Mr. Broadhag

Spas, Health & Fitness

Personal Trainer Qualifications in the Hotel Fitness Center

By Kurt A. Broadhag, President, K Allan Consulting

Fitness instructors play an integral role in health club operations. The effectiveness of this employee base is directly correlated to the success of the gym. They not only have the potential to drive a large percentage of the profit center via personal training but also serve as the “ambassadors of health” responsible for dispensing health advice to members as well as being part of the front line of customer service team. However, with this responsible also comes risk.

The number one responsibility of the hotel fitness center is to provide guests with a safe workout environment. This safety can be compromised when the training staff acts in a way that increases the risk of liability. Trainer negligence can stem from a number of different instances all resulting in the injury of the client. Harm caused by unhealthy supplement recommendations, improper instruction on exercise technique, and oversight of contraindications may all result in litigation against the fitness center.

Although health clubs cannot completely protect themselves from personal trainer negligence they can drastically decrease their exposure by hiring qualified personal trainers. Unfortunately the term “qualified” is highly subjective within the fitness industry. Since personal training is neither licensed nor regulated (although a few states such as California, Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts, and New Jersey are considering legislation), those involved in the hiring process must use their best judgment in weighing personality, experience, and education as qualification criteria.

The knowledge on the subject of exercise personal trainers possess is multi-faceted. They must have a broad understanding of the different areas of sports medicine such as exercise form, function, and prescription, sports psychology, injury prevention, and nutrition to name just a few. This knowledge begins with a college degree, either an AA, BA, or BS, in an exercise-related field. From there graduates then go on to obtain some sort of certification which is required to measure the knowledge and skills in real word applications. This credentialing validates that the individual is minimally competent to work unsupervised in the field. From there they can further go onto to specialty certifications and pursue continuing education credits which serves to keep them informed on the current research and up-to-date on their knowledge and skill level.

Certification is a must when hiring a personal training staff. Since not every fitness related degree offered in college translates to personal training practicality certifications fill the void by testing levels of competency, knowledge, skills, and abilities. There are over 300 certifying bodies in the field each varying greatly in terms of prerequisites, program content, testing procedures, and CEU requirements for recertification. Since some have little requirements and only test basic knowledge of exercise while others require years of schooling and testing protocol where only the most knowledgeable pass it is easy to see that not all certifications carry the same weight.

One distinguishing factor with the top fitness certifications is they are all accredited by the National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA). The NCAA is a third party accrediting which takes a non-biased approach in evaluating the certification process used by each organization to make sure each properly discriminates between those who possess the knowledge to pass the test verses those that do not. The NCCA requires these organizations to meet 21 standards. In addition it requires the certification organization allow them to examine the certifications role and content, develop exam content, and administer testing and scoring.

ACSM

The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) is the largest sports medicine and exercise organization in the world with over 20,000 members. They consist of a number of professionals in all aspects of sports medicine and are highly respected in the industry. ACSM offers two health fitness certifications - Certified Personal Trainer (CPT) and Certified Health Fitness Specialist(HFS) along with a number of other clinical and specialty certifications all of which are NCCA-accredited . The main difference is the experience – the CPT requires only a high school degree while the HFS requires at least an associate’s degree. Although both can be considered ACSM certified, the HFS personal trainer is much more proficient and therefore more of an asset. While both require recertification every three years the CPT and HFS entail 45 and 60 ACSM CEU credits respectively.

NSCA

The National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) consists of over 30,000 members involved in strength training and conditioning practices, injury prevention, and research findings. NSCA offers two certifications - Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) and Certified Personal Trainer (CPT), both of which are also NCAA-accredited. Much like the ACSM certifications each of in terms educational prerequisites – CSCS requires a BS or BA while the CPT does not making the CSCS much more tougher to achieve. Both require recertification every three years with a minimum requirement of 6.0 NSCA CEU’s.

NASM

The National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM) was created in 1987 to provide “evidence-based certifications and advanced credentials to health and fitness professionals.” NASM offers a number of specialty certifications all based off of their basic Certified Personal Trainer (CPT). The minimum prerequisites for the NASM-CPT state the individual must be at least 28 years old and possess a current CPR/AED certification. Recertification is every two years and requires submission of 2.0 NASM approved CEU’s.

ACE

The American Council of Exercise (ACE) is a non-profit organization that was founded in 1985. To this date they have more than 50,000 certified professionals. The two main personal training certifications are the ACE Personal Trainer with the minimum prerequisite of being at least 18 years old and possessing current CPR/AED certificate and the ACE Advanced Health and Fitness Specialist which requires the ACE Personal Trainer Certificate in addition to a minimum of 300 hours work experience. Each of the two certifications last for two years and require a minimum of 20 ACE CEU’s for recertification.

In addition to their certification the ACSM created a manual used industry wide entitled “Health/Fitness Facility Standards and Guidelines” which outlines both standards (base performance criteria a fitness center should satisfy to create a safe workout environment) and guidelines (recommendations to improve quality of service) for use within fitness centers. Their standards involving personal trainers and other staff members involved with overseeing activity programs state that must have: 1) appropriate level of professional education, work experience, and/or education, and, 2) current AED and CPR Certification. They go on to further recommend that the competency for these instructors should be a 4-year degree in exercise science or related field (2 year minimum), certification recognized by a nationally accredited certifying organization, and a minimum of six months work experience.

Although knowledge base is of primary consideration in hiring personal trainers it is not the only trait to deem important. Like all other staff in the hospitality industry they must possess the same qualities needed to work in the “front of house.” They should be viewed as another branch of your customer service team and should be trained to act in a way that is in line with the company philosophies. Take into account the average personal training session is one hour it is easy to see that they could, out of all your staff, be spending the most one-on-one interaction with your guests and should represent your hotel accordingly.

Like all other professions the old adage “you get what you pay for” runs true in the fitness industry. It is painstakingly easy to hire a cheap “personal trainer”, for they are numerous. Before hiring your personal training staff realize that qualified personal trainers have a lot invested in both time and money (cost of the college degree, certification study material and test costs, and continual educational units necessary to keep the certification current) and therefore fall into a larger pay bracket. Initial payroll savings from staffing poorly qualified instructors can come back and hurt you in the long run from guest relations and injury lawsuits.

What if you have a non-staffed facility but allow outside trainers access to your gym? There is no reason why you can’t apply the same vetting process with one other consideration – any type of sub-contractor working as a personal trainer must not only have qualifications but also carry their own liability insurance to help protect your facility from liability. So regardless of whether you are providing your own instructors or allowing outside contractors to work in your facility take the steps necessary to protect yourself and hire only qualified, experienced staff.

Kurt Broadhag has over 16 years of experience in personal training and gym design. He is president of K Allan Consulting, a firm specializing in health club design and management. K Allan Consulting works in unison with property owners, architects, and interior designers to address fitness solutions and develop functional workout environments. The company specializes in two-dimensional and three-dimensional fitness facility renderings, consulting from conceptual design to final installation. Kurt obtained his LEED AP certification and has authored articles on green fitness center design. Mr. Broadhag can be contacted at 310-601-7768 or kbroadhag@kallanconsulting.com Extended Bio...

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