How to pick the correct course in the fitness industry in Ireland

Maybe people could actually post what what the cheapest, fastest way too get accredited and to get insured in Ireland?

That aside...one of the things that annoys me about these threads is the fact that if you are looking for a course to teach you what you need to know and how to be a gym instructor or lord help us all a personal trainer then you need to choose another job because you are certainly not up to being a gym instructor let alone a personal trainer.

If you are getting taught anything technical or specific at these courses then you have absolutely no right at all to be teaching anyone anything at all the day after you are qualified when the day before you were clueless.

ALL the courses for accreditation should be about ensuring everyone has at a minimum the same basic standard NOT about getting people to a minimum standard.

Hanley wrote: »

One of the main things looked at in the exams is "did this person do any dumb or dangerous ****". And if the answer is no, they're probably "ok".

The more you know, the more you'll get out of any course.

The first step in any incoming FitPro's education must be to open their eyes to how much dumb **** they have been doing, and how little they actually know.

Agree with that 100%.

Glowing wrote: »

What do you mean here Will? Are you referring to all PT/Gym Instructor courses or just the 'short sharp get in and get qualified' courses?

I've been looking into doing a course recently and it's been a nightmare trying to wade through the various options (and acronyms!) - it's an absolute minefield and very frustrating! But I understand that it will be just the first step on a very high ladder. Surely one has to get 'qualified' and insured to work in the industry where I presume 95% of the actual learning will take place?

Great question. I have some time this morning so I will try to answer it in detail.

If you want to be a gym instructor or a personal trainer this is what I think you should do.

1. You should train. Not only train but you should understand how training works for you and on you. If you don't have the power to change your physique and to make alterations then you should probably give it a miss. That is not to say that you have to be ripped or anything like that (although it is probably in reality more important than anything else...at least when you are starting out) but you should know how to lose fat, put on some muscle, make yourself faster or make yourself fitter.

2. Read. You need to read more than boards and more than what is on the internet. You need to get an anatomy and physiology text book...any one will do. You see people arguing about this like they argue about course...it's pointless as they are 95% the same. Get a text book and learn the bones...all the ones you can see and touch. Learn all the muscles...learn where the originate and insert and what they do....again....all the ones you can see and touch. Then read about energy production in the human body. You need to be able to know enough to be able to explain to your Dad what energy systems are being used in different sports....you don't need to know one hydrogenase from another but you do need to be able to explain in simple terms what is going on in the different energy pathways and if you can make your Dad understand it then you know plenty. You need to understand how the nervous system works and how it works particularly in relation to muscle tissue. You need to understand the physiology of muscle...what it is and how and why it works. Once you have all of the above in your head....now you are ready to be able to read about training and actually understand it. The biggest problem whether it is in the gym or on the interwebz is that people read all about training...they read about 5x5 and 5/3/1 and Starting Strength but they don't actually have any of the 'background' to reeeeeeeeally understand it. Saying that I am not sure that everyone reading this will understand what I am getting at but once you understand all of the above background then you'll get it.

3. Learn. Once you've read about all the background basics with regard anatomy and physiology then you can start learning about training and the very first thing I'd learn about is testing and assessment because when you start trying new things and putting the things you are learning into practice you need to be able to measure them. We all know people who've started training and they look better and better but their scale weight stays the same or goes up and you should know that's because they are losing fat and gaining lean muscle mass etc etc. You need to be able to measure their performance and body composition changes...you need to learn how to do skin folds (which is hard because I didn't see many people who did it well in Ireland) and girth measurements. You need to be able to do some simple strength and muscular endurance tests. You need to be able to do some fitness tests etc etc. These are the things you should learn first. Then you need to start reading and learning about training. Again...there are heaps of good books. Start with any of them you like. Read, learn and then put it into practice on yourself and your friends. Measure where you are when you start. Measure where you finish in 8 weeks. Then grab another book. Read, learn and then put it into practice. Measure where you are when you start. Measure where you finish in 8 weeks. Then sit down and look at all the results from the first program and all the results from the second program and work out what worked well and what didn't. Work out how long it took and were the results worth it. Then talk to and annoy other trainers and coaches. This week I've had programs from people that were all about rope climbing, someone else who was preparing for a police fitness test, someone else who is doing a downhill running event and is trying to work out how to prepare themselves for the doms as they live in the city and don't have hills to run down...I get emails from coaches and athletes all the time and always try to help if I can especially if people look like they are trying to help themselves. There are heaps of coaches and trainers in Ireland and I doubt there's one of them that would't be interested to hear what you have to say about your comparison of programs. Then you can get another book and do it again or start changing the variables that you think will alter performance and asses again in another 8 weeks.

If you did nothing more than what I listed above you'd already be miles ahead of most of the gym instructors out there that have picked up the certificate and gone to work.

4. Get accredited and insured. As I've said multiple times...find the fastest and cheapest way to get accredited and get insurance because you are going to go to do the course and already know more than some of the instructors at some of these places.

5. Get experience. I have had and still do have heaps of people ask if they can help me or come to training and observe and I've never said no. I have always been happy to have the help of have someone else use the stopwatch or record times. You need experience and and you need to have confidence working with athletes and clients. Being comfortable in a coaching/training environment is probably the most important attribute you can have if you want to be a gym instructor or personal trainer.

6. Now go and do the courses you want to do. If you want an Oly lifting cert...go and learn and practice. If you want to have some big black bells swinging between your legs...go do a KB cert. Go do a GAA coaching cert. Go do the IRFU conditioning coaches course or whatever they call it now. Now is the time you should be doing courses because now you have a framework to build upon.

I think the mistake that is made is that people go straight to step 6. They go do a course and get a certificate but if you pulled them aside a week later they'd have a grand total of about 8 minutes of knowledge they could share with you and none of it would hold together.

Glowing wrote: »

Thanks for that detailed reply! Will absorb it for now ... :-)

As per usual it was actually me trying to give a brief detailed reply

I re read it again this arvo and I think it pretty much cover all the bases.