How to Become a Personal Trainer and Nutritionist?

Become a Fitness Trainer Specialist

People who want to become fitness trainers and nutrition specialists start with personal training courses that teach the latest in techniques, theory, and results. Hands-on training is also involved in the process of becoming a personal fitness trainer. The fitness trainer and nutrition specialist helps his or her clients improve physical fitness, lose excess weight, improve muscle definition, and have better cardiovascular health.

Fitness trainers help busy people achieve their goals in terms of fitness and weight management.

Fitness trainers who have taken coursework in nutrition as well as personal training courses are able to assist their clients through consultation about regular exercise, diet, and overall lifestyle improvements. With the help of a personal fitness trainer, a client sets goals, works toward them, and tracks progress, all with the assistance and motivation provided by a trainer who is knowledgeable about anatomy, physiology, nutrition, and what works for optimizing health and avoiding injuries.

Personal Training Courses for Those Who Want to Become Trainers

Personal training courses in educational programs for fitness trainers and fitness nutrition specialists include (or should include):

• Anatomy and physiology
• Human movement (kinesiology)
• Weight management principles
• Exercise psychology
• Sports-specific training
• Client assessment
• Fitness program design
• First aid and CPR

Upon completing a program for fitness training and nutrition, a student should be prepared to sit for voluntary certification exams that can help with obtaining employment as a fitness trainer. Ideally, educational programs should combine both classroom training and hands-on learning.

Why Fitness Training and Fitness Nutrition Education Go Together?

Fitness training specialists who are also educated in nutrition are better able to address client needs, particularly for clients who want to lose excess weight. Their work may include counseling people individually or in groups about nutritional principles for improved health and athletic performance. They should be able to understand scientific studies on nutrition and translate them into practical advice for clients to help them meet their goals.

Understanding fitness nutrition requires learning about how foods deliver energy from the time they’re ingested until nutrients are delivered to the various cells of the body, and how this affects physical performance. The trainer who understands digestion, internal chemical processes, and nutritional requirements can offer much more to clients than a trainer without this knowledge.

Where Fitness and Nutrition Specialists Work

Fitness trainers and fitness nutrition specialists may work for themselves or for another organization. Possible places of employment include schools, healthcare facilities, gyms, spas, and even cruise ships. They may work with clients one-on-one, in groups, or both, offering practical information about setting goals, increasing physical activity while minimizing injury risk, selecting foods wisely, and combining fitness training and nutrition to reach weight goals. Demand for these professionals is expected to increase at least as fast as the workforce on average in coming years as the population ages and people seek to lose weight and become healthier.

Conclusion

Becoming a fitness trainer and fitness nutritional specialist requires both intellectual and hands-on learning, and the best programs combine these skillfully and help students prepare for certification exams once they finish their study program. SOCHi offers a Personal Fitness Trainer/Health and Wellness Professional program that prepares students for entry level positions as trainers as well as voluntary certification exams. To request information about SOCHi’s education and training programs, please contact us at any time. We would be more than happy to assist you.