A letter from the desk of Dr. John Spencer Ellis
If you are an aspiring personal trainer, now is the time to get your career in high gear. After developing personal trainer career programs for new and experienced personal trainers for more than 15 years, I have created the ultimate personal trainer career package.
If you are ready to escape corporate life, and begin to live your dreams, a career as a personal trainer is the way to do it. Maybe you make a decent living, but HATE YOUR JOB! Did you know that personal trainers can make over $125/hour? It’s true, and I will show you how.
Why should you believe me? I am the CEO and founder of NESTA (National Exercise & Sports Trainers Association); an NCCA accredited international fitness organization. I also created Adventure Boot Camp; the largest fitness boot camp program in the world. As a personal trainer and fitness expert I have appeared on all major TV networks, in over 50 publications, and even have my own fitness TV show and radio program. I know what it takes to be successful as a personal trainer, and I am ready to give you all my secrets. Hearing success stories from people around the world is an incredible feeling, and I want to hear your story, too.
For years, my companies have been kept separate. NESTA focused on high-quality education and John Spencer Ellis Enterprises created business solutions for fitness professionals. I was recently asked why I didn’t combine “the best-of-the-best” and make a personal trainer career package. It made so much sense, I decided to call it just that and now you benefit from that great idea. The result is the Personal Trainer Career Package.
You may be wondering how many types of career options are available as a personal trainer. The answer is there are endless options to design your personal trainer career. Here are some of them: own your own personal training studio, work from your home, travel to clients’ homes, work at a gym, work at a resort, write a book, make exercise videos, become a celebrity trainer, offer online personal training, become a healthy lifestyle consultant, write articles for magazines, operate a boot camp, conduct lifestyle fitness coaching, be a fitness coach, offer youth programs, train seniors, train people outdoors.
As you can now see, your possibilities are truly endless. You will learn so much more with the Complete Personal Trainer Career Package.
Take a moment to change your life forever!
I am here to help you become a total success!
Be well!
NESTA News – September/October 2008
In this issue:
- Business Tip: VAK Training
- Training Tip: Toy Time – Using Various Tools in Training
- Training Connections: Additional Opportunities for new and current NESTA students
- Live Training: NESTA PFT and Continuing Education Workshops
- Job Openings for Trainers, Coaches and Instructors
Business Tip: VAK Training
From John Spencer Ellis, CEO
If you want to be a successful trainer, you must love what you do and you must be confident and outgoing in your efforts to share that passion and enthusiasm with current potential clients.
You should have professional looking business cards, wear appropriate clothing and come to work early, looking like a professional trainer with your workouts planned in advance.
But when it comes time to train, you must become a VAK trainer. VAK stands for visual, auditory, and kinesthetic.
1) Visual – you must be seen moving at all times. Your client must see you moving and not standing in one place to know that you are involved in the workout and that you are truly observing him or her from every assessment angle. If your client is moving, in some capacity so are you. If they are standing, so are you, and so on. You must also move in order to keep yourself alert and attentive as it is often difficult to do so early in the morning or late in the day (energy drinks are not the answer!). Potential clients or passersby will also see your active involvement and be more likely to approach you or seek your services at a down moment. Just don’t circle repeatedly around your client like a shark. Move with a purpose and goal in mind.
2) Auditory – you must continually be heard (in close proximity, not across the gym) providing direction, giving motivational comments and encouraging your client. This will also keep you alert and involved in the training process. Counting reps out loud is not what we are talking about here (after all, you should be timing the sets, not counting reps). Yelling and clapping profusely is great for coaching teams or large group training, but not in a gym environment with a lot of people who are not there to hear your “YEAH, BABY!” comments or standing ovations unless they are only a few feet away or someone just broke an incredible milestone. Be loud enough for those close by to benefit from, not be bothered by, your teaching direction and coaching encouragement.
3) Kinesthetic – you must continually make your physical presence known. This can mean utilizing an open hand, fist or fingertips to help a client understand what muscles are intended to be involved or the direction of joint movement. It should be obvious, but you only need to put your hands on your client for enough time for them to understand the intent of the exercise or direction of motion. It can also be to remind your client which muscles should not be active. If you do not feel comfortable placing your hands on your client(s) or your facility forbids such physical contact, this will limit your ability to teach your client, but you must then find alternative means for teaching and guiding verbally and visually. You must be professional, clear, and concise. Don’t waste time and this is not an opportunity to massage your client as this is not within your scope of practice.
Finally, you can often interpret whether your client is primarily visual, auditory, or kinesthetic by his/her language, talking speed, tone, and mannerisms. You must pay attention and listen closely and carefully not just to what your client says, but how your client says it. Once you have discovered this, training becomes easier.
For more information on how to teach, guide, and communicate with your clients, gain new clients, and retain all of your clients for the long term, consider Spencer Institute’s coaching programs at http://www.spencerinstitute.com/ourprograms.html. You may also refer to your NESTA PFT manual. Don’t have an updated manual? Order or upgrade at www.nestapft.com or by calling 1-877-348-6692. Learn from your clients as they learn from you.
Training Tip: Toy Time – Using Various Tools in Training
From Mark Baines, Senior Vice President of Program Development
In training, you have various forms of resistance available to you. Here are a few with various rationales for inclusion in your programming along with descriptions on improper usage.
- Dumbbells (DBs) – gravity is the main force of resistance, so your motion must directly oppose gravity if you are to involve the intended musculature with joint movement. DBs are great tools to use at almost any point in training with your client. They require sufficient coordination and are particularly effective when your client has movement imbalances on one side of the body as DBs allow open chain movement where one limb can move without affecting the other. Always train with a weight low enough that the weaker side or limb can control the load and achieve the desired range of motion.
- Barbells (BBs) – similar to DBs with the exception that your hands are fixed to a bar. For this reason, BBs are not advisable when a person has a strong imbalance of strength or size difference from one limb/side to another. BBs also can create some challenges with strain on the wrists as it is imperative that the wrists remain in a neutral position with a strong grip on the bar at all times, whenever possible. The wrists are not meant to move under great loads.
- Cables – cables also require a great deal of coordination and control to gain the benefits of cable resistance. Since almost any angle can be achieved with a cable and pulley, it is imperative that the movement be understood and clear. It is not ok to merely duplicate how a person moves in real life. The resistance profile of a bodyweight movement is not necessarily the same as the same movement with cable resistance. It is imperative that you teach your clients how to move properly in the gym so that this movement efficiency translates to real life movement.
- Bosu balls, balance boards, dyna discs, airex pads, etc. – your client must have mastered a posture (body position) or movement on the ground or a stable surface before progressing to an unstable one. Too many times trainers are looking for something new and a client is put on an unstable surface where he/she cannot perform the movement correctly. If the movement cannot be accomplished efficiently and effectively, the client is not ready for the unstable tool. Don’t get carried away with multiple joint actions on such a surface either. More unstable on an unstable surface is not necessarily better, it is just another tool, and it is a tool that must be used wisely with a client who already has good balance. You cannot teach balance effectively on an unstable surface, it will merely hide one’s deficiencies making the strong muscles stronger and the weaker muscles weaker. These tools are great for teaching greater postural balance and movement control, but control must be present in the exercise. Furthermore, you cannot and must not put a client on an unstable surface JUST because it is different or is a “cool’ concept.
- Therabands, tubing, etc. – bands and tubing are great forms of resistance in that they can be attached to almost anything and used almost anywhere. However, it must be understood that a band or tube will go from a very small resistance to an almost immovable resistance in a hurry. You must find a band or tube with an appropriate level of resistance for the client to be able to perform the entire goal range of motion (ROM) effectively (you must know what the goal ROM is!). You can also double up on smaller bands and tubes to allow for greater range of motion with less end range resistance compared to higher tension choices.
- Medicine balls (MBs) – medicine balls are great for light resistance once a client has “mastered” a movement (you decide what “mastery” is for each individual client as it will vary from one person to the next) such as a squat, deadlift, pushup or crunch. MBs are also great tools for training power in overhead, chest, chopping, lifting, and side throwing motions or for simply adding some fun to exercise and the training session (as long as movement efficiency is not lost!). It is imperative that medicine ball weight not exceed 5k/12lbs for throwing motions in order to achieve both speed and efficiency of movement without undue strain (always start with 1k/2.2lb MBs). Medicine balls used for strength can increase in weight with slower movements under control. Once again, it is imperative that your client “master” the motion before using medicine balls as a form of resistance.
These are but a few tools with a few ideas for training and exercise application.
For more information about utilizing these and other exercise tools to fit your clients’ goals, consult your NESTA PFT manual or Elite Training Specialist program. Don’t have an updated manual? Call 1-877-348-6692 or got to www.NESTApft.com and order yours today. For more information on the Elite Training Specialist program go to http://www.nestacertified.com/elite-personal-trainer-program.html. Take care of your clients and they will take care of you!
Training Connections: Additional Opportunities for new and current NESTA students
NESTA, in conjunction with Future Films, wants to help you earn up to $5000 to $10,000 per month doing Motion DNA Testing!
Have you been struggling to make ends meet as a trainer at a gym? Are you currently making near or below the industry average of $30,000 annually as a fitness professional? Do you want to earn $3,000, $5,000 even $10,000 per month as a trainer to athletes, weight loss seekers, or clients who suffer from personal injuries? Future Films, Inc., is seeking experienced and non-experienced fitness and sports performance professionals to expand its athlete and non-athlete Motion DNA testing programs. To learn more about this exciting cutting edge opportunity…and how you can immediately start to earn what you’re worth doing what you love…attend one of the scheduled FREE Webinars in the coming days (http://www.motiondnaonline.com). Spaces are limited at each webinar, so don’t get left out!
Live Training: NESTA PFT and Continuing Education Workshops
From The NESTA Live Instruction Team
The link for the NESTA live workshop schedule in the coming months can be found below. If you do not see a workshop scheduled in your area any time soon, please contact Dave@nestacertified.com. NESTA currently provides live, hands-on training workshops in the following states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Nevada, New York, Texas, and Washington (FL and OR coming soon). In most cases, in order to hold a NESTA workshop there must be at least 30 attendees or the workshop may be postponed to a later date or alternate location. We realize that live hands-on training is perhaps the most useful form of training for any professional. Please be sure to sign up early as workshops often sell out. Let us know how we can be of greater service to you.
In addition to our PFT Workshops, NESTA is currently planning on holding the following one-day, hands-on workshops:
· Advanced Program Design
· Business Training for Personal Trainers
Are you interested in attending such a workshop? Would you like to attend one with a different focus? Please let us know by emailing Dave@NESTAcertified.com and we will do our best to schedule one in your state or closest geographic location.
Nothing beats a combination of live training with solid distance education. Sign up now at http://www.nestacertified.com/workshop-schedule.html.
Job Openings for Trainers, Coaches and Instructors
From Everyone at NESTA wishing you great success
If you are NESTA certified or have a NESTA specialization and are looking for a job or position in your local area, start here. NESTA wants you to be successful and find a place that you can further your career as a fitness professional in an environment that best suits your needs. Your dream job may be closer than you think!
Go to www.nestacertified.com/jobs.html for updates job availability and get working now.
Dear Fellow Fitness Professional:
We are the National Exercise and Sports Trainers Association (NESTA). We offer complete educational solutions for individuals with a strong desire to be Professional Personal Trainers in the health and fitness industry.
It is our mission to educate the most sought after personal trainers in the industry by arming them with the information required to bridge the gap between certification and real-world, in-club application. At NESTA, we not only provide the education you need to become a NCCA accredited Personal Trainer, we also provide plenty of CEU courses to keep your certification up to date. Our live, hands-on 2-day certification workshops are the most comprehensive, cost effective options available. For our current listing of workshop locations and dates, please visit NESTA’s website and click on the workshops tab, or call 1-877-348-6692 x. 111 for more information.
Personal Trainer Certifications
If you are seeking a personal trainer certification, please take a moment a review the NESTA Personal Trainer Certification. Not all personal trainer certifications are created equal. The NESTA Personal Trainer Certification is accredited by NCCA. The seal of approval is granted after 1 year of intensive review of the entire personal trainer certification process and evaluation of the corporate structure of the personal trainer certification entity.
Having a career as a personal trainer is incredibly rewarding. Your personal trainer career must begin with your personal trainer certification. Earning your personal trainer certification needs to be appropriately challenging. Imagine getting a personal trainer certification for $49 and learning NOTHING of value. How could you ever think you are qualified to design a fitness program for a wide variety of people with wide ranging conditions, goals, limitations and medical history?
After you earn your personal trainer certification, you need to focus on growing personal trainer business. The NESTA Personal Trainer Certification covers personal trainer business in detail. However, there is simply so much to learn. NESTA and John Spencer Ellis have teamed up to create Personal Trainer Tools, which offers multiple personal trainer business development programs. It’s the only way to get the full benefit from your personal trainer certification.
Having a personal trainer certification will not make you a celebrity personal trainer. However, you can still become a celebrity personal trainer with the new Celebrity Personal Trainer in 30 days program.
Become a Celebrity Personal Trainer
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