Gym Instructor : Part 1

This weekend just gone I went back to school. School on a weekend? Yep, in a sense. From Friday morning until Sunday afternoon I was at my local sport centre taking my Anatomy and Physiology exams and my Gym Instructor workshop with Future Fit Training.

Back in the summer I enrolled on the Specialist Diploma in Personal Training with a specialism in Pre and Post Natal Training. There are 16 modules to take in total with a mix of online learning, workshops and assessments. So far I've completed the Client Motivation and Psychology module and am really enjoying the course. I've found it relatively easy to fit into my busy schedule as and when but this weekend was a welcome chance to dedicate some time to it and get immersed in the material and meet some other people in the area taking this or a variation of the course.

By a happy coincidence it was held at my local gym, of which I'm a member, so I was able to catch up with my PT and his latest Ironman shenanigans. He texted me over the course of the weekend too, wishing my luck and offering to help me practice for my practical, which I thought was really sweet. It was a great group, nine of us in total, of all ages and backgrounds. Our tutor was fantastic too. She gave us loads of recommendations for books, blogs and websites to look at for more information on various aspects of health and fitness at the end of the course, which I'm really looking forward to getting stuck into.

Friday and Saturday featured two Anatomy and Physiology exams apiece and in between we were taught how to put together a gym programme for a beginner or intermediate client, draw up session plans and how to demonstrate all the equipment and stretches that we might use as part of a programme. It was a lot of fun but a lot to take in over three days. The exams were a bit nerve wracking. The order of the exams was switched from what we'd been expecting from the pre-course information, something that really threw a few of us and left us expecting to have to resit at least one exam but I'm absolutely delighted to say that I passed every single one, and the one I expected to fail was my second highest score - go figure!

The next step is the practical assessment where I have to draw up a programme for a real live person and teach it to them in front of an assessor. My lovely friend Joanne is going to be my "client" and I've got 4 weeks to prepare for it. I'll be down the gym a few times in between now and then practising my "spiel" for each of the machines. looking a bit mad, talking to myself. I' really looking forward to the assessment because if/when I pass I'll be a REPS Level 2 fitness instructor and I'll feel as though I'm really on the way towards becoming a PT (although I'm still not sure whether I'll do it ad hoc, part-time or think more seriously... all in good time).

The next course will start in November and is one of the nutrition modules, which I'm really interested in. This is such an exciting journey for me. It's another dimension to my love of health and fitness and extension of my love of learning. I am a perpetual student! I'll keep you updated as to my progress over the rest of the course.

Have you ever thought about taking a course to qualify in some aspect of fitness?