Washington Post article on personal trainers

[Guest guest]

Here is an article entitled " Who Trained the Trainer? "

Comments?

I was under the impression one could get an ACSM cert without a degree in a

health related field, if on had some 600 or so hours of experience.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A58445-2002Nov30.html

There was a short spot on CBS news last night as well, same topic. Seems

the mainstream media has got hold of this now. Not sure I want some

government types regulating the industry, though.

Albert Jenab, NSCA-CPT

McLean, VA

------------

THE ARTICLE

[Extracts provided..]

Who Trained the Trainer? As Fitness Credentials Differ, So Do Knowledge And

Safety.

By Briley

Special to The Washington Post

Tuesday, December 3, 2002

In your drive -- okay, your grudging sulk -- to get your body back in shape,

you finally took

the big step and signed up with a personal trainer through your gym. The

trainer is certified --

you made sure to ask -- and will put you on a program that will have you strong

and fleet in no time.

Well, maybe.

What you may not know is that that the " certification " your trainer mentioned

could mean nothing

more than that he or she attended a one-day or weekend class in personal

training -- or, scarier

still, took a course over the Internet -- and may never have been tested on

skills in a hands-on

setting. Even if a substandard trainer doesn't put your health or life at risk,

you could wind up wasting

your money -- from $50 to $100 an hour, depending on where you train -- on

someone who is not

advancing your fitness.

" There are a lot of substandard so-called professionals out there, " says

Gilroy, communications

director for IDEA Health and Fitness Association in San Diego, an information

and education resource

for fitness professionals.

The risk, say many trainers, is more than hypothetical. A trainer who worked at

a Crunch gym in New York

is being sued by the family of Anne Marie Capati, a 37-year-old client who

suffered a stroke and died

while working out in 1998. The suit contends that the trainer urged Capati to

take a regimen of dietary

supplements, including the stimulant ephedrine, even after Capati said she had

hypertension. The trainer

allegedly took Capati to a supplement store to buy the products. Stories of

other clients reportedly injured

at the hands of inadequately prepared trainers are traded freely among

trainers.

There is no umbrella group or watchdog organization for the hundreds of

trainer-certifying organizations

around the country -- an alphabet soup of groups known by initials like ACE,

ACSM, NSCA, NAFC. Even among

the most highly regarded programs -- including those of the American College

of Sports Medicine, the

National Strength and Conditioning Association and the Institute --

there is little consistency in

certification criteria.

Hoping to end the confusion, seven groups headed by the International Health,

Racquet and Sportsclub Association

(IHRSA) are developing fitness certification guidelines, which they plan to

release in February. Draft provisions

mandate certification by a nationally recognized group, continuing education

and the trainer's adherence to a

code of ethics that, if violated, can result in revocation of certification.

The provisions also put a high value

on client safety.

Even if the groups meet their target date, getting the industry as a whole to

sign on will take a while. In the

meantime, what can consumers do to ensure they are getting qualified personal

training? Here are some

expert-recommended tactics.

Demand More

One option is to choose a gym that imposes its own stricter standards on

trainers.

Rich Salke, owner of Rich Bodies, a town club, requires his trainers to

have either a college degree in

exercise physiology or kinesiology (the science of human muscular movement), or

certification from the American

College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) or the National Strength and Conditioning

Association (NSCA). The ACSM is the

only group to require a health-related academic degree for certification as a

trainer. The NSCA, the only nationally

accredited program, doesn't require an academic degree for personal trainers

but does require one for certification

as a strength and conditioning specialist.

" All the others, including ACE [the American Council on Exercise], are crap, "

Salke says. " ACSM and NSCA require

educational background [to pass their programs] and none of the others do. It's

a cottage industry, and all those other

certifications mean nothing to me, " he says. " In this country you need a

license to cut hair, but you don't need one to

be a personal trainer. How ridiculous is that? "

Cedric , chief exercise physiologist and vice president of educational

services for ACE, chuckled at Salke's

assessment, then defended the group's program, noting that certification

requirements are more demanding for

training levels above the basic level, which he said covers basic exercise

science, nutrition, fitness assessment,

exercise programming, instructional and spotting techniques. " Our clinical

exercise specialist program requires

rigorous prerequisites, much like ACSM and NSCA, " he says.

Jake Westhoff, program director for Fitness and Image Results, which certifies

trainers for six of the Gold's gyms

in the Washington area, recommends that consumers look for college-educated

trainers, those with at least a minor

in exercise physiology, biomechanics or health and fitness.

Westhoff's trainer candidates students must score at least 90 percent on his

test, which he claims is tougher than most

industry exams, and then gain certification from a nationally recognized group

like the NSCA to become eligible for

work at Gold's.

" We are confident our trainers can handle any customer with any specific needs, "

Westhoff says. " If our trainers are

working with a pregnant woman, for example, they stay in contact with the

client's doctor throughout the training. "

Other gyms, like Tenley Sport and Health, go only as far as to say they

" encourage " trainers to have an academic

degree in a related field like kinesiology or exercise physiology. Then they

leave it up to customers to ask questions

about trainers' backgrounds, says Kelley , the gym's personal training

director.

Aim Higher

Another option for consumers is to insist on certification from the top tier of

certifying programs.

Applicants to ACSM programs need a degree in exercise physiology, kinesiology or

medicine and then must choose a

study track once in the program. Applicants to NSCA's strength and conditioning

specialist program also need a

four-year degree.

" I guarantee you no other certification groups require that level of

background, " Salke says. " When I hire a trainer,

I want to see concepts that have been tested for years and have been used at

the Olympic Training Center in Colorado

Springs, " as is the case with ACSM and NSCA course material.

But absent a watchdog group or a federally mandated licensing program, consumers

are on their own in determining

which other certifications convey real expertise. Lesser-known programs are as

likely as others to defend their

certifications vigorously. The National Association for Fitness Certification

(NAFC), which offers certification for

personal trainers, group class and aerobics instructors and wellness

instructors, all through a home study program,

is a case in point.

Students in the program learn from video lectures and books. Part of their exam

requires each student to send in a

video of himself or herself teaching a 30- to 60-minute training session. Pam

Germain, NAFC's director, says the

program adequately prepares students to work with clients. " The video is half

of their exam grade, so it is very

important that they know how to train, " she says.

The only way to know if a trainer had to demonstrate physical competence -- on

tape or in person -- or meet other

criteria to get certified is to ask, say experts. But it's the rare trainer who

will admit to deficiencies in his or her

preparation........

Recognize Danger

The best remaining piece of advice may be to beware of obvious red flags --

trainers who push too hard, too fast or

set unrealistic goals.

" Your trainer should not be saying to you, 'C'mon, you can do this, bleed, throw

up, go for it!' The workouts should

consist of exercises you want to do, " says , director of education

and certification at the

Institute, a nonprofit research and education center in Dallas.

She recalls a situation in Dallas in which a trainer was working with a man who

had disc problems. " The person was

trying to strengthen his supporting muscles because his doctor told him

resistance training would help. The trainers

placed the person in exercises that put strain on the discs and resulted in a

ruptured disc. "

Other potentially dangerous practices include allowing clients to do walking

lunges with their knees extended in front

of their toes (which can cause ligament strain in the knee) and having them use

improper form during shoulder exercises,

which can cause rotator cuff problems. The endorsement of supplements such as

ephedrine or creatine also falls into the

hazard zone. " If your trainer is trying to get you to use supplements, run the

other way, " advises. " Supplements

are not a regulated industry and offering them is not within a trainer's area

of expertise. " Beware also of a trainer who

makes unrealistic promises: for instance, that you will lose 30 pounds in 30

days.

Basic elements of quality training, says , should include adequate

warm-up and cool-down time, injury prevention,

alertness for dehydration. and guidance on exercise frequency and intensity

targets.

Is the prospect of finding a qualified trainer so discouraging that you're

tempted to dispense with the whole idea? You may

want to think it over again. For all the frustrations of finding a good

trainer, most industry experts agree that the effort

can be a powerful and educational kick-start for a personal fitness campaign.

The take-away message is a familiar one

in the American marketplace: Caveat emptor, and don't accept vague or evasive

answers when your health is at stake.

" There are risks associated with exercise, " says . " We follow the

Hippocratic oath -- do no harm. If you can get

certified in one day or one weekend, that is not long enough. " •

Briley is a regular contributor to the Health section.

----------------