Personal Training Practicum-learning by doing,experience is the best teacher.................

For about six or so years I have been teaching for a great small company called 'Inshape Training' at the Bentall Athletic Club.I mostly teach the Personal Training Practicum, in addition to workshops and subbing the odd weight training class.

Teaching is enormously rewarding and I am even happier to be associated with a certification body like the CFES [Canadian Fitness Education Services] The CFES gives me the opportunity to share my ten years of experience as one of the Senior Trainers/Coaches Richmond Olympic Oval as well as various Community centres, Colleges you name it-most of whom have asked me to come and work for them.

The best thing about the CFES is the goal of giving the students the skills that will get them employed-something missing from a lot of other companies who are only interested in sucking money out of those entering this profession [and do not even get me started about 'so called' online programs.Nothing beats good old hands on experience] especially the hard won experience from those of us who have actually been in the trenches for years training people..real flesh and blood people week in and week out,year after amazing year.I've literally trained hundreds and hundreds of people, everything from Border Guards,Police Officers,Moms,Seniors, Tri Athletes and even a bronze medal winning Paralympic Athlete. ..With one eye on the future of this profession and a commitment to make this industry better than it is keeps my blood circulating and my passion high,in addition to striving to learn more myself-'The best Teacher is also the best student' comes to mind.

It might make an interesting blog post to talk about what we do in a 21 hour practicum,and give some insight on the whole process.

Each session the students are given a scenario,it contains all of the assessments etc. to get someone started.This is our starting point. Day one in our Practicum the students sit down in a group and after getting them to give a brief intro on why they want to be a Trainer we get down to business... and it all starts with one simple question I pose......

"What is the first thing we want to do with this client?"

There is always a pause and then one brave student takes the bait, blurting out:

" A warm up on the elliptical!"

Me: " Er ..no...not what I'm after here.."

Another student chimes in with :" Jumping jacks!"

Again I shake my bald forehead no.

The students look more confused and then sometimes someone gets it..

" Uhhh you...talk to them first..Maybe?"

BINGO!!! Now the ball is rolling.And now the doors have opened and hopefully so have the minds...one of the concepts I stress is the value of empathy and how the psychological aspects of training an individual is the most important thing I can leave them with. Getting to know the goals and indeed the hopes of those who have chosen you as a trainer is the key to getting to where you need to go.

Taking the the CFES educational materials as our jumping off point we explore the various ways we can further our understanding of what the 'best practices' for this particular individual will be. The fun part for me as an educator is watching the students eyes light up when they 'get' a particular concept or exercise that never occurred to them.That is precisely what it is about.You are not going to train a Post natal woman like you would train a 27 year old Tough Mudder competitor.Concepts that are stressed are cueing and communication-big things with me.I always emphasize :"Get the client to feel where their force,energy effort etc. is coming from.Don't just be a rep counter."

After a series of demonstrations,and having the students work with each other I sit the students down for the final half hour and give them career advice.For me it's the most important thing I can do.Through that I can instill the qualities of professionalism which I truly believe will carry them much further than knowing how to set up a deadlift.I talk about respect for their craft, blocking the ego to allow learning and how to always get the best in continuing education and never be afraid to spend the money, anything spent on high quality comes back to you a thousand fold.I also am notoriously realistic about the pros and cons of a career as a Trainer and how if your passion guides you then any obstacles to doing this are meaningless. I follow up with the students via e mail with links and videos and am happy to say I still hear from students I had years ago.Even better is when I can help the students get employed..I have helped many students go on to Community Centres,private Gyms or even just volunteer

Getting to dispel a lot of the myths that are so prevalent in today's wild west of the Fitness Industry matters too.With so much information available to everyone at any time of day the navigation of this profession is fraught with landmines of fake gurus,misinformation, and stuff that is downright dangerous to a novice Trainer.Through our practical hands on example I hope that we can make the path clearer for them.