Exercise, Health Studies and Personal Training

hot tamale · 13-02-2010 5:58pm #1

Hi,

I was wondering if anyone completed the National Qualification in Exercise, Health Studies and Personal Training in the National Training College?

If so would you recommend it? What are employment opportunities and wages like once completed?

It is nearly €2000 and I would appreciate any information before I commit.

Thanks!

JJayoo · 13-02-2010 6:19pm

Ddo you have a link to their website, Im too lazy to google

hot tamale · 13-02-2010 6:23pm

http://www.ntc.ie/course.php?id=1239196549

JJayoo · 13-02-2010 6:46pm

Thanks

If it was in Galway then i would be interested:(

d-sher · 13-02-2010 8:12pm

Would suggest you check out www.schoolofsport.com before committing to anything. Just checked out the scope of both courses and The National Diploma in Personal Training, Health Management & Team Fitness from school of sport seems to be way more comprehensive in my opinion.

Not sure how their certification is viewed though in comparison to NTC's. Someone here may have more info on it? That may be a potential deal breaker but purely based on Course content School of sport looks marginally better.

Hope this helps

Chet Zar · 14-02-2010 4:15pm

The NTC course is good - it's also accredited by the EHFA

Chris89 · 14-02-2010 4:49pm

It is a great pity that completing this course qualifies you as a fitness professional in Ireland.

I Failed the course on the basis that my step aerobics class was muck, got a's and high b's in every other module, failed the step aerobics practical and my circuit was branded as "too tiring" by one of the assesors.

Unfortunately, if you want to work in the industry, you pretty much need this. But if you can any way afford not to do this, dont do it. It is crap

My squat technique was also poor because i held the bar too low on my back (apparently it needs to be on your kneck) and i went lower that 90 degrees.

RacoonQueen · 14-02-2010 5:08pm

I never understand why all these courses require you to pass the 'exercise to music' module when some people have no interest or no intention of teaching classes and most gyms will send you to specific courses for each class anyway.

I was brutal at teaching aerobics, had no interest in it whatsoever but had I been given body conditioning as my exam I'd have aced it as I had an interest in body conditioning as opposed to dancing around a room shouting encouragement. :rolleyes:

cmyk · 14-02-2010 5:32pm

hot tamale wrote: »

Hi,

I was wondering if anyone completed the National Qualification in Exercise, Health Studies and Personal Training in the National Training College?

If so would you recommend it? What are employment opportunities and wages like once completed?

It is nearly €2000 and I would appreciate any information before I commit.

Thanks!

I'm currently doing this course and finding it pretty good and comprehensive. I believe the curriculum has changed quite dramatically over the last few terms too.

I can't really comment on wages or employment opportunities once finished, but as with any industry, experience, personality, ambition, skill and hard work will determine that. In terms of price of the course, I think it's extremely good value for money. I primarily work in the design industry at the moment, and courses can be as much as 1000e+ per week.

Chris89 wrote: »

But if you can any way afford not to do this, dont do it. It is crap

That's a very positive statement, can't understand how you can have that view? Not sure what you mean about the squat as it was taught to us quite well?

I also as a guy, don't have much of an interest in the ETM module and it takes up too high a % of the overall course time, but it is a bit of a laugh, and (without jinxing myself) have heard it's not that difficult to pass.

Chris89 · 14-02-2010 7:55pm

cmyk wrote: »

I'm currently doing this course and finding it pretty good and comprehensive. I believe the curriculum has changed quite dramatically over the last few terms too.

I can't really comment on wages or employment opportunities once finished, but as with any industry, experience, personality, ambition, skill and hard work will determine that. In terms of price of the course, I think it's extremely good value for money. I primarily work in the design industry at the moment, and courses can be as much as 1000e+ per week.

That's a very positive statement, can't understand how you can have that view? Not sure what you mean about the squat as it was taught to us quite well?

I also as a guy, don't have much of an interest in the ETM module and it takes up too high a % of the overall course time, but it is a bit of a laugh, and (without jinxing myself) have heard it's not that difficult to pass.

Im not too sure how you dont understand how i have that view, i spent two thousand euro, gave up my weekends for a year. I was the only one out of my class (bar one or two) that had any sense and in some case interest.. in fitness.

I was told i failed my ex to music module, dad to repeat in Limerick (i live in dublin) missed the first day of oxygen had to drag a mate down to limerick as a body for the test. Failed the test again, dont know how, basic as piss step class that definitely wasnt an A but by now means was <40%.

Wrote them a long letter, asking for some sort of justification of how my exam warranted a fail grade. no reply.

There is a very small amount of gym instructors (from my personal experience) in ireland, that have any real idea how to make someone fitter or stronger. The ones that do know how, have a great deal more qualifications that the ncef or the ncehs or whatever.

Also, two out of my three course instructors were considerably overweight. You wouldnt learn to sing from a mute.

Transform · 14-02-2010 8:12pm

Chris89 wrote: »

Im not too sure how you dont understand how i have that view, i spent two thousand euro, gave up my weekends for a year. I was the only one out of my class (bar one or two) that had any sense and in some case interest.. in fitness.

I was told i failed my ex to music module, dad to repeat in Limerick (i live in dublin) missed the first day of oxygen had to drag a mate down to limerick as a body for the test. Failed the test again, dont know how, basic as piss step class that definitely wasnt an A but by now means was <40%.

Wrote them a long letter, asking for some sort of justification of how my exam warranted a fail grade. no reply.

There is a very small amount of gym instructors (from my personal experience) in ireland, that have any real idea how to make someone fitter or stronger. The ones that do know how, have a great deal more qualifications that the ncef or the ncehs or whatever.

Also, two out of my three course instructors were considerably overweight. You wouldnt learn to sing from a mute.

sorry man but you do their course you play by their rules so if that means you HAVE to pass the ETM exam then thats the deal.

cmyk · 14-02-2010 8:16pm

Chris89 wrote: »

Im not too sure how you dont understand how i have that view, i spent two thousand euro, gave up my weekends for a year. I was the only one out of my class (bar one or two) that had any sense and in some case interest.. in fitness.

I was told i failed my ex to music module, dad to repeat in Limerick (i live in dublin) missed the first day of oxygen had to drag a mate down to limerick as a body for the test. Failed the test again, dont know how, basic as piss step class that definitely wasnt an A but by now means was <40%.

Wrote them a long letter, asking for some sort of justification of how my exam warranted a fail grade. no reply.

There is a very small amount of gym instructors (from my personal experience) in ireland, that have any real idea how to make someone fitter or stronger. The ones that do know how, have a great deal more qualifications that the ncef or the ncehs or whatever.

Also, two out of my three course instructors were considerably overweight. You wouldnt learn to sing from a mute.

It sounds like you had a particularly bad experience, and I would be aggrieved had I had a similar experience. I had spoken to plenty of people who had done the course before, and got nothing but good reports.

What I don't understand is how you can just say "don't do it, it's crap"

So far all the information has been extremely educational for me, and I had gone in having done plenty of reading on certain aspects of health/nutritionfitness before hand and thought it might be quite basic. Can I ask how long ago you did the course?

RacoonQueen · 14-02-2010 8:38pm

Transform wrote: »

sorry man but you do their course you play by their rules so if that means you HAVE to pass the ETM exam then thats the deal.

I think he's feels he was unfairly failed.

I did ITEC and failed my aerobics exam TWICE, the first one - I did really, really well I was by far the best in my group and my class provided EVERYTHING it was supposed to provide to get good marks. When the results came out I was the only one who had failed and everyone was gobsmacked and everyone knew/agreed that my class had been the best from our group(one of the guys in one of the other groups wore the wrong 'uniform' spent his whole exam jogging on the spot doing different weights exercises and PASSED) When I repeated, it was an absolute disaster, went wrong from start to finish and none of them could grasp what I was teaching. I was working in a gym at the time and was teaching classes regularly, mostly body conditioning/abs classes mind but I was doing other ETM classes as well.

With our exam our classwork and report from our tutor is a big part of how the examiner views us in the exam, me and my tutor didn't exactly get along and I think that reflected on me in the exam. :rolleyes: I'd have the same reaction as Chris89 if anyone asked me should they take the course in the college I went to.

Edit: You needed to get you aerobics diploma to get the personal training diploma and thats the one I wanted so had to sit through aerobics even though I despised it.

injured365 · 14-02-2010 8:43pm

With some of those courses theres the way its done in gyms and classes etc. and then theres the by the book way its taught where little things that dont seem important can fail you

cmyk · 14-02-2010 9:02pm

injured365 wrote: »

With some of those courses theres the way its done in gyms and classes etc. and then theres the by the book way its taught where little things that dont seem important can fail you

And they state that before every single exercise. They teach you the technical points for each exercise which should be followed regardless, but for the exams you must take your client through a particular set of steps to gain marks in the exams.

In particular, I find the anatomy/physiology and nutrition classes extremely interesting.

injured365 · 14-02-2010 9:11pm

cmyk wrote: »

And they state that before every single exercise. They teach you the technical points for each exercise which should be followed regardless, but for the exams you must take your client through a particular set of steps to gain marks in the exams.

In particular, I find the anatomy/physiology and nutrition classes extremely interesting.

I wasnt saying that as a way of complaining or putting the courses down, i was pointing out that just because you considered yourself to have done everything perfectly, you could still have left out some step that is very important in an exam setting, which could easily be the reason either of the above posters might have failed.

cmyk · 14-02-2010 9:16pm

Ah ok, yep could be indeed.

ntcoffice · 15-02-2010 7:21pm

Chris89 wrote: »

It is a great pity that completing this course qualifies you as a fitness professional in Ireland.

I Failed the course on the basis that my step aerobics class was muck, got a's and high b's in every other module, failed the step aerobics practical and my circuit was branded as "too tiring" by one of the assesors.

Unfortunately, if you want to work in the industry, you pretty much need this. But if you can any way afford not to do this, dont do it. It is crap

My squat technique was also poor because i held the bar too low on my back (apparently it needs to be on your kneck) and i went lower that 90 degrees.

Hi Chris 89,

The National Qualification in Exercise, Health Studies and Personal Training does not require participants to qualify in step aerobics. This is an elective module which students can do if they wish at no additional cost but it is not compulsory and does not affect final examination results.

You say in a later post that you repeated your exam in Limerick. NCEHS course is not available in Limerick and exams are not available in Limerick either. I think you may have done the NCEF course.

ntcoffice · 15-02-2010 7:25pm

RacoonQueen wrote: »

I never understand why all these courses require you to pass the 'exercise to music' module when some people have no interest or no intention of teaching classes and most gyms will send you to specific courses for each class anyway.

I was brutal at teaching aerobics, had no interest in it whatsoever but had I been given body conditioning as my exam I'd have aced it as I had an interest in body conditioning as opposed to dancing around a room shouting encouragement. :rolleyes:

Hi RacoonQueen,

It is a requirement for EQF Level 4 accreditation that the course include exercise to music. You cannot obtain the accreditation if you don't successfully complete exercise to music.

Additionally you should bear in mind that classes such as Spinning and Aqua Fitness are exercise to music based exercises so to qualify in them you would need to have exercise to music.

Transform · 16-02-2010 10:31am

ntcoffice wrote: »

Hi RacoonQueen,

It is a requirement for EQF Level 4 accreditation that the course include exercise to music. You cannot obtain the accreditation if you don't successfully complete exercise to music.

Additionally you should bear in mind that classes such as Spinning and Aqua Fitness are exercise to music based exercises so to qualify in them you would need to have exercise to music.

i cant understand why there is such an emphasis towards this as the fitness trend is moving away from these type of classes and more towards Personal training, boot camp classes, structural balance testing, how to progress clients programs, optimal weight loss nutrition, pre and rehab for clients (everyone has muscle imbalance issues to some degree) etc

would be worth your while talking to a few trainers that are working in the industry for a good while to see what and how they work as i do not know ANY trainers who want to continue to teach any exercise to music classes after about 1 year of doing it or teach them at all for that matter. There may be some that are happy to teach 3-4 classes per week but they are normally part time trainers. Most fitness trainers aspire to be a full time personal trainer.

Seems a shame to offer a course that, from what i can gather (i have run gyms for years so have interviewed plenty of people coming off your courses) is possibly behind the times when it comes to actually working with clients in either a group or one to one basic. Evidence of this can be seen in the schedule of the upcoming fit pro convention (biggest one in europe) with regard to their schedule of events.

All you have to do is look at any of the questions that are posted here regularly to see what the normal members of the public are looking for and the standard of instruction they want. Would any of your course attendees be confident in assessing and correcting any of the squat, deadlift, fat loss, program design questions that are presented here daily? That is the basic standard i would want in a trainer rather than an ability to teach ETM which really only appeals to a very small percentage of the fit and able population i.e. mainly female 16-30yr olds.

Yes i know i am questioning the course content so i hope my comments are taken the right way.

Chet Zar · 16-02-2010 11:49am

Transform wrote: »

i cant understand why there is such an emphasis towards this as the fitness trend is moving away from these type of classes and more towards Personal training, boot camp classes, structural balance testing, how to progress clients programs, optimal weight loss nutrition, pre and rehab for clients (everyone has muscle imbalance issues to some degree) etc

would be worth your while talking to a few trainers that are working in the industry for a good while to see what and how they work as i do not know ANY trainers who want to continue to teach any exercise to music classes after about 1 year of doing it or teach them at all for that matter. There may be some that are happy to teach 3-4 classes per week but they are normally part time trainers. Most fitness trainers aspire to be a full time personal trainer.

Seems a shame to offer a course that, from what i can gather (i have run gyms for years so have interviewed plenty of people coming off your courses) is possibly behind the times when it comes to actually working with clients in either a group or one to one basic. Evidence of this can be seen in the schedule of the upcoming fit pro convention (biggest one in europe) with regard to their schedule of events.

All you have to do is look at any of the questions that are posted here regularly to see what the normal members of the public are looking for and the standard of instruction they want. Would any of your course attendees be confident in assessing and correcting any of the squat, deadlift, fat loss, program design questions that are presented here daily? That is the basic standard i would want in a trainer rather than an ability to teach ETM which really only appeals to a very small percentage of the fit and able population i.e. mainly female 16-30yr olds.

Yes i know i am questioning the course content so i hope my comments are taken the right way.

Hey Dominic,

Have to speak up for the NTC here, but also to criticise. The speaking up part first - I did the course last year and while I would say that you will NOT go far with just the course as a trainer or instructor without really getting stuck into further study and learning and continuing to improve your skills and knowledge. Reason being not that it is a poor course - rather it is a very good, solid, well-rounded introductory course to fitness and instruction but it is just that - an introduction. It is well rounded - covering diet (some questionable teachings on the importance of carbohydrates - the NTC think they're really important - that's for another thread!), exercise instruction - deadlift, squat all the big bang movements are there, exercise for special conditions, anatomy and physiology and yes - programming.

My biggest gripe - in fact really my own gripe - is with the mandatory ETM requirement. It wasn't always mandatory but was made so last year as apparently people who had previously done the course were coming back saying they were looking for work in gyms etc but weren't getting it as they weren't qualified to give aerobics classes/classes involving music. So they brought it back in as mandatory. However, I thought it was ridiculous - and still do - that it wasn't kept as optional - if people have no intention of ever doing ETM classes then why should they be made do it!! I am saying that as a 29 year old bloke who will NEVER have any interest in doing those kind of classes. I dreaded that exam and even though I actually got a B in it in the end I would have enjoyed the course FAR more had I not had to do ETM at all.

In closing, I would say that the NTC course is an excellent one for anyone with a definite interest in fitness and/or with a keen interest in helping others reach their fitness goals. The NTC are also ambitious - going for higher recognition with the EHFA/seeking greater accreditation etc. Big thumbs up from me for what it is - a solid introductory course. Just make the ETM optional!

ntcoffice · 16-02-2010 12:00pm

Transform wrote: »

i cant understand why there is such an emphasis towards this as the fitness trend is moving away from these type of classes and more towards Personal training, boot camp classes, structural balance testing, how to progress clients programs, optimal weight loss nutrition, pre and rehab for clients (everyone has muscle imbalance issues to some degree) etc

would be worth your while talking to a few trainers that are working in the industry for a good while to see what and how they work as i do not know ANY trainers who want to continue to teach any exercise to music classes after about 1 year of doing it or teach them at all for that matter. There may be some that are happy to teach 3-4 classes per week but they are normally part time trainers. Most fitness trainers aspire to be a full time personal trainer.

Seems a shame to offer a course that, from what i can gather (i have run gyms for years so have interviewed plenty of people coming off your courses) is possibly behind the times when it comes to actually working with clients in either a group or one to one basic. Evidence of this can be seen in the schedule of the upcoming fit pro convention (biggest one in europe) with regard to their schedule of events.

All you have to do is look at any of the questions that are posted here regularly to see what the normal members of the public are looking for and the standard of instruction they want. Would any of your course attendees be confident in assessing and correcting any of the squat, deadlift, fat loss, program design questions that are presented here daily? That is the basic standard i would want in a trainer rather than an ability to teach ETM which really only appeals to a very small percentage of the fit and able population i.e. mainly female 16-30yr olds.

Yes i know i am questioning the course content so i hope my comments are taken the right way.

I understand the points that you have raised, however the EHFA standard, which is required for EQF Level 4 accreditation, which incidentally is the European standard against which national qualifications are mapped, and which requires a lengthy process of inspection and review to obtain, has been put together through consultation with member countries from all over Europe and their decision was that it must include exercise to music in order to achieve the EQF Level 4 standard.

NCEHS graduates are also fully qualified personal trainers (that's what EQF Level 4 is) and have the necessary knowledge to enter the boot camp market which is so popular at present and which may last into the future or may, like many other popular formats which have appeared over the years, fade away.

In the meantime any professional, legitimate and student focused training provider will ensure that they deliver a programme which observes and provides the internationally accepted standard so that their graduates have the best possible opportunity into the future.

cmyk · 17-02-2010 12:54pm

ntcoffice wrote: »

Hi RacoonQueen,

It is a requirement for EQF Level 4 accreditation that the course include exercise to music. You cannot obtain the accreditation if you don't successfully complete exercise to music.

Great to see you guys having a presence here

I'd pretty much echo chet zar's review word for word to be honest. In saying that, if the European standard must include that, then I understand why it's there, and I respect the pride with which the college has, on achieving the level 4 acc.

This forum seems to be populated, in the majority by male posters. I'd like to get a female's view on what they thought of that aspect of the course, as I think it's fair to say, that particular area of the industry would be female dominant? It's because I don't have an interest in this area of the course I'm particularly worried about not meeting the grade on this one.

I would like to add having been in 3rd level education for 3 years, several business and design courses, the standard of actual teaching in the NCT is the best I've experienced. Extra reading/study are very much encouraged too.

ntcoffice · 17-02-2010 3:24pm

cmyk wrote: »

Great to see you guys having a presence here

I'd pretty much echo chet zar's review word for word to be honest. In saying that, if the European standard must include that, then I understand why it's there, and I respect the pride with which the college has, on achieving the level 4 acc.

This forum seems to be populated, in the majority by male posters. I'd like to get a female's view on what they thought of that aspect of the course, as I think it's fair to say, that particular area of the industry would be female dominant? It's because I don't have an interest in this area of the course I'm particularly worried about not meeting the grade on this one.

I would like to add having been in 3rd level education for 3 years, several business and design courses, the standard of actual teaching in the NCT is the best I've experienced. Extra reading/study are very much encouraged too.

Hi CMYK,

Thank you for your kind comments and I am very pleased to hear that your experience at NTC was so positive as this is our primary objective for our students.

I would be very happy to comment on any aspect of our course to assist any queries raised here on boards.ie but I am afraid that I would be unable to comment regarding any posts made about other providers as I want other members of this forum to have a clear understanding that all the information which I provide here is absolutely accurate and factual and not based on opinion, which would be required to answer posts regarding other providers.

Additionally ( although we would have very definitive opinions regarding some of the providers mentioned in this forum, both good and bad) I feel it would be unprofessional to make such comments and that this forum is not the correct place for us to so.

If I can be of assistance I will contribute.

Transform · 17-02-2010 5:23pm

ntcoffice wrote: »

Hi CMYK,

Thank you for your kind comments and I am very pleased to hear that your experience at NTC was so positive as this is our primary objective for our students.

I would be very happy to comment on any aspect of our course to assist any queries raised here on boards.ie but I am afraid that I would be unable to comment regarding any posts made about other providers as I want other members of this forum to have a clear understanding that all the information which I provide here is absolutely accurate and factual and not based on opinion, which would be required to answer posts regarding other providers.

Additionally ( although we would have very definitive opinions regarding some of the providers mentioned in this forum, both good and bad) I feel it would be unprofessional to make such comments and that this forum is not the correct place for us to so.

If I can be of assistance I will contribute.

well you have just made yourself the first port of call to anyone looking to work in the industry by just replying on boards.ie

JJayoo · 17-02-2010 9:26pm

Ntc office

Any chance of running a course within galway city:D. There used to be an ITEC course held in nuigalway, but it seems to have ended when the new gym was open:(

ntcoffice · 18-02-2010 11:51am

JJayoo wrote: »

Ntc office

Any chance of running a course within galway city:D. There used to be an ITEC course held in nuigalway, but it seems to have ended when the new gym was open:(

Hi JJayoo,

We would love to offer our course in Galway (and other locations), however we have a very strict quality control policy and unlike some other providers, we will not use inexperienced tutors just to facilitate the delivery of the course at other locations.

With our courses in Dublin and Cork along with our involvement with the FÁS traineeship programme (delivered countrywide) our tutors are fully utilised at present. We do have additional tutors in training at present and once they have fully qualified (including obtaining the NUI PG Cert in Training and Continuing Education) we will certainly give consideration to running the course in Galway.

Cait87 · 17-07-2014 4:34pm

Chris89 wrote: »

Im not too sure how you dont understand how i have that view, i spent two thousand euro, gave up my weekends for a year. I was the only one out of my class (bar one or two) that had any sense and in some case interest.. in fitness.

I was told i failed my ex to music module, dad to repeat in Limerick (i live in dublin) missed the first day of oxygen had to drag a mate down to limerick as a body for the test. Failed the test again, dont know how, basic as piss step class that definitely wasnt an A but by now means was <40%.

Wrote them a long letter, asking for some sort of justification of how my exam warranted a fail grade. no reply.

There is a very small amount of gym instructors (from my personal experience) in ireland, that have any real idea how to make someone fitter or stronger. The ones that do know how, have a great deal more qualifications that the ncef or the ncehs or whatever.

Also, two out of my three course instructors were considerably overweight. You wouldnt learn to sing from a mute.

Sounds like all they care about is money.

Exercise, Health Studies and Personal Training

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