EDUCATING AND TRAINING THE PERSONAL...

EDUCATING ANDTRAINING THE PERSONALFITNESS TRAINER:

A Pedagogical Approachby Aaron C. Craig, M.S., HFS, NSCA-CPT, and JoAnn M. Eickhoff-Shemek, Ph.D., FACSM, FAWHP

Learning Objective

• It is important that individuals who want to become personal fit-

ness trainers are well prepared to provide high-quality (safe and

effective) programs for their clients. After reading this article,

health/fitness professionals will learn the key components of an

educational program that was designed to educate and train per-

sonal fitness trainers and incorporated both classroom and real-

world practical experiences.

Key words:Personal Fitness Training, Educational Training Programs, ProgramPlanning, Exercise Plans/Lesson Plans, Student Reflection

Personal fitness training services are

offered in nearly all health/fitness facili-

ties. Concerns regarding the quality of

those services have existed for several years,

for example, what educational credentials and/

or certifications should personal fitness trainers

possess, and should they be licensed before

practicing personal fitness training. Efforts to

attend to some of these concerns have been

addressed. For example, in addition to offering

certifications for personal fitness trainers, or-

ganizations such as the American College of

Sports Medicine (ACSM), National Strength

and Conditioning Association, and many others

have obtained accreditation for their certifica-

tions through accrediting groups such as the

National Commission for Certifying Agencies

(NCCA) (12). In addition, academic programs

in personal fitness training and exercise science

also can obtain accreditation through the Com-

mission on the Accreditation of Allied Health

Education Programs (5). Some states also are

proposing licensure for personal fitness trainers

(6). We believe that all of these efforts have

resulted in enhancing standards for the personal

fitness training profession, but more still needs to

be accomplished.

Often, employers will hire a personal fitness

trainer if he/she possesses a personal fitness

trainer certification that is accredited by NCCA

or some other accrediting body, assuming that

such certification qualifies him/her for the job.

Although passing a certification examination that

is accredited has raised the bar for entry into the

field of personal fitness training, it is important to

realize that the preparation an individual receives

before sitting for these certification examinations

often is limited, for example, attending a 1-day

workshop and reviewing self-study materials.

8 ACSM’s HEALTH & FITNESS JOURNALA | www.acsm-healthfitness.org VOL. 13/ NO. 2

9Copyright @ 200 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. Unauthorized reproduction of this article is prohibited.

We believe that personal fitness trainers should not only

develop excellent pedagogical (teaching) skills V a key

function/responsibility of personal fitness training V but also

have their practical skills (i.e., their ability to safety and

effectively apply theory of safe principles of exercise)

adequately evaluated before becoming a personal fitness trainer.

To help develop these specific skills, a pilot program was

implemented at the University of South Florida (USF) called

USF FIT (FIT) for exercise science majors.

The FIT program was implemented as a service-learning

opportunity that represented the major project in one of the

required senior-year professional development courses in the

undergraduate Exercise Science program V PET 4406

Individualized Fitness/Wellness Programming. Service learning

has been defined as ‘‘a teaching/learning method that connects

meaningful community service experiences with academic

learning, personal growth, and civic responsibility’’ (4[p4]).

Service-learning projects have been shown to be effective in

helping students achieve important learning outcomes (13).

FIT was developed on the premise of service-learning theory

that students’ learning experiences would be enhanced as they

are provided opportunities to participate in and respond to real-

life personal training situations within a well-supervised

teaching/learning environment. In this program, students were

immersed in the underlying theory of personal training through

class lecture/activities and, at the same time, were provided

opportunities for direct application of their knowledge, skills,

and abilities (KSAs) through personal training actual clients V

USF College of Education (COE) faculty and staff members V

in the USF Campus Recreation Center. Implementing this

pedagogical approach also provided opportunities for the

students to apply what they learned in course work previously

taken (e.g., exercise physiology, biomechanics, fitness testing/

prescription, strength and conditioning, and program planning

and evaluation) as well as to help prepare them for their full-

time internship the following semester and future jobs. The FIT

program took place in the fall semester, along with three other

courses, before the full-time internship course in the spring

semester.

The purpose of this article is to describe the specific program

planning steps and procedures of the FIT program so that other

professionals will have the necessary information to replicate

such a program. Although implemented in an academic setting,

several aspects of the program can be applied to personal fitness

trainers and coordinators/managers who work in health/fitness

facilities as described later in the article.

STEP 1 V ESTABLISH GOALS ANDLEARNING OBJECTIVES

While developing the goals and learning objectives for the

program, it was critical to focus on student learning outcomes

that would help students acquire both pedagogical and practical

skills. The three major goals of FIT (4) were as follows:

• provide students with an opportunity to learn the theory be-

hind personal training and actively apply it by training actual

clients

• provide practical experiences for students that would prepare

them for success in future internships and/or full-time jobs

• obtain student and client perspectives to evaluate the effec-

tiveness of the program

Learning objectives established for the FIT program are

presented in Table 1.

STEP 2 V DEVELOP CLIENT RECRUITMENT/SELECTIONPROCEDURES, COURSE STRUCTURE, AND

PROGRAM PLANRecruitment and selection V before the beginning of the se-

mester, a mass email was sent to potential clients (USF COE

employees) describing the FIT program as well as enrollment

and eligibility requirements and the like. The subsequent pro-

cedures were followed to determine the eligibility of respon-

dents and then, once selected, match them with student trainers:

• Respondents completed a preactivity health screening ques-

tionnaire. Information from this questionnaire was then used

to classify them into low-, moderate-, and high-risk catego-

ries using ACSM guidelines (2).

• The first 15 COE employees who completed the enrollment

process were selected to participate as clients. Because of the

program being nonmedically supervised, high-risk individu-

als were not accepted as clients but were referred to other

personal training services available that could accommodate

their needs. Moderate-risk individuals were required to

obtain physician clearance as part of the enrollment process.

TABLE 1: FIT Learning ObjectivesUnderstand and appreciate how to bridge the gap between the theoryand practice of personal training

Provide experiences that will lead to success in their internshipsand/or full-time jobs

Increase proficiency in health/fitness testing skills and interpretationof assessment results

Enhance organization, communication, preparation, and timemanagement skills

Develop and augment teaching/training skills

Increase self-confidence and ability to develop safe and effectiveexercise plans for a variety of client populations based onindividual goals

Obtain mastery of ACSM’s KSAs for Certified Health/Fitness Specialist

(Reprinted from: Brathwaite A, Eickhoff-Shemek J. Preparing qualitypersonal trainers: a successful pilot program. The Exercise Standardsand Malpractice Reporter 2007;21(2):25Y31. Copyright B 2007 PRCPublishing Inc. Used with permission.)

VOL. 13/ NO. 2 ACSM’s HEALTH & FITNESS JOURNALA 9


• Student trainers (N = 30) were divided into pairs and matched

with clients using various criteria. Pairing was done to create

synergy that would benefit the student trainers and their

clients in terms of creativity, support/resources, and skill sets. In

addition, research has shown that students who worked in pairs

on service-learning projects, compared with those who served

alone, were more likely to show increases in social responsibility

and indicated future plans to continue service to others (14).

Although the student trainers were not directly involved in

the recruitment and selection processes, they did participate in

classroom simulations of these important preactivity health

screening procedures as a part of the course content. The course

was designed for students to meet 2 days per week. Each day,

the class met for 90 minutes and incorporated the following

format each week throughout the semester:

• Day 1: classroom lectures, presentations, and discussions

based on the course textbook (8)

• Day 2: student trainers personal train their client (60-minute

training session followed by 30 minutes of classroom discus-

sion) (Figure 1)

The program plan involved establishing the course activities

for an 11-week period as described next.

Week 1: Initial Consultation andPreYHealth/Fitness AssessmentsIn the initial consultation, student trainers conducted an

informal physical activity inventory (verbal interview) format.

Questions from this inventory addressed such things as client’s

goals, barriers to exercise, and activity preferences. In addition,

clients were given the opportunity to read and ask questions

before signing an Assumption of Risk and Waiver of Liability

(7). Then, the student trainers reviewed the pretest instructions

for the testing protocols, answered any questions from their

client, and established the appointment for the preYhealth/

fitness assessment.

Next, student trainers reviewed an Informed Consent for

Exercise Testing (11) and obtained their clients’ signatures be-

fore conducting the preYhealth/fitness assessments. PreYhealth/

fitness assessments included tests to assess resting measures,

muscular strength, muscular endurance, flexibility, body com-

position, and cardiorespiratory endurance.

Because laws vary from state to state, it is important for

personal trainers to understand that protective legal documents

(e.g., express assumptions of risks, waivers, and informed

consents) must first be reviewed by a knowledgeable lawyer.

For example, the protective legal documents for the FIT pro-

gram were reviewed and edited by USF’s legal counsel’s office

before implementation. The importance of incorporating such

protective legal documents in personal fitness training pro-

grams was covered in the classroom discussions.

Weeks 2 to 10: Personal Fitness Training SessionsFor 9 weeks, student trainers met with their client twice each

week (total of 18 sessions) for 50- to 60-minute personal training

sessions. One of these sessions occurred during class time, and

the other was established at the convenience of both the student

trainer and client. To meet national recommendations regarding

Photo courtesy of Aaron Craig, University of South Florida.

Figure 1. Student trainers instruct their client on proper form/execution of abiceps preacher curl.


Educating and Training Personal Fitness Trainers


exercise frequency (10), clients were encouraged to include a

third exercise session during the week on their own time.

Because personal fitness trainers have similar roles and

responsibilities to those of teachers, it is important for personal

fitness trainers to develop good teaching or pedagogical skills.

Therefore, various teaching methods were incorporated into the

FIT program. To help ensure a valuable and productive

‘‘teaching-learning’’ experience (16), student trainers were

required to develop individual exercise plans before each

session (1,15). The development of a written exercise plan

(Figure 2) for each training session was an integral part of the

educational process.

Each exercise plan was submitted to the course instructor for

review and feedback before each exercise session. This review/

feedback process is helpful in the development of pedagogical

skills (15,16). This process focused primarily on ensuring that

student trainers acknowledged the health/fitness goals of their

clients through the established objectives as well as the proper

selection and placement of activities/exercises within the

exercise plan. This process became less time consuming for

the course instructor as student trainers progressively learned to

adapt their clients’ exercise plans for maximum efficiency and

effectiveness. Additionally, the student trainers were continu-

ally supervised by and received ongoing feedback from the

course instructor during the actual training sessions to help

ensure student trainers were properly applying safe and

effective principles of exercise and accommodating client needs

and/or limitations as well as using effective teaching methods.

In addition to preparing exercise plans for each session, it was

important to integrate reflection into this service-learning

experience (1). There are several strategies that can be identified

as contributing to reflection, for example, learning partners, self-

assessment, and learning journals (3). A self-assessment ap-

proach was used in the FIT program to help student trainers

Figure 2. FIT exercise plan.



critically think about the attainment of their exercise KSAs as

well as their evaluation and pedagogical skills. This involved

having them complete a reflection form (Figure 3) after each

training session. The process enabled the student trainers to

immediately recognize the value of preparation in providing an

effective exercise plan/training session for their clients as well as

to address challenges/issues that occurred and make adjustments

for future exercise plans.

The students submitted their reflection forms after each

exercise session to the course instructor to obtain feedback on

their reflection skills. This feedback helped students prepare

more in-depth reflections toward the end of the FIT program

than they did at the beginning of the program.

Week 11: PostYHealth/Fitness Assessments,Celebration of Accomplishments, andCourse EvaluationsUpon completion of the 9 weeks of personal fitness training

sessions, student trainers conducted postYhealth/fitness assess-

ments that consisted of the same testing protocols that were

used in the preYhealth/fitness assessments. Once completed,

student trainers analyzed the predata and postdata, prepared a

final assessment results report indicating improvements their

client had made, and discussed the data/results with their

clients. Although recognition and acknowledgement of clients’

progress took place regularly throughout the program, a final

celebration of goals/accomplishments was held, and each client

received a certificate of completion and a workout towel em-

broidered with the FIT logo.

Students completed a traditional university course evaluation

form at the end of the semester. For the overall quality of the

course, the mean score was 4.21 on a scale of 5 (excellent) and

1 (poor). Generally, comments on these evaluations were very

positive such as the class was ‘‘a great experience’’ and ‘‘it

helped increase knowledge and confidence with personal train-

ing and exercise prescription.’’ Several students also commen-

ted that the course work involved a great deal more time when

compared with other courses.

STEP 3 V EVALUATION OF FITThe results of a comprehensive evaluation of the FIT program

have been previously published (4). This evaluation involved

gathering and analyzing both quantitative and qualitative data

obtained from the student trainers and the clients. It also con-

sisted of both formative (ongoing during the program) and

summative (end of the program and 6 months after the pro-

gram) components. Formative evaluation took place in the

form of a survey at 3 weeks, as well as various techniques used

throughout the program as described in this article (e.g., feed-

back on exercise plans and reflection forms).

Figure 3. FIT reflection form.




One of the purposes of the summative evaluation was to

determine if the student learning objectives of the FIT program

(Table 1) had been achieved. Therefore, 6 months after the FIT

program (i.e., 2 months after completion of the students’ full-

time spring semester internship), students were sent a survey to

evaluate the FIT program. The quantitative results presented in

Table 2 indicated that the FIT program was successful in

achieving the learning objectives. The survey also involved

gathering qualitative data, for example, students were asked the

following question: describe how the FIT program prepared

you for your internship and/or professional career. Some of the

most common answers to this question are provided in Table 3.

APPLICATIONS TO PERSONAL FITNESS TRAINERS ANDFITNESS COORDINATORS/MANAGERS

Although FIT was implemented in an academic setting for an

entire semester and designed for students preparing to enter the

profession as a full-time professional, the various components

of FIT can be adapted to benefit personal fitness trainers as well

as fitness coordinators/managers that have the responsibility

and oversight of personal fitness training services offered in

their facilities.

Personal fitness trainers can consider completing exercise

plans and reflection forms using the samples presented in

Figures 2 and 3 as one way to enhance their pedagogical and

training skills. These strategies can be beneficial by

• improving the quality of the services they provide to their

clients and thus improve client satisfaction. For example, by

developing an individualized exercise plan that includes

specific objectives and activities for each training session, it

is more likely that personal fitness trainers will be successful

than if they do not prepare an exercise plan. As the old

saying goes, programs don’t plan to fail, they fail to plan.

• establishing documentation of the client’s exercise program

history for various purposes (e.g., tracking progress, com-

municating results/outcomes periodically with client’s per-

sonal physician, and providing evidence for legal liability

purposes).

Documentation is a ‘‘key’’ risk management strategy (9).

For example, if a client complains about experiencing knee

pain, this could be recorded on the reflection form as well as

what was recommended by the trainer, for example, advising

the client to make an appointment with his/her physician for

diagnosis and treatment.

Fitness coordinators/managers can design a training and

education program similar to FIT for newly hired personal

fitness trainers and/or for individuals who would like to become

personal fitness trainers (trainees). The credentials of the

instructor who would teach the course are important. For

example, the instructor should possess a degree in exercise

science (or related area); be an experienced and successful

personal fitness trainer; and have good organization, commu-

nication, and evaluation skills as well as a genuine passion for

teaching and helping others become successful.

The design of the program will likely be different. The

course may be shorter (perhaps 8 to 10 weeks) and would entail

TABLE 3: FIT Follow-up Survey (6 Months)Qualitative ResultsDescribe how the FIT program prepared you for your internship and/orprofessional career.

• Having to keep files in order seemed like a pain then but hasgreatly prepared me in my line of work as a personal trainer wheremy files are randomly reviewed.

• Working in partners gave me insight on how to work with otherpeople that do not necessarily have the same work ethic, which issomething that will happen again in my professional career.

• The program required us to outline goals of our client andobjectives for each exercise sessionIthis prepared me tounderstand that the exercise sessions were all towardattaining her goals, furthering her education, and adopting ahealthy lifestyle.

• It gave me confidence to work with someone on a one-on-one basis.

• I am grateful for the programIit showed me that I was not asgood as I thought I was as a personal trainer. I think the programwould be an asset for experienced and novice trainers.

(Reprinted from Brathwaite A, Eickhoff-Shemek J. Preparing qualitypersonal trainers: a successful pilot program. The Exercise Standardsand Malpractice Reporter 2007;21(2):25Y31. Copyright B 2007 PRCPublishing Inc. Used with permission.)

TABLE 2: FIT Follow-up Survey (6 Months)Quantitative Results (N = 20)

The FIT Program prepared me for my internshipand/or full-time job in the following areas:

Means*

• Knowledge and skill of providing personalexercise programs

3.56

• Proficiency with fitness testing skills 3.56

• Proficiency with interpreting results of fitness testing 3.56

• Increased self-confidence 3.56

• Ability to interact/communicate with clients/individuals 3.56

• Improved teaching/training skills 3.78

• Mastery of ACSM KSAs 3.22

• Preparation for ‘‘real world’’ not-so-perfect situations(e.g., clients not showing up, emergencies, timemanagement, and planning)

3.56

• Ability to develop exercise/lesson plans appropriate tomeet the need(s) of clients from various populations

3.67

*Means based on the following scale: 1 = strongly disagree, 2 = disagree,3 = agree, and 4 = strongly agree.(Reprinted from Brathwaite A, Eickhoff-Shemek J. Preparing qualitypersonal trainers: a successful pilot program. The Exercise Standardsand Malpractice Reporter 2007;21(2):25Y31. Copyright B 2007 PRCPublishing Inc. Used with permission.)



a smaller number of student trainers or trainees, (perhaps 4

to 6). To establish the goals, learning objectives, and course

content, it will be necessary for the course instructor to as-

sess the level of KSAs of the trainees before the program so

that the program is then designed to meet the needs of the

trainees.

Although the design and content may be different from

the FIT program, many of the pedagogical strategies described

in this article could easily be included. For example, the ex-

ercise plans and reflection forms could be used as previously

described, and the course instructor could observe trainees while

working with clients to provide feedback from both training

and pedagogical perspectives. Of course, it will be important

to communicate upfront with clients who enroll in the program

that the personal fitness training they will receive is being pro-

vided by trainees with oversight from the course instructor.

Another benefit for fitness coordinators/managers for im-

plementing a program like FIT at their facilities is that the

course also can include instruction on the philosophy and

policies of the personal fitness training program at that facility,

resulting in the trainees understanding their roles and re-

sponsibilities upon hiring and what the facility considers as

important traits of quality personal fitness trainers. Fitness co-

ordinators/managers also may want to involve their experienced

and successful personal fitness trainers as teaching assistants in

this course where they could serve in a mentoring role. This

may be a good way to retain these individuals and recognize

them for their contributions to the facility’s personal fitness

training program.

CONCLUSIONSThe success of any educational program can be generally

determined by how well the program met its established goals

and learning objectives. Based on the results from the eval-

uation, the FIT service-learning program was successful (4).

This educational training program implemented as a service-

learning opportunity not only bridged the gap between theory

and practice for student personal trainers but also provided an

excellent teaching/learning environment with direct hands-on

experiences for them, allowed for regular evaluation and feed-

back regarding their practical skills, and emphasized the

importance of developing important pedagogical skills neces-

sary in the preparation of quality personal fitness trainers.

Because of the success of this pilot program, USF’s exercise

science program has permanently incorporated FIT into its

curriculum and will continue to measure its effectiveness on

important student learning outcomes. It is likely that academic

programs as well health/fitness facilities are using pedagogical

approaches similar to FIT; however, the prevalence of these

programs is unknown. Future research is needed not only to

investigate how prevalent these programs are but also to

determine if the effectiveness of these programs has been

measured.

Aaron C. Craig, M.S., HFS, NSCA-CPT, is a

Ph.D. candidate at the University of South

Florida (USF). From 2004 to 2007, she was

a Ph.D. graduate assistant in the Exercise

Science program at USF where she devel-

oped and taught professional development

courses, served as the internship coordinator,

and developed/implemented the USF FIT program described in

this article. Before that, she managed health education/fitness

programs in hospital/rehabilitation, university, and corporate

settings. She currently works at MacDill Air Force Base in their

Health andWellness Center in Tampa, FL. Her research interests

are in the areas of obesity, body-image issues, and preactivity

health screening. She is ACSM Health/Fitness Specialist�

certified and is a National Strength and Conditioning Associa-

tion Certified Personal Trainer.

JoAnn M. Eickhoff-Shemek, Ph.D., FACSM,

FAWHP, is a professor and the coordinator of

the Exercise Science program at the Univer-

sity of South Florida in Tampa. Dr. Eickhoff-

Shemek’s research focuses on legal liability

and risk management issues in the health/

fitness field. She is the lead author of a new

text entitled Risk Management for Health/Fitness Professionals:

Legal Issues and Strategies published by Lippincott Williams &

Wilkins in October 2008. Dr. Eickhoff-Shemek is the legal

columnist and an associate editor of ACSM’s Health & Fitness

Journal� and is ACSM Health/Fitness Director� certified, an

ACSM Exercise Test TechnologistSM certified, and a Fellow

of ACSM.

References1. Alliance for Service-Learning in Education Reform. Standards for

Quality School-Based Service Learning [Internet]. March 1995 [cited2006 Nov 1]. Available from: http://servicelearning.org/filemanager/download/12/asler95.pdf.

2. American College of Sports Medicine. Preparticipation Health Screeningand Risk Stratification. In: Whaley MH, editor. ACSM’s Guidelines forTesting and Prescription. 7th ed. Philadelphia (PA): Lippincott Williamsand Wilkins; 2006.

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5. Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs.Committee on Accreditation for the Exercise Sciences [Internet]. 2008[cited 2008 Feb 12] Available from: http://www.coaes.org/.

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CONDENSED VERSION AND BOTTOM LINE

Quality personal fitness trainers are a much neededcommodity in our field today to help ensure that clientsare receiving safe and effective programs. Attainment of apersonal fitness trainer certification, although important,may not be adequate to prepare a personal fitness trainerfor his/her many responsibilities. It is the ultimateresponsibility of fitness coordinators/managers that haveoversight of personal fitness training services to ensurethat the personal fitness training services provided in theirfacilities are safe and effective. Academic programs thatoffer exercise science programs (or related areas) alsohave a responsibility to ensure that graduates possess thenecessary skills to become successful practitioners. Byincorporating the FIT program planning steps and educa-tional strategies presented in this article, any academicprogram or health/fitness facility can begin to reap themany benefits of an effective educational program thatfocuses on ‘‘educating and training the personal fitnesstrainer.’’



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