Check your trainer is qualified (minimum Cert IV Fitness), registered with Fitness Australia and has appropriate insurance cover.
See article below from THE AUSTRALIAN.
COWBOY TRAINERS LOWERING THE BAR
Qualified trainer Nick Woodall with his class in Sydney. Picture: Alan Pryke Source:
The Australian
by: Mitchell Nadin
From: The Australian
November 05, 2011 12:00AM
THEY are daily fixtures at suburban parks and beaches across the country - counting the push-ups, screaming from behind the boxing bag, urging their charges on.
Personal training has become a massive growth area in the past decade, but there are growing concerns that the area is beset with an increasing number of fitness cowboys who aren't properly qualified.
According to 2009 report by Access Economics, more than 40 per cent of Australians participate in some form of gym workout or group exercise, paying upwards of $70 an hour for a beginner personal trainer, and more than $100 for an advanced instructor.
To keep up with extraordinary demand the market has reacted swiftly, with training courses popping up overnight, offering full accreditation in only a few short weeks. Some private institutions offer the minimum certificate in just two weeks.
Free trial
Amid the grab for market share, some health industry observers fear rogue trainers with little or no qualification are putting people's health at risk.
The glaringly obvious holes in the system were highlighted by the Australian Physiotherapy Association, which argued standards were inadequate.
An association spokesman told a Brisbane newspaper it was "very difficult for the public to know who's good enough and who isn't", and the eight-week course to become a qualified personal trainer was not enough.
In the absence of a government regulator, Fitness Australia is the industry watchdog, representing more than 1300 businesses, and 24,000 exercise consultants.
Chief executive Lauretta Stace agrees a consistent government framework would help to eliminate rogue operators.
"At the moment the greatest risk for people is working with exercise professionals who are not registered, and not properly qualified," she said. "To safeguard the community, elements of regulation should be put in place to ensure a robust and enforceable registration scheme, so that consumers can trust their instructor to be qualified with an appropriate level of experience."
Stace says Fitness Australia has made a submission to the COAG Future Regulatory Reform Agenda, in an effort to encourage national conformity.
A Department of Finance and Deregulation spokesman said the minister was "reviewing all the submissions received and evaluating reform proposals put forward by stakeholders".
Industry experts welcome the push for tighter standards.
Simon Margheritini, who has worked in the industry for more than 11 years, says the hunt for a competent personal trainer has created a buyer-beware market.
"I've had numerous clients tell me about previous trainers who were feeding them completely wrong information," he says.
"I'm more worried about the people who make no attempt to gain any credentials, though, and call themselves personal trainers. People who just watch a few YouTube videos or The Biggest Loser and think they know how it's done. If people are going to use a personal trainer, they need to make sure he or she is qualified. In my 11 years, it's disturbing I've never been asked once about my credentials."
Nick Woodall, who operates a fitness company in Sydney's inner-west, says the low entry barriers for the fitness industry mean "cowboy operators" are besmirching the good reputation of properly qualified professionals in the industry.
Woodall says it's time the government takes the fitness industry seriously and set a consistent training standard, with an emphasis on practical experience. "I think the hands-on component of the current courses on offer is really lacking," he said. "In the end we're dealing with people's health and bodies, which need to be taken seriously. There are around 35,000 personal trainers out there, but only two-thirds of those are registered."
A spokesperson for Fitness First advised people to check their trainer's credentials, which can be done online at the Fitness Australia website.
"Make sure that the trainer that you select is registered with Fitness Australia, has a minimum Certificate IV Fitness and they have the appropriate insurance cover," he said.
After giving birth to her second child, Susannah Hardy couldn't wait to get stuck back into her rigorous fitness regime, but said qualifications weren't a deciding factor in choosing who to train with. "I didn't check my trainer's credentials, I went by his reputation and recommendations from friends," she says. Hardy, 42, says the growth in personal training is a result of a time-poor, high-pressure society.
"Whether it's a full-time career or children, people have less time for exercise, and so they want to use that limited time as efficiently as possible," she says.
"It's really good that people are becoming more aware of their health. The amazing growth in the fitness industry has been great, but it's also something we should be constantly aware of."
