February 22, 2012

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Personal Trainer Qualifications

February 16, 2012 By

Careers in personal training have lately gained immense popularity due to more awareness on the need for exercising for better health. Here’s how to become a personal trainer

Shape your personality traits

It takes much more than being physically fit to be a personal trainer. Having important personal traits like good communication skills will make your work easier, making you more efficient. Patience, listening skills and motivation abilities are other traits that one can gain by personal practice.

Personal Trainer Qualifications

It’s deeply vital to be knowledgeable, in the subject of training. This not only hones your skills but also boosts your clients trust in your training abilities. Getting certification from accredited and widely known institutions of training is the answer to having a career as a personal trainer.

Qualifications needed

One needs certification from an accredited and widely known and certification organization. This not only increases your knowledge and skills in your career but also boosts clients trust on your training abilities.

Seek the experience

Once you have the certification it’s important to go out there and look for opportunities to train and gain experience in your career. This can be achieved by looking for jobs as a trainer in the right places like fitness clubs or gyms. Another way available would be establishing your own fitness centre as a trainer.

The first step towards becoming a professionally qualified personal trainer is ensuring that the training provider is registered and genuine.  This is paramount because if you get your personal trainer’s skills from an institution which is not recognised, then the training will be futile because you won’t have qualified to be a professional personal trainer. Hence it is important to do a background check before enrolling in any institution to be trained as a personal trainer.

Besides having trained in a recognised institution, a genuine personal trainer should also be a member of a recognised professional group.  This is because a personal trainer who is not in any regulating group comes up with their own rules and conditions which might be harmful to the client. But a personal trainer who is a member of a recognized group gets stipulated guidelines in which to follow and hence maintains high levels of integrity.

A competent and qualified personal trainer should also possess sharp assessment skills. This is because the trainers have to critically examine the client’s weakness, strength and health fitness. A wrong judgment by an unqualified personal trainer can be dangerous and result to fatal accidents.  Thus it is important for the personal trainers to be sure and accurate while making their clients’ assessment to avoid misjudgements.

As a qualification to becoming a competent personal trainer, individuals should also be knowledgeable in other health fields. These fields include; exercise prescription, health screening, nutrition and testing protocol.   Knowledge in these areas comes in handy when a client has some special health conditions. Consequently the trainer will know how the condition is handled and hence recommend the appropriate routines.  Furthermore, the trainers can apply their nutritional knowledge to advice their clients on what to eat so as to achieve their fitness targets. Hence it’s paramount for competent personal trainer to poses ample knowledge in all the relevant and related fields.

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How many calories should I be eating per day?

January 14, 2011 By

The amount of calories you need depends on your sex, activity levels and height. As a general guide, men are advised to consume around 2500 calories per day and women are advised to consume around 1800-2000 calories per day. If you have a physically demanding job or you do a lot of exercise, you will need to take in more calories. Equally, if you lead a sedentary lifestyle or you are smaller than average, you will not need as many calories.

How many portions of fruit and vegetables should I be eating per day?

You should aim to eat at least five portions of fruit and vegetables per day. It is best to try and eat a range of different foods, as they contain different vitamins, minerals and nutrients. Your 5 a day does not necessarily have to be individual items, as you can also include soups, juices, sauces, smoothies and salads. Nowadays, most foods have informative labels and many are marked with 5 a day symbols.

Filed Under: Diet

What is a healthy diet?

January 14, 2011 By

A healthy diet is made up of a variety of different foods to promote healthy living. Your body needs different food groups, as they contain different nutrients, vitamins and minerals and have different roles within the body. The bulk of your daily calorie intake should be made up of complex carbohydrates, which provide fuel for the body and fruit and vegetables, which contain an array of different nutrients and vitamins.

You also need to eat foods that are rich in protein, such as eggs, meat and fish and a moderated intake of fat – good sources of fat include olive oil, avocado and nuts. You should try to choose wholegrain versions or complex carbohydrates, as these are higher in fibre and usually lower in fat; these include wholemeal bread, wholegrain cereals and brown rice.

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How to keep to a healthy diet

January 14, 2011 By

The benefits of healthy eating are well-documented and in recent years healthy foods have become very popular and fashionable. Newspapers and magazines are full of articles about ‘superfoods’ and healthy recipes as part of healthy living, and the government has made a conscious effort to educate people about healthy eating. Food labels are now much more informative and the traffic light system has enabled people to gauge how healthy the foods they buy are, by showing the fat, salt and sugar content and the number of calories included in a serving.

What should a healthy diet include?

A healthy diet should be balanced and varied. A good diet should include plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables, and you should try to eat a range of different fruits and vegetables as they have different benefits and contain different nutrients. Fruit and vegetables are very low in fat and are rich in a range of essential vitamins and minerals. You should ideally try to eat at least five portions of fruit and vegetables each day – soups, fruit smoothies, fruit juices and some sauces count towards your 5 a day.

The bulk of your daily calories should come from complex carbohydrates, such as bread, rice, cereals and pasta. These foods release energy slowly; carbohydrates provide the body with fuel and will help to prevent you from feeling lethargic and tired. Choosing wholegrain versions, such as wholemeal bread, wholegrain breakfast cereals and wholegrain (brown) rice will be beneficial for your heart and digestive system, as these foods have a higher fibre content.

Proteins are important for growth, development and repair in the body. As a general rule, proteins should make up around 15-20 percent of your daily calorie intake. Good sources of protein include:

  • Fish
  • Meat
  • Poultry
  • Beans
  • Pulses
  • Nuts
  • Eggs

Fats are an essential part of the diet for healthy living, but you do not need very much. Many people eat far more than the recommended daily intake of fat and this can increase the risk of serious illnesses, such as diabetes and heart disease and will usually contribute to weight gain. Fats are a form of fuel for the body but they also help to transport specific types of vitamin around the body. There are different types of fat and you should try to limit your intake of saturated fats. Examples of this type of fat include processed meat, crisps, fried foods, fast food, cakes and biscuits. Some foods that have high fat content are actually good for you. Examples of these include avocadoes, oily fish, nuts and olive oil; these foods are high in unsaturated fat.

Dairy foods provide protein and fat and are also an essential source of calcium. Calcium is important for the growth and development of healthy nails, teeth and bones. Good sources of calcium include yoghurts, cheese, milk and butter. Dairy foods are usually high in fat so it is advisable to keep an eye on your intake. You can get low-fat versions of dairy products in many supermarkets now and these are better for you as they have lower quantities of saturated fats.

The effects of healthy eating

Healthy eating is really important for good general health. Eating a healthy, balanced diet helps to reduce the risk of several serious conditions, including heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, some forms of cancer and obesity. Healthy eating also helps to enhance your physical appearance and people who eat well and exercise regularly often enjoy healthy, radiant skin, stable body weight and good muscle tone.

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