A course of action
Personal trainers are as ubiquitous as treadmills on the gym landscape, but not all are created equal. With vastly different backgrounds and levels of experience, trainers can be highly skilled fitness professionals or highly paid baby-sitters.
But one university hopes to send its graduates into the field with the skills and knowledge to get people into shape safely and sanely -- while successfully managing their careers. Next fall, Indiana’s Purdue University will launch a four-year degree with a concentration in personal training, the first program of its kind.
The curriculum, part of Purdue’s health and fitness major, offers a practical component that emphasizes performing and teaching exercises correctly, business courses covering entrepreneurship and working in corporate environments, and revolving internships in such places as commercial fitness facilities and cardiac rehab units. The hope is for graduates to be better qualified and more directed when they enter the job market.
The time was right to offer this, says Ken Baldwin, program coordinator for the personal fitness training program. He says about 70% of students majoring in health and fitness want to be personal trainers, a number that’s stayed steady for years.
“A lot of students,” he says, “not just at Purdue, don’t feel they were prepared when they graduated to enter the health and fitness field. Sometimes there may not have been a class required in weight training. When I see a staff of personal trainers perform movements, often I can see they’re not trained and they’re doing things incorrectly.”
Indeed, there’s a wide discrepancy among trainers’ educational backgrounds, experience and abilities. Anyone who has been to a gym has observed those who barely keep an eye on their clients, or offer random and often harmful nutritional advice. Certifications -- which almost all gyms, community facilities or rehab centers require -- may offer some guarantee that the trainer has knowledge about basic anatomy and physiology, but there are hundreds of certifications available, many of which can be obtained online.
Even academic programs vary. The University of Nevada, Las Vegas, has a degree in fitness management, and San Diego State University offers hands-on training as well as some business curricula. The American College of Sports Medicine has also developed guidelines for schools to establish standardized programs that are required for the group’s various certifications.
But most college and university programs teach little in the way of business, and emphasize exercise theory over practical application, says San Diego State’s Larry Verity, professor of exercise physiology. The main reason, he says, is money.
“I can hire one person to proctor an exam for 200 people, but I have a practicum on weight training with multiple stations, how many people would I have to hire then?”
Many in the fitness industry regard Purdue’s program as a good thing, potentially sending students off into the world with more knowledge and better skills.
“We’ve heard loud and clear from our members that there is a shortage of good people,” says Bill Howland, director of research for the International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Assn., a trade organization for commercial health clubs. “I don’t want to diminish a degree in exercise science or physiology, but the emphasis on the business side is something that is going to be welcomed by our industry. At the end of the day we’re a business, and it’s good to have someone with knowledge of exercise science who also understands that there are business objectives that need to be met.”
As the demand for personal trainers has increased, adds Howland, training has become a more important part of many gyms’ offerings: “Clubs that have great personal training and other services seem to do better in terms of retaining members,” he says.
People who apply for trainer positions at Bally Total Fitness clubs come with varying qualifications, says Dave Van Daff, senior director of education and development. Some have master’s degrees in exercise physiology, while others are career-switchers who like to work out. While all must have certifications (and the company accepts only those from 14 organizations), trainers are still required to take a weeklong “fundamentals workshop,” Van Daff says. Trainers are brought on the floor and observed interacting with clients, are graded on their communication skills and are watched to see if they can do and teach exercises correctly.
“Sometimes trainers will come to us, and even though they’ll have a certification, they don’t know how to use a leg extension machine,” says Mike Divello, the company’s senior director of personal training. “It’s encouraging what Purdue’s doing. The more hands-on the students can get, the better.”
Whether a degree in personal training will make a difference in earnings will remain to be seen. According to the International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Assn., the median hourly salary for trainers is $21.50.
“That’s not bad, but it’s not great,” says Howland. “I would argue that these people are better primed for a career path.... I think [this program] is going to be something you’re going to see more of. They seem to have made the link from a pure exercise science degree to helping people apply their knowledge.”