Raising standards in personal training

Jenny Patrickson Managing Director Active IQ

The debate around the standards of personal training has once again risen to the forefront in industry discussion, with plenty of discourse in the run-up to (and during) the recent Elevate event. Active IQ is committed to raising standards in the industry, and these conversations are vitally important, so it is great to see people talking about these workforce issues.

COLLABORATION

For me, the key point to stress is that it’s the responsibility of everyone in our industry to work together to initiate change. The ecosystem is complex, with multiple stakeholders, and only when we come together and act collectively as an industry, can we have an impact.

Yes, standards are varied across all areas, from awarding bodies, to training providers, through to employer CPD programmes, but at Active IQ, we have a robust quality assurance strategy and work in close partnership with our training providers to ensure the highest standards are maintained. The operators employing fitness professionals also have an important role – they must vet the qualifications and awarding body of the fitness professionals they are looking to hire.

One thing I believe has always been missing from our sector is a focus on the people taking qualifications and educating them around what they should be looking for in a top-quality training provider. This work has started, with CIMSPA’s ‘More than…’ campaign and our Active IQ campaign ‘The Difference I Make’, but more can and should be done.

I’ve also seen all of the debate around the growth of online teaching and the impact this has on quality. Whilst there are certain elements of teaching, learning and assessment that should always be in person, we should be careful though not to vilify remote and online learning – some elements of learning lend themselves to that kind of delivery. For example, with anatomy and physiology, the online possibilities are engaging and potentially more effective than in a classroom. It cannot be denied though, that practical elements must be practiced on real people and learners need real life practical experience in delivery and assessment.

The discussion doesn’t end with initial qualifications, this is just the start of the journey. Fitness, like many other industries, should be pushing continuous professional development and encouraging our fitness professionals to continue to add to their skills. The onus is not only on the individual to upskill, but operators and employers must invest in their staff and build in time for teams to upskill. Our Active IQ Skills Hub is a free CPD platform made available to all our training providers, their teams, and learners, so resources like this should be maximised.

The onus is not only on the individual to upskill, but operators and employers must invest in their staff and build in time for teams to upskill

THE FUTURE

It’s time to look forward and collaborate as an industry to drive change. The debate has brought this topic to the forefront and I am confident this is just the start of ensuring the standards in the sector are improved across the board and our industry remains on an upward trajectory.

A core part of our strategy at Active IQ, is bringing together leaders across our sector to discuss how we can improve standards, ensuring we dig deep into understanding the barriers to CPD, and the recent appointment of David Stalker as an independent advisor is central to this.

I would encourage operators to look at regulated qualifications and for awarding bodies and training providers, including ourselves here at Active IQ, to prioritise better information for those looking to enroll in a training course on what constitutes a high-quality education experience.