not only bridged the gap between theory
and practice for student personal trainers but also provided an
excellent teaching/learning environment with direct hands-on
experiences for them, allowed for regular evaluation and feed-
back regarding their practical skills, and emphasized the
importance of developing important pedagogical skills neces-
sary in the preparation of quality personal fitness trainers.
Because of the success of this pilot program, USF’s exercise
science program has permanently incorporated FIT into its
curriculum and will continue to measure its effectiveness on
important student learning outcomes. It is likely that academic
programs as well health/fitness facilities are using pedagogical
approaches similar to FIT; however, the prevalence of these
programs is unknown. Future research is needed not only to
investigate how prevalent these programs are but also to
determine if the effectiveness of these programs has been
measured.
Aaron C. Craig, M.S., HFS, NSCA-CPT, is a
Ph.D. candidate at the University of South
Florida (USF). From 2004 to 2007, she was
a Ph.D. graduate assistant in the Exercise
Science program at USF where she devel-
oped and taught professional development
courses, served as the internship coordinator,
and developed/implemented the USF FIT program described in
this article. Before that, she managed health education/fitness
programs in hospital/rehabilitation, university, and corporate
settings. She currently works at MacDill Air Force Base in their
Health andWellness Center in Tampa, FL. Her research interests
are in the areas of obesity, body-image issues, and preactivity
health screening. She is ACSM Health/Fitness Specialist�
certified and is a National Strength and Conditioning Associa-
tion Certified Personal Trainer.
JoAnn M. Eickhoff-Shemek, Ph.D., FACSM,
FAWHP, is a professor and the coordinator of
the Exercise Science program at the Univer-
sity of South Florida in Tampa. Dr. Eickhoff-
Shemek’s research focuses on legal liability
and risk management issues in the health/
fitness field. She is the lead author of a new
text entitled Risk Management for Health/Fitness Professionals:
Legal Issues and Strategies published by Lippincott Williams &
Wilkins in October 2008. Dr. Eickhoff-Shemek is the legal
columnist and an associate editor of ACSM’s Health & Fitness
Journal� and is ACSM Health/Fitness Director� certified, an
ACSM Exercise Test TechnologistSM certified, and a Fellow
of ACSM.
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CONDENSED VERSION AND BOTTOM LINE
Quality personal fitness trainers are a much neededcommodity in our field today to help ensure that clientsare receiving safe and effective programs. Attainment of apersonal fitness trainer certification, although important,may not be adequate to prepare a personal fitness trainerfor his/her many responsibilities. It is the ultimateresponsibility of fitness coordinators/managers that haveoversight of personal fitness training services to ensurethat the personal fitness training services provided in theirfacilities are safe and effective. Academic programs thatoffer exercise science programs (or related areas) alsohave a responsibility to ensure that graduates possess thenecessary skills to become successful practitioners. Byincorporating the FIT program planning steps and educa-tional strategies presented in this article, any academicprogram or health/fitness facility can begin to reap themany benefits of an effective educational program thatfocuses on ‘‘educating and training the personal fitnesstrainer.’’
VOL. 13/ NO. 2 ACSM’s HEALTH & FITNESS JOURNALA 15
9Copyright @ 200 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. Unauthorized reproduction of this article is prohibited.