Personal Training Article's
Name: Dan Gaita
Stand Up And Be Recognized
Personal training, as an industry, has begun the new millennium at a crossroads: one road will advance excellence, quality, integrity and validity in the industry, while the other road will lower public confidence in and the reputation of the industry and cause a potential surge in lawsuits against personal trainers and clubs. It is now critical that personal trainers unify to determine their future.
The facts
Most people in the fitness industry are aware of the tremendous growth in both the number of personal trainers and the number of people hiring personal trainers.1 Recognizing these growth trends, the International Health, Racquet and Sportsclub Association (IHRSA) set a global goal at the end of 1998 to have 100 million health club members by 2010.2
Capitalizing on the growth in the fitness industry, numerous "certification bodies" have popped up, offering quick certifications for little cost and effort. Accordingly, the industry has a potentially explosive situation due to the rapid growth of health club memberships, the increase in the number of and usage of personal trainers, and non-standardized and unmonitored certification programs. Indeed, the number of lawsuits has spurred discussions at both the state and federal level about regulation and/or licensure of trainers.3 It is time for the industry to act.
The issues
The issues are simple:
1. Should a standard of quality and excellence be established?
2. Should trainers allow government regulation?
3. Who should champion this discussion and movement?
4. How can the industry determine the right road to take?
5. How can it get on the right road?
Getting on the right road
In the past year alone, there have been more than 25 articles about what the fitness industry needs. It is obvious by now what it needs is a credentialing organization. Most time-tested industries have a third-party recognizing body that verifies the credentials of its people. For example, the legal profession has the American Bar Association and state bar associations that verify educational credentials, among other things, and administer stringent standardized examinations, including a code of professional ethics exam. Numerous other professional industries have similar associations that do similar work, including providing a procedure to review complaints against industry professionals. The fact is, until personal trainers are held to a high standard of qualification and certification, the fitness industry is in danger of self-destruction.
Given the healthy business competition among the certification bodies about what organization is the best and most reputable, which has the most members and which generates the greatest revenue, it is difficult to push aside business and unite for the future success and protection of the industry. It is now the duty of personal trainers to champion unification. They must talk to one another and decide what is best for them and their clients. They can do this by turning to the experts who have the credentials and experience necessary to establish standards and administer a review process.
We must, as an industry, join together and choose to embark on the path that leads to our success, as it has become increasingly apparent from industry literature, conference presentations, discussions among ourselves and public sentiment that, should we choose differently, our time as a self-regulated industry is limited. When we take control of our industry, we can secure its success and its profitable future. |
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