Personal Fitness Professional - August 2008 - (Page 22)

education c Enhancing your ability to stand and deliver continuing + By Philippe Ray Wasting time and money is never a good feeling. Protect your precious time by planning your academic calendar and carefully choosing continuing education units (CEUs) and continuing education credits (CECs) that will produce a return on your investment. Checklist for the Perfect Course: 1. Does it provide speciﬁc information and tools that the trainer can use immediately or with additional training? Information without application is a waste of time. 2. Does it provide CEU/CEC credit towards your certiﬁcation with NSCA, ACSM, ACE, NASM, ISSA, AFAA or BOC-NATA? However, do not allow CEU credit to be the limiting factor, if this specialized knowledge is pertinent to the success of your business or your niche. Some certifying agencies do not provide CEU credit for business courses. This should not deter you from taking those valued business courses that are very personal trainerspeciﬁc. 3. If the course is not CEU/CEC credit-approved, is it still important? When there is a hole in your skill set, it’s just as important! When you construct your academic plan, include a section entitled “Critical Success Skills.” Classify all your skills as WANTS (will enhance your success) or NEEDS (will enhance success and will prevent failure). For every skill that you circle “NEED,” pursue that education, regardless if there is CEU/CEC credit or not. Survival is more important than 0.8 CEUs. Here’s an example of a WANT/NEED checklist: a. Professional Skills Requirements b. Technical Skills Requirements i. Public Speaking: Want or Need? i. Kettlebell training: Want or Need? ii. Computer/Internet: Want or Need? ii. Functional training: Want or Need? iii. Sales and Marketing: Want or Need? iii. CPR/AED/First Aid: Want or Need? 4. Is the CEU/CEC presented by a recognized Subject Matter Expert (SME) who possesses not only academic knowledge but practical application knowledge? 5. Does the CEU ﬁt your academic plan? Do you have an academic plan? Are you randomly picking CEU/CEC courses merely to satisfy your certifying agency requirements? Don’t pick CEUs like you pick socks out of a sock drawer with the lights oﬀ, or you’re sure to end up with a pair that doesn’t match. Research your “dream job” or “ideal niche,” and construct an education plan and goal. AUGUST2008 · WWW.FIT-PRO.COM 22 http://WWW.FIT-PRO.COM

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Personal Fitness Professional - August 2008

Personal Fitness Professional - August 2008 Contents Letter from the Editor It's a Weighty Issue Current Controversies Streamline with Digital Neuro-Linguistic Programming Continuing Education Mark Your Calendar Act Like You Know About Marketing Blog For Fun and Profit Exercise Spotlight Product Profile New on the Market Spotlight: Krystal Davis

Personal Fitness Professional - August 2008

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.