The Personal Trainer Bio: Understanding A Personal Trainers Credentials And Background

If you are considering working with a personal trainer, it’s important to understand a potential trainers background and credentials.  Many people are surprised to learn that the field of fitness is almost totally unregulated in most places.  What this means for the consumer is that it is up to them to do the necessary and appropriate research to find a competent professional with which to work with.  It’s an unfortunate fact, but in most places literally anyone can call themselves a personal trainer without any license or certification of any kind.  In this article I want to go over some important principles and tips to consider as you look over a personal trainers bio.

 

A personal trainer bio is basically the place where a personal trainer attempts to convey their background and credentials to the world.  It is in many ways a resume of sorts.  It’s an opportunity for the personal trainer to give insight to any prospective clients as to why a potential client should choose him or her as their personal trainer.  Knowing this, it’s important to understand that a trainer will use the personal trainer bio to try to emphasize (and perhaps exaggerate in some cases) their background and experience.  Let’s go ahead and take a look at some of the important things to look for when reading the bio of a personal trainer. 

 

Educational Background

 

Although not required in most places, most personal trainers have a certification and/or degree related to fitness.  Certification through a reputable organization ensures that a personal trainer has demonstrated competency in the many areas of personal training, including workout design, nutrition, exercise selection, working with special populations, anatomy as it relates to fitness, and so on.  Being certified through a reputable organization also requires the person to take continuing education credits.  These CEC’s require the trainer to take additional educational courses and seminars every couple of years, or they lose their certification.  This helps to ensure that trainers are constantly learning and staying up to date on new and important aspects of fitness.  Because reputable certifications require CEC’s, even those with degrees in health and exercise related fields usually get certified through a reputable organization.  A degree shows a high level of competency in the respective field, but a degree won’t be taken away if the person stops studying.  A good certification will. 

 

Fitness Background

 

Most personal trainers have some sort of background in fitness.  This is often what leads people to become personal trainers in the first place.  Personal trainers often have backgrounds in bodybuilding, fitness competitions, powerlifting, martial arts, and so on.  Some personal trainers come from medical and nutritional backgrounds as well.  When looking at a personal trainer bio, it’s important to consider the background of the individual trainer.  If you are a senior looking to work on overall balance improvement, working with a trainer who has a background primarily in bodybuilding and working with bodybuilders may not be the most appropriate choice for you.  Additionally, if you are a female looking to compete in fitness competitions, working with a trainer with no knowledge or experience relating to female fitness competitions may also not be appropriate.  Consider your background and goals when looking at various personal trainer bios.  A personal trainers bio and background can play a huge role in their approach to training individuals. 

 

Additional Considerations

 

When looking at a personal trainer bio, there are some additional important elements to keep an eye out for.  Any good personal trainer should be certified in CPR and the use of an AED.  In fact, the best personal trainer certifications require this.  Additionally, don’t make the mistake of thinking that because a trainer has numerous letters behind his or her name that he or she is well qualified.  Again, because of the lack of regulation in the industry, there are many certifications that can be gotten in a day or even less.  A conscious consumer will investigate the certification(s) that a trainer has.  A good idea is to find out how long it would take a person to get such a certification.  With the Internet today, it should not take more than a few minutes.  The best certifications in the industry typically take six months or more of study to pass. 

In addition to CPR/AED and verifying certifications, consider how long the person has been a personal trainer for.  There are certain aspects of training people that simply cannot be taught in a book or classroom.  They must be learned through hands on experience.  The longer a personal trainer has been training for, the more experience he or she has.  The more experience he or she has, the more this will benefit you by having increased likelihood of reaching your goals, and reaching them safely.  I can tell you that over the years of doing personal training I have learned a great deal working with people one-on-one.  Again, education is crucial and should not be overlooked, but there are some things that books and classrooms cannot prepare a personal trainer for. 

 

Personal Trainer Bio Final Thoughts

 

A personal trainers bio is a way for them to sell themselves to the world.  It is their calling card so to speak.  Because there is such a lack of regulation in most places, it’s up to you the consumer to investigate, research, and understand a personal trainers background, and make a decision as to whether or not he or she is well suited to assist you in reaching your fitness goals.  Take your time.  Research carefully.  Ask potential trainers questions about their background and approach to fitness.  Good luck in your fitness and wellness quest and make sure to check back for more great articles.