My Education - by Contributing Author Rob Maxwell

This article is written by Rob Maxwell, M.A. Exercise Physiology, CSCS and ACSM CPT from www.fittothemax.net. Follow him on Twitter.

It all started when I was a counselor

I was working at Stewart Treatment Center in Daytona Beach, Florida. It later became Stewart-Marchman Treatment Center in the 1990’s. I was body building and living that lifestyle. I was working on my degree in Psychology and finished with it around that time.

I majored in psychology in college and I am extremely glad that I did. I loved the field and I still do. I was not exactly sure what I wanted to do with it, but I know that I always enjoyed taking psychology classes in college. I worked at Stewart off and on for several years.

Stewart Treatment Center was a drug and rehabilitation center. I worked in the RAP Department - which stood for Residential Adolescent Program. I was first an assistant counselor and later become a lead counselor. I really did enjoy the job.

I believed in what they were doing. I still believe in what they do to this day. I struggled with drinking too much in college so I could really relate to the residents. I felt like I had a lot to offer.

The light bulb moment

One day, while working, one of the kids came up to me and asked me something like, "How did I get big" or "How did I get a strong bench press". I really do not remember what he asked exactly, but I do remember that it had nothing to do with drugs and/or alcohol and everything to do with fitness.

This was a common occurrence. I answered him as I always did and I found myself very engaged in the answer. A light bulb went on in my head at that very moment and I remember driving home thinking that I wanted to be in the field of fitness. I thought that I wanted to be a personal trainer.

The field of personal training was brand new at the time. The "fitness industry” was not even really an industry yet. There were a couple of guys doing personal training at World Gym where I worked out. The field was in its infancy and that was good. It was a very pure profession then. People were only in it if they really had something to offer and if they knew what they were doing.

Even though I had a lot of personal experience, I had to have the education to really break into the industry. I respected the field too much. Could I have just made some business cards and made a go at it? Probably, but I did not want to do that. I really wanted to make sure that I knew what I was talking about. I was not big on getting parallel degrees. I always wanted to move upward.

I was brainstorming on my way home from work that day. I was excited. I felt like I really knew what I wanted to do. It all made sense. I was fired up! Fitness was my true passion. I remember that when I dropped the weight in high school, I thought to myself that one day I want to work with kids and teach them how to get into shape. I feel like it was the move that I was supposed to make.

When I got home, and all of the rest of the week, I called around to find out who had the program that I was looking for. I did not know exactly what it would be. Keep in mind this is long before the day of the internet. You had to call or go by! Those were better times about getting details.

I started with UCF which is where I got my first B.S. degree. They had what I was looking for. They had a master’s degree in Exercise Physiology and Wellness. Wellness was hot then. It was a big part of where everybody thought the industry was going. It never did move too far into that direction.

After making my call to UCF, I got my next steps regarding what I needed to do. I was told to make an appointment with the heads of the program. I did. I met with Gerald Gergely first. He became a significant role model for me later on. The other department head was Dr. Frank Rohter. Both men became instrumental for me. I remember meeting with Mr. Gergely. He told me that to be in the fitness profession you must love it.

It is not the profession to get into if you want to get rich. I said that I did love it and that it was not a problem. He then said that in this industry you must learn to be all things to all people. He asked me if I could do that. I said yes. We hit it off very well.

He told me the steps that I would need to complete to get into the program. I had the GPA already. I worked extremely hard in college and made A’s. The next thing I would need to do was take the GRE (graduate record exam). I signed up for that. I took the prep classes and later got the score that I needed on the GRE. After this hurdle was out of the way I gave my score, filled out the official application and waited. Sometime after that I received my approval. I was so excited to be accepted into the program and the way of life that I so loved.

UFC

I could not have asked for a better learning environment than the one that I got at UCF. It was casual but exactly what we needed. Our professors wanted us to research much of what we were learning for ourselves. We had to do many presentations. They were teaching us to be leaders. That is critical in the fitness industry.

People who you help need to be led. I once heard that leaders help people to do what they do not want to do. That is true.

I often hear “I can’t do that” from people when what they mean is that they do not want to do it. They often end up doing whatever it is - and they are glad that they did it.

I learned the essentials of what I needed to know in graduate school and, most importantly, I felt the confidence of learning what I needed to learn so that I could feel good about what I wanted to do.

I, again, never wanted to be that guy who just worked in the field because I had some personal success. I heard a statement along the way that said, “You can’t ask a racehorse how it got fast”. That is so true.

Often people do not realize that there is a genetic component. They do not understand that what worked for them may not work for another. That is why you need the science.

I started coining “where training is science” early on in my business. It is important for me to use science in what I do. Opinion and experience do matter, but I always want to back it up with scientific reasoning.

I graduated with a 4.0 from graduate school with a degree in Exercise Physiology and Wellness. I am proud of that. Getting a 4.0 was no different from what I learned about getting in shape. It is the work that I put in. I am not a big believer that some are simply good at this or that. There are some genetic things that go on, but I really believe that if you put in the work at anything, you will get the outcome.

More on education

My education never stops. Why would it? I really love learning more. I picked up different certifications along the way. I waited years just because I put in so much more stock in a college education than a certification. I still do.

I was teaching a sports medicine program at a college and it was in their curriculum that they received a certification - so I decided to do it too. My first certification was the Certified Personal Trainer from the American College of Sports Medicine. That is supposed to be the best. It is good.

There are only 4 personal trainer certifications that are respected: The ACSM CPT, the ACE (American Council on Exercise) personal trainer, NASM (National Academy of Sports Medicine) personal trainer, and NSCA (National Strength and Conditioning Association) personal trainer.

These are accredited. This means that they all follow scientific guidelines and a separate agency makes sure that they fall in line. This is important.

You cannot simply go online and take one of these certifications. That is all that you must do with most other “certified” personal trainers' certifications. They are a joke. It is really embarrassing in my industry. An education is still far better because these take some brain cells to pass. In fact, I know many that failed them.

The CSCS by the NSCA

Along the way I picked up a couple of others but the other one that I am proud of is the CSCS by the NSCA. That stands for the Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist from the National Strength and Conditioning Association.

I am proud of this one and I am proud of this agency. You must have a bachelor's degree in exercise science to even sit for this exam. That is important. It is one of the few certifications in my industry where a degree is required.

I feel quite passionately that anybody working in my field should have a degree. Most do not.

I am proud of this qualification. It is authentic. It was not easy to pass. I studied hard. I still stay up on this one as well as my ACSM CPT to this day. I think that they are both exceptionally good organizations.

Education, experience and passion

You need a combination of education, experience, and passion to be the best at what you can be in this industry. You need them all.

I feel like I have them all. I am not being overconfident. You see that I simply love it. If I were not getting paid, I would still be talking about fitness all the time. I feel like I am good at it. I fell into it. I hit the street running once I did.

There are too many people in the field that do not have all of these things. I do not think that that is right.

You deal with people's lives in the fitness industry

I work with people with a lot of different health issues in my industry. We have our clients that are simply fit and want to be fit, but we deal with special populations mostly. Special populations are groups that have things that you must take into consideration. It can be as simple as being a senior citizen or it could be somebody in a declining, diseased state.

Through the years I have worked with so many special populations that I cannot count them. Some people really need our full awareness.

A trainer should know how to work with a hypertensive client on beta blockers. A trainer should know how to read blood sugar levels and know what to do. How do you train a client after a hip replacement? We do that all the time.

Personal trainers can become certified without a degree. I don't think that is right, but it is what it is. This won't happen with me. I need to know what to do.

Current licensing laws for personal trainers

Right now there is not licensing where I live in the state of Florida. It has entered certain states for the fitness industry. It will come to my state.

I think that it will not matter for me. I have what I need and it would not change my practice. It could put others out of business or make them pony up to get what they need. I think that our industry needs that.

Do you realize how many people I know that are in my field without proper credentialing? There are too many.

What I hear all the time is “I heard that I’m supposed to do this”. 100% of the time they heard this from a trainer that really does not have the credentials to talk about what they talk about.

I correct a lot of unhealthy habits - whether it is exercise, form or simply program design - for people that worked with a trainer that does not have the qualification that they should have.

Education matters. It shows seriousness too. You would think that you would take every step to be the best at what you want to do if you really are serious about helping people and getting into the fitness field.

Too many people want the title of a personal trainer - or they think that they can make a quick buck working in a gym. It shouldn't be that way.

I used to ask my students, “Do you want a job or do you want a career”? That sums it up.

Experience is important

You must have the experience too. I think that if you get the degree and have the passion, you will get the correct experience. I feel like I am so much better now at 55 than I was at 27.

I think that I have mellowed some, but that is okay. I have gained so much experience that I know what will work with some people and what will work with others. I have seen so many types of cases that I now can pull it out of my mental toolbox and know how to handle it.

You cannot teach experience. I am sure that my clients over the years have taught me as much as I have taught them.

Passion

You must have passion in the fitness industry. You are trying to fire somebody up to do what they do not want to do. How are you going to fire someone else up if you cannot fire yourself up?

You can't. You must have passion. I do. I love fitness. Can certain clients get on my nerves? Of course they can. I think that being authentic with people is part of it too. Good relationships have conflict. If you are not correcting your client or getting on them for what they are not doing, you do not care. That comes along with passion.

When I see bad form, it is like nails on a chalk board. In my mind I scream “WHAT ARE YOU DOING YOU MORON!” And at times that may come out of my mouth! I will always correct it. That is because I care. I care about the industry.

I care about the people that I am trying to help and I care about the industry too. There is a right way to do things. If I don't correct somebody, I disrespect my industry. I do not want to do that. It means too much to me.

I used to tell my students that if I stop correcting them, they know that they lost out because I just gave up and do not care anymore. I cannot do that with my job.

I have had many trainers through the years and the topic of the “un-correctable” comes up. Yes, there are clients that you can show how to do something 100 times and they simply cannot or will not do it right. Still correct them. You owe it to the industry.

My education continues

I am still learning. I continue to take CEC’s (continuing education credits). I read good books that come up. I still get science journals on a regular basis. I still look at documentaries. I go to workshops. I love to learn. I really do. I know what to look for.

If it is fitness-related, I want the author or speaker to have his CSCS that I spoke of earlier and an advanced degree. If they do not have at least that, I will not read it.

Our local paper has an article every week of a “personal trainer” who shows an exercise. They show some lame certification next to their name and it drives me nuts.

We are dealing with obesity and heart disease here and you cannot even highlight a person who has the right credentials!

To get your nails done the person doing them has to have a license but if you are morbidly obese, diabetic, and have hypertension it is okay to have a “trainer’ who did a weekend workshop? That does not fly with me.

Often I do not read what is out there. I don't give any respect to the experts on social media that simply look good and know how to do a lunge - and they want to change your life?

When looking for an expert to read, follow, or listen to; make sure they have a degree in health and fitness. Make sure that they have one of the reputable certifications that I mentioned above. If they do not, keep scrolling. I do not care what they look like!

You cannot ask a racehorse how it got fast! I can be a fast racehorse, but thankfully I took the time to figure how I improved scientifically.

It is a balance of education, experience and passion.

This article is written by Rob Maxwell, M.A. Exercise Physiology, CSCS and ACSM CPT from www.fittothemax.net. Follow him on Twitter.