student's journey to personal training

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MARCIA’S journey to Personal Training 6 months subscription for £12, or 12 months for £20 ultra-FIT editor Marcia Chung shares her story as she takes YMCAfit’s PT course SPECIAL OFFER

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ultra-FIT editor Marcia Chung shares her story as she takes YMCAfit’s Personal Trainer course

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Page 1: Student's journey to personal training

MARCIA’S journey

to Personal Training

6 months subscription for £12, or 12 months for £20

ultra-FIT editor Marcia Chung shares her story as she takes YMCAfit’s PT course

SPeCIAl oFFeR

Page 2: Student's journey to personal training

MARCIA’S JouRneY To PeRSonAl TRAInIng

2 Marcia’s Journey

Page 3: Student's journey to personal training

“I’m returning to learning about health and fitness after a 15 year gap. I used to teach aerobics (I had an YMCA Exercise to Music qualification) and used to take my work colleague through fitness activities whilst I worked for Nationwide. I also competed at a high level

as a hurdler and have athletic coaching qualifications. I began working for ultra-FIT magazine two years ago as Subscriptions and Business Manager because I wanted to return to the fitness industry and be able to assist with the development of the magazine across various areas. Working for ultra-FIT I am very aware how fast fitness knowledge changes and felt that I needed to update my skills in accordance with the latest developments. I chose the YMCAfit course because of previous positive experiences with the organisation.

Despite working for ultra-FIT – or perhaps because of it, which adds pressure – I am slightly apprehensive about returning to learning after a long period. I’m used to a classroom environment – so it will be a challenge to learn through the internet for the eLearning part of the course. However, I do have at ultra-FIT a ready made bank of knowledge from team members that should be able to help me on my journey to becoming a qualified PT. Having said that I feel doubly confident as the YMCAfit team offer a blended learning team who will answer queries on the phone from Monday - Friday, 9am - 5pm and I can also email them if I am struggling.

The course has seven modules – ranging from Gym Instructor to Fitness Testing, Exercise Nutrition to Outdoor Fitness. I’ll be taking the modular route. This allows me to complete each module one at a time fitting around my full time job. I decided to follow this method as it best suits my busy lifestyle (blame ultra-FIT). As you read this I will have already taken the first module (Gym Instructor). The practical training will enable me to provide safe and effective workouts for all gym attendees. I will be looking into teaching the correct technique on all gym equipment and devising short-term training programmes whilst the home study will look at Anatomy and Physiology and Principles of Exercise.

I was very impressed by the service I received by the course sales advisors when I made my enquiries. They have even planned out a route for my learning over the next seven months.

In my next diary report I’ll let you know how I got on at the gym instructors weekend and with the eLearning.”

...YMCAfit Advanced Diploma Personal Training Course (level 3)

Diary: Apr 11

We follow ultra-FIT’s Marcia

Chung as shetakes the...

3Marcia’s Journey

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I came up with a ‘lc fartlek’ workout (Fartlek is Swedish and means ‘speed play’) on the rowing machine for her. I picked editor John Shepherd’s brain about this – knowing that he has rowed four times in the world Indoor Rowing Championships – after he confused me by talking about ‘drag coefficients’ and I explained that such detail was not necessary for a beginner’s type programme I came up with a routine that I hope will do the job.

As well as the first weekend I also did a further Saturday and Sunday weekend module a week later, where we increased our knowledge of gym training and instruction – the emphasis was this time placed on more specific teaching points – how to interact with the client and instruct, for example. There was also an emphasis on resistance training and energy systems. Most, if not all, is covered in the extensive course workplans so there is plenty of back-up material.

I’m just about managing to fit in my learning and have been going through what I have to do on my forthcoming Gym Instructor assessment day with my guinea pig (my brother). You know what to expect, so if you pay attention on the modules you should not be out of your comfort zone when it comes to the big day. I also have to take a multiple-choice exam, which in my case comes a good few weeks after the practical. There are two papers and they are 50 minutes each. In terms of what comes next, I’ll be moving onto Exercise Nutrition by the middle of the summer.”

Diary: May 2011

“It was with a little trepidation that I went to the Southbank Club, London, for the Gym Instructor Module a few weeks a go – which ran all day Friday, Saturday and Sunday. It had been nearly two decades since I’d done any formal learning – so there were a few butterflies as I turned onto the Wandsworth Road and entered the club. But I need not have worried, as I was immediately made welcome, together with the other 25 students. Most students were in their twenties, but older age groups were represented and there was certainly a diversity of backgrounds.

Some students had lots of personal training and fitness knowledge acquired through their own training exploits, whilst others were learning about exercise for pretty much the first time. There was even someone from a rival fitness magazine! We began at the ‘start’ as it were and were taken through warm up protocols before progressing onto how to use equipment – resistance and CV. The structure of the days was varied...

We were constantly on the go between theory and practical. One of the aims of the first module was to learn how to construct a 60 minute gym programme for the person I was paired with (I was partnered with a very good standard triathlete).

“ Last issue I talked about how my PT learning journey got underway. I was booked on the course with plenty of assistance from helpful YMCAfit staff. As you may recall I chose the modular route with eLearning parts. I made this choice so that I could fit my learning around my work.”

4 Marcia’s Journey

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STARTIng ouT

“Some students had lots of personal training and fitness

knowledge acquired through their own training exploits, whilst

others were learning about exercise for pretty much the first time. There was even someone from a rival fitness magazine!”

5Marcia’s Journey

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ReTuRnIng To STudYIngAll my theory study has been achieved through eLearning. The YMCAfit eLearning programme for the Gym Instructor Module has eight chapters and they cover obviously what I’ll be tested on.

Each module ends with a quiz containing 10 questions to help confirm learning. There are 4-5 chapters within each module. I find the eLearning is well-written and easy to understand. This is helped by moving pictures, for example a graphic which shows the flow of blood through the heart. I am a visual learner and this has helped significantly.”

6 Marcia’s Journey

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One of the key components was interval training on a rowing machine. It’s important to find out what your client likes as this will more than likely lead to the most positive exercise adaptations and enjoyment whilst working out. The result? I passed and I received some very positive feedback. I was obviously very pleased with this.

Returning to studying – as I’ve said before – has been a bit of a challenge, but I am enjoying the process. It also got me thinking back to when I took my original Exercise to Music qualification with YMCAfit over a decade a go. I used to teach aerobics and step classes part-time around my work in the financial industry. Today the learning process is completely different as you have the chance to be in a class environment and then there’s the eLearning. In the past we had books and we didn’t also have health and safety to the same extent as we do today! Now that I’m ‘re-learning’ – this is perhaps making my learning easier as things are coming back to me, for example on the muscles and skeleton.

After the Gym Instructor theory exam I will be moving onto Exercise Nutrition and Advanced Training modules. I won’t know exactly what this involves until I get my results from the first module, which is compulsory and you need this to move onto the other modules. On passing this students are then able to be more selective in what they learn, for example you could focus on Exercise to Music – or as I am doing the further elements of the Advanced Diploma in Personal Training Course.”

“It’s been a difficult period recently in terms of studying and working. Deadlines for the magazine have been seemingly coming around more quickly than they should and have unfortunately for me, clashed with my exams. As I write this I’ve just spent the weekend focussing on my revision for the multiple-choice Gym Instructor assessment in the following week – on the very day that this issue has to go to print. Hopefully it’ll have all gone to plan (otherwise you may not be reading this!).

YMCAfit provide 2 mock exams, which is part of the eLearning process. I printed these off – they are multiple-choice papers. I will have 50 minutes to complete the test for real. One paper will be on Anatomy and Physiology for Exercise and Health and the second on Principles of Exercise, Fitness and Health – both level 2 exams. Each has 40 questions and the pass mark is 70%. I did well on the mock exam although I was told that the actual exam will be a lot tougher – this was probably said to keep me motivated! For the first paper I have to know about the energy, muscular and nervous systems.

I’ve already taken the practical for the Gym Instructor Module. I took my brother along as a guinea pig. I had to go through a 60 minutes workout (on the day they move you to the next section when they have seen enough so it was about 40 minutes) that I had prepared. YMCAfit tutors assessed my practical – they did so very seriously! I guess this was because they did not want to indicate how students were doing. Specifically I took my brother through a workout designed to improve CV fitness and reduce body fat.

Diary: Jun 2011

7Marcia’s Journey

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ReSulTS TIMe

8 Marcia’s Journey

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Hooray....I passed!

Diary: Jul 2011

“I’ll be moving onto Exercise Nutrition and Advanced

Training Modules over the next few weeks”

“ Since my last diary entry I have had the results for the theory which consisted of two multiple choice exams (Level 2 Anatomy and Physiology and Level 2 Principles of Exercise).”

“So, in addition to the successfully completed practical assessment and worksheets, I am now qualified to teach in a gym. Through gaining this qualification, I’m allowed to work with people between the ages of 16 – 59 as guidelines require you to take special courses to deal with children or older adults. I had a ‘taster’ session of how I would need to modify sessions for older adults, pregnant ladies etc. but if I wish to specialise with these demographics then further training would be required.

The pass-marks for the multiple-choice Gym Instructor papers were set at 70%. The questions are generally easy to understand – there are of course a couple of answers that could be either one or the other and these are thrown in to make you think. However, with the excellent teaching resources on the eLearning site, I was fairly confident that I would be ok.”

9Marcia’s Journey

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WHAT’S neXT?

10 Marcia’s Journey

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There are four possible answers for each question and each paper lasts 50 minutes. In all there were 40 questions, but I finished each early. If you know your stuff you will go through the questions quickly.

To prepare we were given mock multiple-choice papers (self-marked). These were part of YMCAfit’s comprehensive eLearning resources.

We also had two worksheets to do entitled, ‘Know how to support clients who take part in exercise and physical activity’ and ‘Health, safety and welfare in a fitness environment’. These involved about 15 questions and we had to write our answers. An example question that I encountered was to list ‘Potential barriers to effective communication’. I had to indicate that as a Gym Instructor I had good listening skills and was able to deal with social and cultural differences.

The later worksheet required me to answer questions on ‘Key responsibilities for health and safety in a fitness organisation and their roles.’ For this, I had to write about knowing what the responsibilities for a duty manager in a gym are. I also had to know about all of the security procedures in a fitness environment, such as, switching kit on and off, checking alarms, lighting and ensuring equipment is fit for purpose. These worksheets were filled in online through the eLearning system and then marked externally. As these worksheets are done at home you are able to refer to factsheets and prior learning material.

What’s next?

I’ll be moving onto Exercise Nutrition and the Advanced Training Modules over the next few weeks. I’ll need to go on a three-day long-weekend module in early July for the former and there is further eLearning and multiple weekend attendance for the latter. Before getting underway, I was conscious about losing my weekends, but actually it’s been really fun. I get to do a lot of workouts and have met interesting people with a passion for fitness, like myself. I’m expecting these upcoming courses to be much harder as they are working towards a level 3 qualification.

How I learn?

In terms of coping with the learning process my main difficulties have been in combining my study with working at the magazine. When I was preparing for the exams I was studying everyday and had to focus more fully on weekends. My way of learning involved writing my own notes, as I find it easier to learn this way. I’d then read through these when travelling into work for example. I’ve had a bit of downtime recently from study and this has been well-needed but I’m now ready to get going again and excited about the challenges ahead.”

Diary: Jul 2011

11Marcia’s Journey

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Diary: Aug 2011

“There were about 20 people doing the course. These came from various backgrounds and included two people who have been following the same modular route as me on the Level 3 YMCAfit Advanced Diploma in Personal Training. It was quite nice to see familiar faces on the first morning. As I have indicated there are many routes to get this full Advanced Diploma in Personal Training qualification and these depend on the way you order your modules. The course advisors were more than happy to help me organise the right route for me and the flexibility to change dates around has been a real help, it’s nice that they understand that people are trying to train around a full time job.

The Exercise Nutrition module incorporated a lot of information over a short period of time. It was certainly intensive learning over these three days. The tutors Lincoln and Trevor managed to do this in a fun way keeping our attention by encouraging interaction both as a class and in small groups. You could tell that they had a really good rapport which made the process of studying significantly more enjoyable.

On the first weekend we began by learning about the principles of nutrition, macronutrients such as fats, proteins and carbohydrates and micronutrients primarily vitamins and minerals. The principle of weight maintenance is fundamentally quite simple in that if you consume more calories than you burn throughout a day, you will eventually gain weight.

However, this course gives you specific detail into the content of the different food groups and how 1g of carbohydrates will give you 4 kcal of energy whilst 1g of fat will give you 9 kcal and therefore it will take you a lot more effort to expend the calories taken in from fat consumption. The course also gives the students a platform to discuss the various diets that they have either heard about, or in a couple of situations were currently undertaking, namely high protein diets for increased muscle bulk or carbfree diets for weight loss. This developed into a healthy debate with specific pros and cons for these low carb diets, but the general consensus was that eating a healthy well-balanced diet is the best long-term solution.

The assessment for this course is a case study and a multiple choice theory paper (yes another one!). The case study will involve using my brother again as a guinea pig to complete a food diary which I shall analyse and give recommendations based on healthy eating guidelines, his current fitness status and his specific personal goals. He will have to complete a food diary for 5 days including a weekend and I’ll use this to tailor a healthier plan.

He’s moderately active, but I will have my work cut out, as he does not like fruit and veg! It is important to distinguish that following this course, I will be qualified to give general recommendations on what food types to eat and the options of food within each food group, but will not be able to specifically dictate the exact food to be eaten as this is the role of a dietician.

We now have one month to study for the assessment. This should be more than enough time as I feel

“ Having passed the level 2 Gym Instructor Module, I now moved on to the Exercise Nutrition Module or more specifically the CYQ Level 3 Certificate in Nutrition and Weight Management. This has required me to attend three days of training consisting of a full weekend and the following Saturday.”

12 Marcia’s Journey

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So I’m going to busy over the next few weeks, watching what I eat (it becomes very difficult to not analyse your own food intake after doing this course), but more particularly what my brother eats – in fact what anybody eats…!”

eXeRCISe nuTRITIon

13Marcia’s Journey

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SPoRT SPeCIFIC TRAInIng

skills in areas such as sales and marketing, financial information and forecasting, however the idea behind the Business Skills module is to specifically relate it to the work of a personal trainer. We learnt, for example, about the various ways that we could operate our business such as a sole trader, a partnership, a limited company and a franchise.”

“Since my last diary entry I have been very busy. I have taken the YMCAfit Exercise Nutrition exam, have prepared a nutritional case study and have attended the Business Skills module. This took place over three days.

Having worked in the past for a bank as a business development manager, I had a foundation of

Diary: Sep 2011

14 Marcia’s Journey

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Business plans

“The assessment for this course is to devise a business plan for my prospective personal training business. This really allows all of the students to think about the bigger picture of personal training and establish a clear plan of how we are going to be successful in this career.

Any watchers of Dragon’s Den will know how important it is to have a grasp on numbers and projections for a successful business, this is no different! I had to research market demand so that I could uniquely fit myself into the prospective market and give myself every chance of being successful. The plan had to cover the first three years of the business and we also needed a mission statement which encapsulated the direction and ethos of the business, ultimately coming up with our own ‘unique selling point’.

The group was a mixture of those employed and unemployed with a variety of interesting and innovative ideas for their businesses’. Having an experienced tutor like Richard Merrick, who had been a successful personal trainer prior to tutoring, offered a fantastic sounding board for our ideas. He was embracing of all of the ideas, but offered little bits of advice to those who were either short of ideas or possibly over-ambitious to ensure that everyone was developing a blueprint for success.

Sports specific training

I targeted sports specific training as the key focus of my business. Coming from a background in athletics and having coached hurdlers in particular, I felt this was my best option at developing my ‘USP’. There seems to be a need for fitness professionals who really know about the needs of sports training and conditioning and I plan to use my knowledge to develop training programmes for fitness and performance enhancing needs. I’m particularly looking forward to the sports conditioning module to pick up a few new ideas to help me with this.

The really great thing about the Business Skills Modules is that it has got me to think ahead about what I am interested in, and how I will become as successful as possible. After completion of the Advanced Diploma in Personal Training course, I intend to take further sports and fitness qualification that are relevant to my business plan goal, such as Pilates. I believe that Pilates offers sportsmen and sportswomen a highly valuable adjunct to their training, one that will reduce potential injury and maintain relevant core strength and flexibility. Most sports teams and athletes now tend to incorporate this into their training schedules.

Time management

The course advisors were fairly honest with me from the start when they told me that at times the workload would be challenging, particularly holding down a full time job. They’re not wrong; the pressure has definitely ramped up on me over the last month. I am trying to keep on top of my nutrition study requirements, whilst also having to consider the requirements of the business module. The nutrition case study is particularly intensive. I think being told in advance that at times it will be tough as opposed to being sold the world to get you to join has helped to prepare my mindset for these busy times. I have also started the Advanced Training module that takes place over four weekends. What with the demands of work I have not had the amount of time I would like to really study and I have become very aware of what ‘time-management’ means, which I guess is another learning curve for the life of a personal trainer.”

15Marcia’s Journey

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Diary: Oct 2011

“After months of hard work it’s great to see that I am now at least partially qualified on my quest to become a leading fitness professional. It may only be one of the seven modules, but I am well on my way. So as we currently stand, I’ve just spent the last four weekends completing the Advanced Training module. Many people have said that this module really starts to make you feel like a personal trainer and I can see what they mean. We looked at various training approaches including resistance training, periodised programming, CV training methods, core stability and training in different environments. This broad spectrum covers the vast majority of scenarios that a personal trainer will encounter and prepares you for training people in the gym, at their home or even in their office.

Hard workouts

We learnt about a variety of weight training approaches to make our sessions interesting and challenging. We looked at approaches such as pyramids and supersets. We also did negative training where you have to exercise with a weight that is heavier than you can lift; yes it’s as taxing as it sounds! Through experiencing the physical exertions it will help us to gain a greater understanding of what we are expecting our clients to do. It’s fair to say that I was a little sore on the Monday mornings! As part of the assessment, we have to develop a 12 week progressive training plan. To practice, we split into small groups, with each group designing their own plan. With all of the modules thus far, it has been really fascinating working with such a variety of people. Within any group work, you’ll invariably work with people from different training backgrounds and with different passions and fitness ideals. This can really broaden

your own views on fitness as people passionately enthuse about the benefits of mixed martial arts, rock climbing or even street dance.

I’m not promising to try them all, but at least I’m more aware of them now. I’m fast progressing through these modules now and although I’d admit that it has been demanding at times, the nearer that I get to completing, the more I value all of the work that I have put in.

Tri-ing to plan

I’m now putting together my 12 week plan. My ‘client’ is a triathlete whose 12 week goal is to complete an Olympic distance triathlon – she has a 6 month goal of a marathon and... 4 months later she wants to complete an Ironman triathlon. Perhaps it would have been easier if my client just wanted to lose weight! However, I do love a challenge. So after doing my SMART goal analysis I sat down and constructed my master plan! For once working for ultra-FIT did have its uses as I was able to study information on elite triathletes from the magazine, such as Tim Don and the Brownlee brothers, and develop a relevant programme for the individual who, fortunately, was already an accomplished triathlete.

Looking ahead, I had an interesting chat with Justin Bailly – one of the great team of YMCAfit’s tutors. Justin has been tutoring for the ‘Y’ for over 5 years having been a PT. He became a tutor combining his vast practical experience with a specific teaching qualification. I discovered that YMCAfit actually run courses to train the trainers – and this is something that I may look into after I’ve got my Advanced Diploma. I know it’s going to be more study, but hey, I’ve got the bug.”

“ I write this in a fairly buoyant mood today. Just before I sat down at my laptop, the postman arrived with my Level 2 Certificate in Fitness Instructing (Gym based exercise) certificate from YMCAfit… yippee!”

16 Marcia’s Journey

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PlAnnIng WoRkouTS

“The nearer that I get to completing, the more I value all

of the work that I have put in”

17Marcia’s Journey

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THe FInAl STRAIgHT

“ So by the New Year I will be a fully qualified personal trainer and looking to put my skills into practice”

18 Marcia’s Journey

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“I’ve been very busy since my last diary entry. I’ve completed Outdoor Fitness and have attended the Sports Conditioning module. I’ll start with Outdoor Fitness which took place in the glorious Regents Park. I say glorious, as it took place during the Indian summer that we experienced in late September. This course basically trains you to take outdoor circuits or ‘bootcamp’ classes which are becoming increasingly prevalent. My own local park runs this style of class every Saturday morning, come run, hail or shine!

Useful tips

An interesting facet to the course was how teaching classes can help you to generate clients for your personal trainer sessions. A suggestion was to teach your class whilst wearing a promotional t-shirt which means you are marketing yourself to everyone within the park, not just your class attendees. One major benefit I have found from training at YMCAfit is the experience and expertise of all of the tutor team, not just in terms of their teaching quality, but also in giving us useful advice based on their experience as instructors. The class we taught encouraged us to use the environment including trees and benches as well as our equipment such as cones and bands. I was delighted to pass the assessment and received quite nice feedback from my group.

For the Sports Conditioning module we analysed specific sporting movements in order to design appropriate training programmes for prospective clients who play sports. We also looked at how we would develop the fundamental motor skills which often form the basis of any sporting movement

pattern. For my assessment, I will be creating two sessions that are specific to the sport of my choice - tennis. I chose this sport because it’s a tough, stop-start anaerobic one that requires many sports conditioning elements.

Revision day

Once I’ve completed the Sports Conditioning module in terms of the case study, I will have just one more element of the Advanced Diploma in Personal Training to complete, the Level 3 Anatomy and Physiology module. I deliberately left this to last, as I wanted to be able to focus exclusively on it without being distracted by other course study elements. This is one of the strong points of the course in that you can complete many of the modules in an order that suits you. Although the Level 3 Anatomy and Physiology is primarily done online, I do plan to book a revision day. This is a really useful offering on the part of YMCAfit as it allows me additional tutor access to go over the elements of learning that I need help with as well as taking a mock paper.

The final straight

So by the New Year I will be a fully qualified personal trainer and looking to put my skills into practice. Due to my workload with ultra-FIT (January is a very busy time for us) it’ll probably be the springtime and some outdoor workouts to kick off my new qualification. The business skills that I have learnt will no doubt be put into good use as I look to establish a client base and my specific niche as a new YMCAfit Advanced Personal Trainer graduate.”

Diary Nov 11

“ I can’t believe that it’s been 10 months since I first started on the road to becoming a fully qualified personal trainer with YMCAfit. The initial apprehension I felt has subsided. It has been replaced with a determination to use all of the hard work that I’ve put in over the seven required modules, to develop a new and exciting venture.”

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Diary Dec 2011

“Here at ultra-FIT, I’m flat out due to the New Year’s fitness rush with advertisers and subscribers all contributing to making my phone red hot! So I must admit that I’ve had less time than I’d like to focus on my studies. Although my foot has slipped off the pedal of late, I’m still confident that I’ll finish by the end of January. I’ve got two case studies and one exam left to go. My plan for the Christmas break is to get my studies all wrapped up along with the presents.

Time to reflect

At the end of each year, it is nice to reflect on what you have achieved, what you’ve learnt and what you want to do in the year to come, often in the form of the invariably unachievable New Year’s resolution. This time last year, I made that traditional pledge. I will train to become a personal trainer. Amazingly, one year on and I’m almost there. So now with a chance to reflect, it has dawned on me what a fantastic and worthwhile journey this has been.

Initially, I admit, I was a little hesitant about returning to studying after such a long time. I had a full time job and other commitments too, but the flexible methods of learning have certainly helped. I’ve been able to spread the modules out to fit in with my schedule and have really benefited from the variety of teaching styles employed by YMCAfit’s very impressive tutor team. The YMCAfit tutors made the days really fun. You were learning but it often didn’t seem like you were and some days flew past which, considering we were often sacrificing our weekends to attend the courses, was a welcome surprise.

The majority of courses had significant amounts of practical content. As students, we were required to push ourselves to the limits that we will push many of our clients. This included running until my lungs were sore, lifting weights until they were burning and jumping and bounding until the simplest of steps became a chore. It was nonetheless part of the learning process which is of paramount importance if we are to effectively devise training programmes.

In addition, we learnt all of the theory behind all of our practical instruction. The hardest element for me was the level 3 exam which required learning the anatomical names of the body’s muscles – of which there are over 800 – although fortunately, we only had to memorise about 50! We also had to learn about the insertions and origins of muscles and planes of movement and muscular actions. The Exercise Nutrition was, for me, the most interesting theoretical aspect of the course. It opens your eyes to how people can easily be misled as to what they are eating, as a simple cursory glance at the packaging may not always suffice.”bring on 2012.

“ So Christmas has snuck up on us this year hasn’t it? One thing that hasn’t snuck up on me is the last parts of the Advanced Diploma in Personal Training, in fact I’ve been thinking about them quite a bit, sadly thinking being the operative word.”

20 Marcia’s Journey

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MARCIA’S PT JouRneY

“Some students had lots of personal training and fitness

knowledge acquired through their own training exploits, whilst

others were learning about exercise for pretty much the first time. There was even someone from a rival fitness magazine!”

TIMe To ReFleCT

Advice

If you’re thinking of taking YMCAfit’s Advanced Diploma in Personal Training, here are my tips:

1 If you are going to try to fit the modules around your current work, then devise a plan and stick to it. Without a plan, it can be too easy to put things off. Speak to the Course Advisors at YMCAfit who were fantastic at helping to arrange my schedule.

2 Get familiar with personal trainers in your local gym. By gaining an understanding of the job they do, you’ll know the lifestyle that you are working towards. This may help with your motivation, particularly during the tougher times.

3 Make friends on the course. It not only makes the learning experience more fun, but also may benefit you in the future because someone in your group is likely to one day hold the elusive tag of ‘celebrity trainer’. For those who have followed my journey over the last few months on this courses, it goes without saying that I would strongly recommend YMCAfit to any budding fitness professionals. I’ve been impressed throughout, epitomised by my desire to carry on training with them in future, I’m thinking Yoga may be the next step! The next ultra-fit article that I write.... will be written by Personal Trainer Marcia Chung. With my 2011 New Year’s resolution almost achieved, bring on 2012.

21Marcia’s Journey

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WORLD CLASS TRAINING

SINCE 1984

YMCAfit is the UK’s most established training provider of fitness qualifications. Whether it’s personal training or aerobics, yoga or Pilates, a career in fitness is diverse and rewarding. Completing one of our qualifications will allow you to gain employment in some of the top gyms in the UK and across the world, or to launch and run a business of your own. In fact, there’s never been a better time to make your move in the fitness industry.

Not for profit. Registered charity no. 1001043. Registered in England and Wales no. 2551972

WE OFFER A VAST SELECTION OF FITNESS COURSES INCLUDING:

Personal Trainer | Gym Instructor | Exercise to Music | STOTT PILATES® |

Yoga | Plus over 30 CPD courses

start your journey

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