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Other/Mixed Best Path to do personal training ?

Other strength modalities (e.g., Clubs), mixed strength modalities (e.g., combined kettlebell and barbell), other goals (flexibility)
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irongirl

irongirl

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Hello everyone,
Im seriously thinking about getting the SFG 1 but im wondering if i should get a "Personal Trainer Certification" first...My objectives is first for my personal benefits but its also to help (coach) friends to have healthy habits, become stronger and/or loose weight..etc...Does the SFG 1 include all i need to coach someone with these objectives? for example : Aspects of fitness, wellness and basic training principles, Fitness theory: skeletal, muscular, cardiovascular...?
What do you recommand? Do you think i should get a "Personal trainer cert." before? or just get information on the side could be enough (books, websites, seminar...etc) on Healthy Eating & Weight Loss to combine with SFG 1?
 
Welcome to the forum, @irongirl !

In the for-what-it's-worth department, I'll tell you my story:

I got my kettlebell instructor cert and an NSCA-CPT cert at about the same time. I got the former because I wanted to learn and because I wanted to be good at helping others; I got the latter because I wanted to work part-time as a trainer at my local Y and they required a "name" cert for their insurance purposes.

For my NSCA-CPT, I bought the self-study materials, took the test, and passed.

-S-
 
Hi Steve,
thank you very much for sharing your experience. I like the idea of self-study with the material. I will look for this option :)

Thanks again !! :)
 
No problem. Consider your options for a mainstream cert. At the time I got mine in 2003, the NSCA-CPT was well thought of. I think that NASM and others are now also worth considering, and some of them will allow your continuing StrongFirst education as CEU's (continuing education, which all the certs now require in order to maintain your certification).

-S-
 
Irongirl
Yes - get both.
SFG principles and training are excellent and enhance most any form of training but you need a basic personal training education as well.

The "big 4" personal training certs:
NSCA CPT as Steve mentioned
NASM
ACE
ACSM - a bit more clinical

Healthy eating etc... - Precision Nutrition
 
Thank you @Steve and @Brett for your answers. I will consider the Personal Trainer Cert as a base. Thanks for the certifications recommandations but I am in Mtl so Im looking for certifications like YMCA or Canfitpro..that seems great. :)
 
Hi irongirl, I'm working on one for similar reasons to what you described. I selected NASM-CPT because I liked the content outline, but I will admit it is kicking my butt. Only one book to study, but it is chock-full of information and has no overlap to anything I studied in school or college. But it is very important information - teaching people to exercise and move... it's serious stuff! I feel like I need to know the basics about physiology, muscles, assessment, special conditions, etc.

Anyway, would be interested to know which one you select. Good luck with both cert endeavors!
 
My two pennies: it's there to get a job and for insurance purposes. Like most things in this world the information is dull and lifeless, based around armchair theorists and what appears to be 80's bodybuilding nonsense mixed with new age "functional" movements (think curls with 3lb Dumbbells while balancing on a ball).

If you're really interested in what can actually help you impact your students (and not just what looks good on paper) then I'd say SFG along with FMS by Gray Cook. That's the route I'm taking as well.

Best of luck in whatever course of action you take!
 
Since you are in Canada, you might add some training with Stuart McGill to your CV. Also, knowing your CV highlights may impact suggestions regarding your ideal path.

You might also add a copy of "Becoming a Supple Leopard" to your library. Like Gray Cook, I have found the body of work that Kelly Starrett has brought to the table to be invaluable.

Best wishes as you unpack your coach/trainer goal. Live well!
 
@Steve Freides and @Anna C , did you get a lot of good value from your respective approaches? Anna, sounds like your NASM approach is tough but has a lot of good content. Steve, maybe I'm reading between the lines too much, but sounds like your NSCA approach wasn't that hard. Was the content valuable, and would it have been worth doing even if you hadn't needed it to work at the Y?

@Brett Jones, thanks for weighing in uneqivocally on the desirability of a CPT. Knowing you have a CSCS, would you lean toward NSCA for the CPT cert, or really see any distinction among the big four, besides ACSM being more clinical?

Thanks, Michael
 
I have learned much more on my own than I learned from preparing for the NSCA - CPT exam. And I disagreed with a lot of what was taught. I got that cert because I wanted to start working as a part time trainer at my local Y. I agree with Brett - one should go through a mainstream cert, even if it's just to understand the conventional wisdom.

-S-
 
Michael Perry said:
did you get a lot of good value from your respective approaches? Anna, sounds like your NASM approach is tough but has a lot of good content.
Click to expand...

Completing the NASM-CPT gave me several things, all very valuable:

1) Context. Like Steve said, it's important to understand the conventional wisdom about exercise and training. Then you can understand how special and effective the StrongFirst stuff really is ;)

2) An awareness of the process of training people. Assessment, understanding their goals, taking into account special needs such as chronic conditions and medications, legal considerations, etc...

3) Exercise science and other basics. I learned a lot that I didn't know about muscles, joints, nerves, movement science and terminology, different training modalities (yes, the kettlebell section was a bit disappointing... but at least it was there), nutrition and supplementation, and program design. I took the OPT model with a grain of salt, but still it helped my awareness of building a program structure that includes components like warm-up, mobility, flexibility, strength, cardio/aerobic, power, speed/agility/quickness, plyometric, balance, core, cool-down.

My aim is to be a responsible SFG trainer (and not a personal trainer in the general sense), but I do feel like the NASM-CPT or some equivalent is pretty important in that regard.
 
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Out of curiosity, are you planning on working for a big box gym or a more private type facility?
 
Sounds like the OP didn't necessarily have plans for either of these, but, her questions was posed several months ago.

irongirl said:
My objectives is first for my personal benefits but its also to help (coach) friends to have healthy habits, become stronger and/or loose weight..etc...Does the SFG 1 include all i need to coach someone with these objectives? for example : Aspects of fitness, wellness and basic training principles, Fitness theory: skeletal, muscular, cardiovascular...?
Click to expand...

I also don't have plans for either of these; my objectives were similar to hers. I just enjoy teaching and I'm lucky to have a facility where I can do that voluntarily and safely. Will it ever be more than that, I don't know, but if I'm going to do something, I do my best do it right. It's been worth the investment. And then I have this other job to attend to...

Huge respect to those who do this for a primary occupation. No doubt the worth of what you provide FAR exceeds what you are paid, especially considering all you put into being qualified!!
 
Same here. Have a day job unrelated to fitness :-( I do enjoy teaching in my spare time, and would like to offer as much value to my students as possible. Maybe more one day...

Appreciate the thoughts on the value of a CPT cert. Makes a lot of sense and sounds like I should go back and research the big 4 again.
 
Short: Glad to see others are doing their day job and also taking SFG I/II certifications to help out locally. Cause this is what I was contemplating.

Long: This is a topic that has been rummaging around in my brain lately. I work as a clinical massage therapist, and have been wondering if I can justify the economic demands of taking a SF (Girya or Bodyweight) certification and the subsequent recertifications. I have no plans on becoming a personal trainer. I like my job, but would like to help clients more. And kettlebells (mixed with bodyweight training, since the two seems almost integral) seems, to me, to be the best thing out there. I used to teach yoga (ashtanga mainly), but stopped for various reasons (a rant I will spare you, happy to discuss it with anyone interested of course). There are no SF instructors anywhere near me. And since I have seen first hand (on my self) the incredible effects of the S&S program, I am thinking wether or not I should one day bring the methods and philosophies of SF to my local community, since no one else seems to be doing it (of course this is all dependent on actually passing the cert. and re-cert). So good to hear your thoughts on wether or not you need a personal trainer education alongside of it, or you can "just" focus on being a good SFG instructor. Of course I am not against other people being or becoming personal trainers, I just don't feel that it is right for me. I want something laser focused to go along with my main job. And with my scatterbrain tendency, becoming am SFG instructor rather than a more general multimodal trainer fits me more.

Best Regards
Jesper
 
Jesper there is a lot to consider, but you have a LOT more overlap with your occupations (past and present) than I did, so you have a lot fewer gaps to fill. I mean, considering the three things I listed above, you probably have a depth of knowledge in these things that most certified personal trainers don't even approach. So you may be disappointed in spending $700 for a book (yes, this is essentially what I did for the CPT that I did... then took a test at a testing center... then they mailed me a pretty certificate. That's it. But still, it was what I needed.) So in your case, if you get the SFG I cert, I think you could be in good shape to begin instructing kettlebells with StrongFirst methods within your local community.

Of course you also have to consider the facility's requirements if you're operating there... and if you're on your own (or either way), consider liability.
 
Thanks for the reply @Anna C
Don't have a specific facility at the moment. I bike around time for the healthcare company that I work for. Companies and clinics where the company rents a room for a few hours. I have been asked to teach yoga again at a local fitness gym and at a ditto shala. But haven't committed to anything, and not sure if I will. So my ideas how to put a possible future SF cert. to teaching use, is at the moment very vague. Saw an article on Breaking Muscle a few weeks ago about strength training for "yogis". And besides the obvious usual marketing ploy such a thing is, I did like the idea of putting together a similar concept and start there at some point. But that is all just ideas. I can't really economically (at the moment) justify taking the SFG or SFB cert. unless I actually teach people, or at least plan to. And besides, I have ROP to finish before I even can start contemplate such an endeavour:)
As I said just nice to see others thinking along the same lines, and sharing their thoughts. Sometimes ideas rattle around in my skull, and I think nah thats silly cause that isn't they way it's usually done. Turns out it wasn't.
Besides I really like the idea of something outside of the state licensed (in Denmark) education. Strong people teaching others to be strong, has a more primordial feel to it than TRX and fat-burning-tone-up-card-burn-crossfit whathaveyous.
Best Regards
Jesper
 
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