The 24 Hour Fitness chain started with a single fitness club in 1983 in the San Franciso Bay Area city of San Leandro, California. As of 2011, according to the company website, 24 Hour Fitness has more than 400 fitness clubs in the United States spanning 17 states. These fitness clubs require a membership to join and employ personal trainers that members can hire to help them achieve weightlifting and fitness goals.
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Education Requirements
Personal trainers are employed and available at all 24 Hour Fitness locations. According to the 24 Hour Fitness Careers website, personal trainers must have a high school diploma or general equivalency diploma or GED. In addition, the 24 Hour job site notes that a college bachelor's degree in a fitness related field is preferred. Related fields could include exercise science, kinesiology or education with a certification or focus on physical education.
Training Certifications
All 24 Hour Fitness personal trainers are required to obtain at least one of the available national personal training certifications. According to the 24 Hour Fitness Careers site, these are available through eight different certifying organizations, all of which have certification tests that prospective trainers are required to pass. These organizations include the American College of Sports Medicine or ACSM, the American Council on Exercise or ACE, the International Fitness Professionals Association or IFPA, the National Academy of Sports Medicine or NASM, the National Council on Strength and Fitness or NCSF, the National Exercise and Sports Trainers Association or NESTA, the National Federation of Professional Trainers or NFPT and the National Strength and Conditioning Association or NSCA. Each organization offers a personal training certification in addition to other more specialized training certifications.
Health Certifications
Personal trainers deal with a wide variety of people and fitness levels, and when exercising, people can require immediate medical attention. Therefore 24 Hour Fitness centers require their personal trainers to have current emergency medical training certifications. All trainers must be Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation or CPR certified and Automated External Defibrillator or AED certified. Both certifications are designed to ensure that trainers can provide medical assistance in the event of an emergency.
What Certifications Entail
The training certifications ensure you know about muscles, tendons, injuries and nutrition. In addition you will learn about weight training, cardiovascular training and the proper form to use when performing different types of exercises. These certifications are designed to give you the knowledge to not just make people stronger, help them lose weight or feel better, but to teach them about fitness and guide them safely so that they can learn the proper way to exercise.
