Supertraining

Anthony,

this is some information I recently posted on the forum of NSCA 
(National Strength and Conditioning Association)

"To study for NSCA CPT, the minimum reading requirements should be the 
PT essentials pubished by NSCA. The essentials of strength and 
conditioning may be of further help to study for the exam. There are so 
many other books that will provide more information that may be relevant 
to the exam, but every exam question should be covered by the NSCA text 
books.

The ACSM manuals are worth reading and should be part of any personal 
trainer's library. Not aware of the manual for kinesiology, so I can't 
comment on that one. Strength training anatomy may be a fun expansion to 
your library, but in my opinion will do little to increase your 
knowledge; the book covers only a basic selection of exercises including 
several that are considered to be unsafe.

Some essential reading you should add to your library are:
Designing resistance training programs (Fleck & Kraemer)
Advanced fitness assessments & exercise prescription (Heyward)
A good physiology book (I own a copy of Physiology of sport and exercise 
(Wilmore & Costill)
For flexibility I'd recommend Michael Alter's Science of Flexibility & 
(exercise guide) Sport Stretch
A good anatomy book (I own a pocket size "sesam anatomie atlas" 
originally a german textbook by Werner Kahle - personally I think it's 
just as good as Gray's anatomy at a fraction of the price)
For nutrition I recommend Power Eating (Kleiner)
I woud also recommend reading anything by Zatsiorsky and Bompa.
For exercise selection there are various books available or the internet 
has a vast selection. www.exrx.net has been a long time favorite, 
www.ptonthenet.com keeps expanding their selection or just use a search 
engine.
Depending on what you want to specialise in there are various other 
books you can look into, every year there seems to be a new selection of 
stuff that in many cases just keeps repeating what we already know.

Shawn, when it comes to practical experience nothing will beat getting 
out there and doing it. With about 10 yrs experience (including 
management) I can tell you one of the biggest hurdles new PT's face is 
walking the floor. Getting out there and talking to people to get new 
clients, or as customer service (if you're a paid employee) can make 
even the most confident and outgoing person a very shy individual. 
Experience will also (re)teach you about training, how to improve 
things, optimize for each individual, how to talk to people, motivate 
them, learn new exercises, ...

One of the biggest catch phrases in PT seminars is "they don't care how 
much you know, until they know how much you care". Personal training is 
so much more than what you can read in a book. If you have a bachelor, 
NSCA and get some experience under the wings of a veteran, you will know 
all you need to know to grow into a successful PT. Leave the MS, Dr and 
book knowledge to people who think that's important (which are not your 
average clients)"


Most is relevant to your question. Paul Chek is very controversial, and 
remember he is just one opinion amongst many. Becoming a member of 
ptonthenet will put you on the track of who's who, but they also direct 
their thinking in a certain way. All depends where you come from 
yourself, what direction you want to follow. i.e. When I first started 
out (in Europe btw) I started with a great deal of information from 
muscle & fitness and such magazines. This also put me onto NSCA 
(www.nsca.com or www.nsca-cc.org) and ACSM (www.acsm.org). From the 
internet (just starting out then) I took information from Dr Hatfield 
and Charles Staley, and through them ISSA. As mentioned above Zatsiorsky 
and Bompa are among my favorite reading as well. Because of my 
background in sports I was more inclined to take the NSCA certification. 
There are many more names and information to keep an eye on and I think 
the best way to learn is whenever you read something, check out the 
references they use; if you see a name or text or book referenced on a 
regular basis then it's probably worth looking into.

Wayne Boesmans
www.physicalforte.com
Brisbane, QLD


Anthony Sharah wrote:
>
> I have just started studying to be a Personal Trainer. I am a mature 
> student in a class of mostly school leavers. Over the last few months, 
> it has become obvious to me, that my knowledge and success is going to 
> depend on my peers. So in short I want to make my peers the world’s 
> best in the fitness industry. What resources should I be studying? Who 
> are the names I should be following? Do you have any advice in any 
> area for me? I have purchased a few of Paul Chek's courses. What do 
> you think of his resources? Who else is available? How do I build up 
> my knowledge to be able to read, understand, and put into practice 
> more technical resources? What is the path I should follow? Names of 
> books, names of people, names of courses or other resources would be 
> appreciated; as well as personal opinions of the education direction I 
> should take.
>
> I would be very grateful for any advice.
>
> Best wishes
>
> Anthony Sharah
> [Mod: Please don't forget to sign your posts with your full name, city 
> and country of residence. Thanks]
>
>  



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