Personal Training Certificate
Leading to CYQ Level 3 Certificate in Personal Training
"Becoming a Personal Trainer is the gateway to many careers in the health and fitness profession."
Personal Trainers change lives. You are a mentor from whom your clients expect the motivation they are unable to muster on their own. They look to you to help them meet their fitness goals. You’ll need outstanding one-to-one communication skills to keep them on track but first off you’ll need to listen carefully, understand the constraints of their own capabilities and lifestyle and then navigate a route to success within these boundaries.
Personal Trainers are in constant demand, working either on a self-employed, freelance basis or for a range of health and fitness organisations. You will experience a diverse range of clients requiring you to provide specialist dietary advice, develop tailor made programs in line with fitness appraisal results and work in non-traditional environments.
Modules
The Personal Training Course is made up of 3 separate modules, which can be completed in any order to suit your learning
Module 1 - Advanced Instructing
Module 2 - Nutrition
Module 3 - Fitness Assessment
Why should I do this course?
The Personal Training course will equip you to meet the wide-ranging needs of a variety of clients. Upon successful completion, you will have the skills to be able to start your own Personal Training business and effectively work with clients, helping them to meet their fitness goals. You will learn how to give advice on nutritional requirements, monitor your clients’ fitness levels and plan long-term exercise programmes.
How will I be assessed?
Please refer to individual module descriptions below
What will I learn?
Please refer to individual modules below
What do I need?
Students must hold a Level 2 Fitness Instructor qualification If you do not already have this we can arrange to add it to your Personal Trainer course package
Students must be aged 16 or over
What qualification will I receive?
CYQ Level 3 Certificate in Personal Training
Personal Training - Module 1
Advanced Instructing
Leading to CYQ Level 3 Certificate in Personal Training
This module will give you in-depth knowledge and skills for working effectively on a one-to-one basis with clients. It elevates you to a higher level of understanding across a wide range of topics, giving you the confidence to take the lead in developing a much more interactive relationship with clients.
You will be able to train clients using advanced training techniques using different environments, plan out their long-term training schedules and assess their progression periodically whilst encouraging them along the way.
This module forms the basis of the CYQ Personal Trainer and is a natural progression for those qualified as a Gym Instructor
Why should I do this course?
With this advanced qualification you will have the knowledge and skills to plan and implement long term progressive programmes to meet realistic client goals. You will learn the practical skills needed to develop all aspects of your clients’ fitness levels allowing them to surpass even their own expectations. This course is suitable for gym instructors or fitness supervisors who are seeking to enhance their existing qualifications or individuals who are working toward a Personal Trainer Diploma.
How is the course delivered?
After receiving your learning materials, a telephone support tutor will help you to plan and agree your submission dates for your home study work. Telephone appointments will be arranged so we can keep in close contact with you to give specific feedback on your learning needs. Once all the home study work has been completed you will attend the three practical course days to learn all the practical skills required for your assessment. You will then have six weeks to design and implement your programme and practise your teaching skills before returning for a further two day attendance.
How will I be assessed?
Home study work book
Anatomy & physiology multiple choice theory exam
Case study and implementation
Practical assessment
Viva (formal interview)
What will I learn?
Unit 1
Advanced anatomy and physiology – Building from Level 2, this unit probes further into the muscular, skeletal, cardiovascular and nervous systems, giving the underpinning knowledge to the concepts and training systems needed to be an effective personal trainer.
Unit 2
Managing behavioral change – Using proven psychological strategies and motivational consultations, learn the skills required to change a client’s perceptions of exercise and healthy living.
Unit 3
Movement screening – Learn dynamic postural analysis to enhance exercise prescription and improve a client’s movement function. Learn how to correct muscular disfunction utilising proven exercise techniques. This unit also covers medical referral and the prescribed NICE guidelines of dealing with a referred client.
Unit 4
Goal setting – Learn how to improve a client’s motivation and adherence to their exercise programme with the use of effective goal setting principles.
Unit 5
Progressive exercise programming – Learn the principles of training encompassing periodisation to forecast a client’s goals and assist their long term lifestyle changes and prescribe timely and realistic exercise programmes.
Unit 6
Teaching exercise outdoors – This unit covers safe and effective outdoor exercise sessions including the use of portable equipment, walking techniques and how to adapt your skills to turn an everyday street into a fitness environment
Unit 7
Olympic lifting techniques – Olympic lifting develops power, function, strength whilst increasing calorific expenditure. These techniques are beneficial to all clients and add a new dimension to conventional gym training.
Unit 8
Advanced resistance training methods – Learn how to teach a range of advanced training methods i.e. trisets, supersets, negative training and the importance of manipulating volume and intensity to gain required training adaptations
Unit 9
Advanced cardiovascular training methods – Learn how to teach a variety of cardiovascular training methods to improve aerobic capacity and anaerobic limitations.
Unit 10
Plyometric Development – Learn the indepth principles of plyometrics and how they can be utilised to improve a variety of movements from normal everyday activities to sports related performance.
Unit 11
Core Stability – The importance of core activation, scapular stabilization and pelvic control is paramount to the basis of all good exercise function. Learn core assessment and how to teach participants to reactivate core musculature control.
Unit 12
PNF – Learn the indepth principles of proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation and how this is utilized to safely improve flexibility in all clients.
Unit 13
Warm up and Cool down – How to design effective and user friendly warm up and cool down techniques specific to an individual clients needs. Although this is an area that is often overlooked by exercise participants, the importance of effective warm up and cool down is vital to improving clients’ performance.
Unit 14
Motor skills development – Balance, reaction time, speed, co-ordination, agility, spatial awareness and power are fundamental to improving a clients function. This unit covers drills that can be combined to lead a motor skill class or individually with clients.
What do I need?
Students must hold a current Level 2 Certificate in Fitness Instructing Students must be aged 16 or over
Personal Training - Module 2
Nutrition
Leading to CYQ Level 3 Certificate in Personal Training
Many clients' fitness goals are related to weight management and we all know that diet and exercise go hand in hand if you want to maintain a healthy weight. However, many people, often through ignorance, do not have an appropriate diet to underpin their training programme. With this qualification in your portfolio you will be able to offer nutritional advice that will positively impact on your clients' level of achievement in meeting their goals. This module will enable you to offer your clients nutritional advice, recommend sensible healthy eating strategies and modify recipes and diets for a variety of needs.
Why should I do this course?
Your exercise prescription might be perfect, but without correct nutritional guidance your clients may never meet their goals. This course will provide you with the knowledge of how sound nutritional advice can complement any training programme. You will examine the use of ergogenic aids and dietary supplements and how these can be manipulated to maximise your clients’ potential. This course is for fitness professionals working towards the CYQ Personal Trainer.
How is the course delivered?
You will be required to complete a food diary prior to attending your two course days. After completing the theory assessment on the second day, you will have four weeks to complete and submit a real-life case study.
How will I be assessed?
Multiple choice theory examination
Real-life case study – planning an effective nutrition programme
What will I learn?
Unit 1
Nutritional basis of healthy eating
Unit 2
Physiology and psychology of dieting
Unit 3
Analysis of food labels
Unit 4
Essential nutrients
Unit 5
Anatomy and physiology relevant to food
Unit 6
Digestion and energy production
Unit 7
Eating for energy
What do I need?
Students must hold a related Level 2 Certificate in Fitness Instructing.
Students must be aged 16 or over.
Personal Training - Module 3
Fitness Assessment
Leading to CYQ Level 3 Certificate in Personal Training
Regular monitoring and assessment is the driving force of any fitness programme. It is essential that you, as a Personal Trainer, have a sound understanding of a range of lifestyle and fitness benchmarking and analysis techniques as part of the service you offer to clients.
This module will equip you with the knowledge to decide which tests to apply to which clients and then administer appropriate assessments, from weight and body fat levels to strength and endurance levels, lung capacity and blood pressure. Armed with this information you will have a far greater understanding of their progress and the effectiveness of the exercise programme that you have prescribed.
Why should I do this course?
For your clients to see their progress and for you to evaluate the effectiveness of your exercise prescription, regular assessment of your client is critical. This course is designed to give you the skills and knowledge needed to administer a range of passive and active fitness assessments. You will learn how to effectively follow set protocols to ensure assessments are valid and accurate. You will learn how to interpret results enabling your client to gain an informative picture of their current state of health.
How is the course delivered?
Prior to attending your three practical course days, you will be required to complete two modules of work giving you an insight into using calculations to interpret assessment results. Your practical course attendance days will give you an opportunity to practise fitness assessment protocols whilst using the latest fitness assessment equipment found in most fitness facilities today. You will be required to complete a practical assessment on day three.
How will I be assessed?
Practical assessment:
What will I learn?
Unit 1
Health screening and safety concerns
Unit 2
Passive fitness assessments including blood pressure testing, skin fold measuring, postural analysis
Unit 3
Active fitness assessments including movement screening, VO2 Max assessments, muscular strength and endurance assessments
Unit 4
Exercise counselling
What do I need?
Students must hold a current Level 2 Certificate in Fitness Instructing.
Students must be aged 16 or over.
