I’m about to start certification classes for 24hr fitness so I can be a personal trainer. I know this occupation is frowned on my many that read this site, but due to our crappy economy i need to get a job quick or I’ll be getting my protein from small rodents and bugs. Have any of you T-folk done the classes? Any feedback positive or negative?
Thanks!
About 5 years ago I was decorated an official “AFFA Certified Personal Trainer.” The cross section of 120 people attending that fiasco (oops…I mean 3 day seminar) would blow your mind! About 5% were “Hard core Lifers,” - and the remaining 95% were house
wives, aerobics queens plus a few “she men!”… all withthan 1 year or less of weight training under their belts! (What kind of theories could they have developed in this single year of training?)
My lab partner was a young, local competitive body
builder named Steve…He and Iwondered (when these recruits finally got into the gym to practice their craft on some unsuspecting victim) how the other members would be able to know “WHO WAS TRAINING WHOM?”… (JOEY Z.)
Acutally yes. Once you have a personal trainer cert they will require you to go through their 24/5 cert. This is a week long cert that is a bunch of bullshit mostly. I just recently went through the APEX program last May. JoeyZ is right in saying that most personal trainers look and are in horrible shape. And more than 95% of those who are in decent or better shape don’t know shit about nutrition, training, etc. If you don’t mind selling crap supplements and adhering to a high-carb diet for every client no matter what then continue working at 24 Hr. Fitness and you can make good money. Otherwise, I suggest you find a new job. My overall feeling after going through the APEX thing is that they try to brainwash you with their products, claiming that theirs are superior and everything else is inferior when in fact its just the opposite. Just to give you an idea about APEX, they make products such as Pyruvate, DHEA and Chrysin which most know by now that these things suck. In other words, APEX is a good company making crap products. That’s just my opinion though. Do your research and I have no doubt you’ll feel the same way.
What these training programs boil down to is a week long psychology seminar on how to coerce clients into long term contracts.
I got a NASM cert (I think they are owned by Apex/24 Hr fitness) a few years back. Honestly it was the biggest waste of money ever. For an entire Saturday I learned how to draw in the abs and use the TVA. I’ve never even used the certification, I now work in college athletics and stay far away from the NASM cult.
NASM is co-owned with APEX and that is why both recommend each other. They are a cult and think the TVA and “core stability” are the answers for everything. My boss tried to convince me that he could full squat 315 lbs. for 12 reps but he never squatted. He said all he did was balance board, balance discs, and swiss ball movements. Let me also mention he was only about 5’9, 155 lbs. so I didn’t even ask him to show me how much he could squat because I knew he was lying. He also said he knew a guy that could squat 315 lbs. while standing on a swiss ball because he such a strong core. All lies! All lies I tell you!
I have a NAFC certification (National Association for Fitness Certification). This program focusses more on Nutrition, lifestyle and health then just the pure “training” and other BS that I’ve heard ACE and a few other courses preach. But, from what I understand, all of the “big” places will require that you get “thier” certification, like ACE. This will teach you absolutely nothing if your a regular reader of this site, and at those places you’ll be forced to hustle your clients for money rather then thier progress. So, if your OK with that (hey, you got to make a buck), then I’d say suck it up, but realize what it is and don’t fall into “walking the walk” for them. On the other hand, most good smaller gyms will allow trainers from other certs, or better yet, just let you train people there with the understanding that insurance/liability is your problem, and your not an employee of them. If your confident you can build up enough clientelle to still keep the bugs and small rodents around your apartment safe, then I’d recommend going that route instead. I don’t know where else 24hr is, but if your in the so-cal area, I can tell you offline where to get the NASC cert. BTW, most of the people that I know that worked for 24hrs and Bally’s didn’t make nearly as much as they were promised.