ExRx.net

A friend of mine sent me the URL to a blog article about the Magical Hammer Strength Machine. I know some folks here will get a kick out of it, so I'll pass it along. It's from 2006, so if you've already read it ... I'm just a little behind the times (soon I'll be in 2007).

http://www.theloseweightdiet.com/blog/22/magical-hammer-strength-shoulder-press/

Pretty funny!

lol. That actually doesn't surprise me.

I've got a few friends who are trainers. 2 are new to the game but one has been doing it over 10 years and gets great results, really knows his stuff.

They have been telling me recently how unregulated the industry is. The experienced trainer told me how when getting his first PT certification, people were getting 4 or 5 attempts at the tests. That's not 4 or 5 "re sits", as he put it. It's literally a case of someone going up, handing in his paper, then the examiner (whatever they're called) looking over it, and then saying "oh, you need to go over these parts again". Then they go back, "yes, better, but just have a look over this part now" - and they would go back and forth until they had passed.

I've also been told that to get a personal trainer qualification, you need to get the 'certified gym instructer', THEN you can do the personal trainer one. Apparrently you can do each section over 6 weeks, 2 days a week OR do a TWO WEEK intense course. Unbelievable (where do I sign?).

These guys have been giving me advice on the best route to get qualified. They keep warning me that if I go into too much detail, i probably won't pass and that I need to be prepared to learn things that aren't neccesserily correct 'in real life' but they match the answers for the test. ONe of them said "when you are watching people do push ups, they DO NOT want to know about shoulder blade movement and function, or alignment or any of that. All you need to decide is whether they do down far enough or not!" lol. hmmm.

I think a lot of trainers just do it for the image, and clearly, it's too easy for them to decide "ach, screw retail, trainers are cool, i'll be a trainer". The more I learn about it the more I realise that the 'bad trainers' are only a fraction of the problem...

KPj

I don't know about Scotland, but in the US there 10 or a dozen organizations who certify personal trainers. There was a thread about this a couple of months ago. In one of his replies, Kenny ran through organizations, and what their emphasis is. He also summarized which ones he thought offered a meaningful certification. I think the exams for the better organizations are done in person, and I don't know if any of them are offered outside the US.