“The majority of people know that exercise is one of the most helpful things they can do to improve their health. A majority of people are not exercising regularly,” said Doug Miller at Messiah College. He says the Exercise Science major has grown over the last ten years at the college. A lot of those students have become personal fitness trainers. The course load for a four-year degree is not easy. “Exercise physiology, kinesiology, exercise testing and prescription, exercise psychology are just some of the classes. said Miller.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor statistics, there are more than 12,000 fitness trainers in Pennsylvania with about 1,700 in south central Pennsylvania. There are some websites that can be found for personal training and wellness coaches which allow you to pay, take a test online, and get a certification. What is unclear is what certifications all these trainers and wellness coaches have. In Pennsylvania, trainers don’t have to be licensed or registered with the state. Many pay seventy dollars and get some course material consisting of twenty-one chapters. Then all they had to do was take a forty-question test in less than an hour. The person only needs fifty percent to pass. A lot of the questions were easy to Google according to a correspondent with Fox 43 news. Without studying at all, the correspondent passed with a score of eight-two. With no actual gym time and just a computer to look up the answers, people can say that they are “a certified personal trainer.” Yeah, that’s definitely a problem.” Experts in the industry say someone without the proper knowledge, should not be training people. "The lawsuits that have come as a result of negligence on the part of trainers mostly are trainers now pre-assessing whether or not the person was ready for what they exposed them to," said Miller. Here are some of the questions the experts say you should be asking a trainer:
1. What are your accreditations? Also, ask to see the proof. Here are some of the best: CSCS, NASM, NSCA, ACE, and ACSM
2. You should also be asking that the trainer about their area of expertise and if they have different types of methods, solife. This is your health," said Miller. you don't get bored.
3. Finally, ask them what their goals are for you.