Supertraining

Hi Wayne,

  Thanks for the long response.  I appreciate it.

  I am going to go through each organisation that you have mentioned and see 
what they have to offer.  I did come across PTonthenet and have been thinking 
about joining up for a month.  I had a quick look around and it seems very 
good.  I just have to wait to I have a little free time.

  I have been using Strength training anatomy  and find it very good, 
particularly for one of my classes.  I found it in the library.

  I have not heard of the other books, so I will be doing some searching for 
them.

  You have included a lot of information here. Thanks for mentioning these 
organisations and thanks for making the time to reply so thoroughly.

  Best wishes
  Anthony Sharah
  Sydney, Australia

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Wayne Boesmans <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
  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
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