Professional Development and Responsibility

Question 1

Scope of Practice

Answer 1

• Personal trainers, like all certified professionals in the allied healthcare continuum, must adhere to certain standards to maintain the industry’s credibility.
• Scope of Practice:
  1. Certified personal trainers are included in what the American Council on Exercise calls the allied healthcare continuum, a network of licensed, certified, or registered professionals who provide invaluable healthcare resources to the general public.
  2. The healthcare continuum includes: doctors, nurses, dieticians, nutritionists, physical therapists, psychologists, and massage therapists, who all work to keep people healthy every day. This network depends on the integrity of all members to give participants the best care possible.
  3. Each credentialed (經過認證的) professional must work within legal parameters, or a scope of practice, which allows the patient or participant to get the most informed and well-researched info available. A physician typically is at the top of the healthcare chain of command and is assisted by nurses.
  4. A certified trainer’s scope of practice is focused on exercise program design, fitness assessment, exercise technique, body composition measurement, fitness goal setting, exercise adherence, and motivation.
  5. Personal trainers must be very careful to not go beyond their scope of practice, which can be difficult, especially when a client asks about a meal plan or diet recommendations to accompany her fitness routine. CPTs can offer only general nutrition guideline or refer a client to the federal dietary guidelines on Health.gov.
  6. If a client wants specific nutritional advice, dietary guidelines for specific diseases or info on dietary supplements, unless the trainer holds an additional nutrition certification, the trainer must refer her to a certified nutritionist or registered dietician. If the trainer doesn’t know of a specific nutritionist or dietitian, the trainer should advise the client to speak to her physician.
  7. A CPT must also refer clients to physicians if clients express prolonged discomfort or pain while participating in the training sessions or if they become injured. A PT should never diagnose an injury or its treatment.
  8. Caring, passionate, or knowledgeable trainers can find it difficult not to give advice or lend an empathetic ear when asked by their clients. However, professionalism must come first, and the trainer must refer clients to other specialists and not go beyond the scope of practice. These parameters are meant to protect trainer from any legal issues and keep the client safe.

Question 2

Professional Standards and Codes of Conduct
Physical Appearance (外觀) and Personal Behavior
Safety and Communication
Confidentiality and Ethics
Business Practices

Answer 2

• CPTs, like all other health professionals, must adhere to a set of standards or guidelines to maintain the integrity of their certifying agency and other CPTs, group fitness instructors, and health and wellness coaches.
• Certified fitness professionals should adhere to the highest standards of professionalism, confidentiality, legality, ethics, and business practices.
• Physical Appearance and Personal Behavior
  1. Attire should not be too tight or too revealing.
  2. Maintain a high standard of personal grooming and hygiene.
  3. Deodorant should always be worn, but strong perfumes and colognes should not.
  4. Trainers should maintain healthy lifestyles: eat healthy, exercise regularly, and avoid smoking, alcohol, and substance abuse.
• Safety and Communication
  1. A client’s safety should be a trainer’s number-one priority, and a trainer must never compromise a client’s safety, health, or goals for personal or monetary gain. A trainer should always provide a clean, professional, and safe environment for the client’s training.
  2. Training sessions with a client must not begin until the trainer has received a proper medical clearance signed by the client, a fitness assessment, and a PAR-Q signed by the client.
  3. Trainers must also remain within their scope of practice. They must not diagnose or treat ailments, allergies, or injuries, unless they have obtained the proper licensure (執照) and are working in that capacity (以那種身分).
  4. To further ensure safety, every trainer needs to stay up-to-date with current health and fitness research, and be certified in CPR and AED. It’s also each trainer’s responsibility to remain in good standing with their certifying agency by obtaining the necessary continuing education credits.
  5. Not all certifying agencies are created equal. Be sure to verify that the certifying agency is accredited by the National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA) or the American National Standards Institute (ANSI).
• Confidentiality and Ethics
  1. In keeping with HIPAA standards, trainers must maintain the privacy of client info.
  2. All client info, including assessments, PAR-Qs, medical info, and payment info must be kept secure to prevent the theft and unauthorized use of the info.
  3. If a client seeks a specialization that his/her current trainer does not offer or is dissatisfied with training methods, the trainer should refer the client appropriately.
  4. A trainer’s focus must be on business, rather than personal relationships. It’s imperative that trainers maintain proper physical and emotional boundaries with both clients and peers. Touching should be used only with permission, and only to instruct clients on proper form.
  5. If a client relationship crosses the boundaries, the trainer should refer the client to another trainer, speak to a supervisor, or terminate the relationship.
• Business Practices
  1. When planning a client’s training program, a trainer should always base the number of sessions on the client’s need, not on personal monetary gain.
  2. Trainers should not solicit business from other trainers’ clients. If working for a gym, trainers need to respect that the members referred to them are the gym’s clients first.
  3. A trainer must not advertise outside the scope of his/her practice.
  4. Trainers are expected to comply with state regulations and guidelines for certified fitness professionals, and are required to retain accurate business records for at least 4 year.
  5. For their protection, trainers should always obtain appropriate liability insurance.
  6. In all aspects of their business practices, trainers must not discriminate based on race, creed, gender, physical abilities, age, or sexual orientation.

Question 3

Professional Development

Answer 3

• It’s imperative that CPTs keep updated on changing research and industry standards and how to apply these standards in exercise science.
• One way that a trainer can find his/her place in this industry is to understand, research, and certify in a specific exercise style.
  1. Training style specializations and certifications cover a broad range, such as general specializations in group fitness exercise instruction, bodyweight training, core and balance training, and cardio training.
  2. More specific certifications include: HIIT, the functional movement system, strength and conditioning, TRX or suspension training modalities, CrossFit coaching, power/Olympic lifting, running coaches, bootcamp training, yoga, Pilates, triathlon/Ironman/Strongman coaching, swimming, golf, football, basketball, soccer, cycling, mixed martial arts (MMA), and Russian kettlebell club (RKC).
  3. An exercise specialization can bring a trainer in contact with a whole different network of fitness professionals to collaborate with, and can also create a training niche and philosophy that can be useful in differentiating a trainer’s skills.
• Certifying fitness organizations (e.g. NASM/ACE/ACSM) create a strong network of professional, passionate, and talented fitness professionals by ensuring strict quality control. That quality control comes in the form of recertification requirements every 2 years. To recertify, a PT must complete continuing education credits (CECs) and update his/her CPR/AED certification. This is an ever-changing industry, and there are several ways to gain CECs.
• While some in the industry may see CECs as a burden to comply with every 2 years, continuing education benefits trainers by providing opportunities for professional growth through structured learning.
• A trainer can learn a lot from observations, internships, or mentorships, all of which allow a new trainer to shadow an experienced trainer on the job. They allow a new trainer to learn the ins and outs of how to run a gym, the proper legal parameters one must follow, and how to connect and communicate with potential clients, lead small classes, do a fitness assessment or health screening, or talk one-on-one to clients. Application is the key to being an effective trainer, so watching a seasoned trainer in action can be invaluable. These mentorships may also lead a new trainer to her first job.
• While fitness blogs are loaded with opinions that one might find agreeable, blogs cannot be considered credible. Trainers should stick to scholarly fitness and health articles, which are typically found in journals (e.g. the Journal of Exercise Physiology, the Journal of Sports Science and Medicine).
• When searching for a credible website, look for sites that end in .gov (government organizations), .edu (school or educational organizations), .org (not-for-profit organizations), which often provide credible, helpful articles on fitness trends, workouts, equipment, and business development.
• The acceptable ways to gain CECs: workshops, conferences, and exercise specialization certifications.