KEY POINTS:
The Qualification
What: Certificate in Personal Training
Where: New Zealand College of Fitness, Albany (also Christchurch centre)
Phone: 09 414 6552
Email: sophie@collegeoffitness.co.nz
Web: collegeoffitness.co.nz
Course costs: $5490. Various payment options.
What you can earn: Contract personal trainers charge upward of $30 - $65 an hour, depending on location, employer and client numbers.
As the fitness industry continues to expand, so does the need for well-trained, motivated personal trainers within the gym environment.
The New Zealand College of Fitness offers a Certificate in Personal Training consisting of both full time and part time options.
Students learn basic anatomy and physiology, exercise prescription, exercise programming, group exercise, nutrition, injury management and sports conditioning for a diverse range of people.
Students train each other and bring in family, friends and colleagues to help practice the skills required.
Introductory business skills in self employment are taught and communication skills are emphasised. After completing the personal training certificate, a number of students enter an intensive executive trainer course that covers business aspects in more depth.
There are no specific academic or fitness entry criteria. Fitness levels can increase markedly during the course so people who are not particularly fit will not be excluded on that basis. Passion and determination is the key.
Graduates work in the fitness industry as gym instructors or personal trainers. College management say they work actively to help students find jobs - often through contacts made during the course.
Upon successful completion of the College of Fitness certificate, students can be externally assessed to receive the National Certificate in Personal Training as well.
Graduates also gain personal trainer registration with the Register of Exercise Professionals (REP), an industry regulatory body recognised in New Zealand, Australia and the United Kingdom.
THE GRADUATE
Blaine Barratt
Les Mills personal trainer and Bootcamp instructor
Graduated last year
It is fun being in job I love, meeting lots of people with different needs and goals. It is full on but I can set my own hours about working weekends, evenings etcetera.
I got work at Les Mills through a tutor on my course who worked there.
I'm now building my business as a self employed personal trainer. So my income is dependent on the number of people I train.
Currently I average 20 contact hours with 20 to 30 clients a week, depending on whether they want a half or full hour work out. I also spend time designing programmes and fulfilling my boot camp role.
I'm a gym guy and wanted to do personal training for a long time but always thought it would mean full time study and, having a mortgage, I didn't want to take time off work.
However, the College of Fitness part time option of three hour classes two nights a week over six months was manageable. I could train while working full time and they had good payment options so I didn't have to pay everything up front.
A thing I really liked about the course was the practical approach; the learning and practicing of exercises with tutors watching, explaining and discussing. All the tutors are from the industry so they provided real world applications.
The training gets you to the stage where you can work in a gym, private studio or develop into other areas, like the bootcamp work.
I originally came from a sales background and those skills help a lot.
EMPLOYER
Amy Barnes
Group fitness and personal trainer manager
Les Mills World of Fitness, New Lynn
We have 24 personal trainers on contract here at Les Mills.
We look for a good base of knowledge so that we know our trainers are delivering training safely and effectively. We also want great attitude and communication skills and people who are really passionate about what they do.
Personal trainers also need to be fit. You are your business when you wander around the gym and being a healthy role model is to your advantage.
Blaine, and the other people coming to us from the College of Fitness, have been awesome. In their training they work hands on with people so they can get on with it straight away in the gym.
People here are either employed as gym floor instructors or contracted as personal trainers. Everyone, no matter what their training, must do our business module and a session delivery module to ensure the same mindset and standards.
The REP's registration is important to us because we're a REP registered facility. The College's eight week full time course and the part time option is the minimum training requirement accepted by REP.
