need interaction on every and any level and the same is true for fitness .
Now that the weather is cooler in the south , more Instructors and Trainers are performing outdoor workouts . Both Group Ex instructors and Personal Trainers are going to parks , parking lots , beaches and backyards . They are also conducting hybrid workouts that include outdoor live companioned with indoor Zoom or FaceTime technologies .
Fearful of the extreme cold , Instructors and Trainers in the North are clearing out their garages and keeping the windows open or the garage door cracked and teaching from home to a few loyal clients . They are also Zooming these indoor / garage workouts . Basically , many of the best instructors and most ingenious Trainers are opening make-shift Boutique Studios out of their homes . Their income is still more than the gym paid ( most times … a LOT more ), and while attendance may be decreased because of the limited space , their earning potential is even greater than before the pandemic .
As clubs continue to open , an important issue will arise regarding our frontline workers . Should we allow our Group Ex Instructors and Personal Trainers to continue to train their clients ( which may have originally been our members ) or will we , as owners and directors , require Instructors and Trainers to be exclusive to our facility ? Many Group Ex Instructors and Personal Trainers may have a difficult decision to make . Should I go back to work at the fitness facility or make more money and continue to work on my own ? Being very social creatures , this will remain a difficult choice for our fitness leaders . Most Instructors and Trainers are just that …. Instructors and Trainers . They are not businesspeople at heart . They do not love finance and marketing and would prefer this work to be done by others . But , some , if not many are enjoying the freedom and embracing the opportunity of entrepreneurship .
With permanent closures of clubs and reduced staffing requirements , maybe facilities really don ’ t need as many Instructors and Trainers , and never will , so should we even worry ? This has been a time of financial reorganization and restructuring . Maybe we should just “ trim the fat ” and remove the underqualified Instructor and Trainer and embrace more whole-heartedly the top talent . Yet , where is this top talent ? Are they now , or will they soon be , our competitor ?
The closures of many clubs and studios may entice our top talent to further their entrepreneurial spirit and open a facility of their own . Lower rents , no build-out expenses and convenient locations make for an attractive alternative to digital solutions , garages or public parks . What we don ’ t need in our industry are more clubs , and greater competition ( however short-term it may appear .)
Hopefully , the time will come when we need more Instructors and Trainers because our clubs will be fully operational and our memberships will grow , necessitating the hiring of more staff . With all these considerations , it is very important to connect with your Group Ex Staff and Personal Trainers .
Additionally , the societal emphasis on cleanliness and safety has added pressure on Group Ex Instructors and Personal Trainers to obtain and maintain certifications .
Safety is at the forefront of our clients ’ minds and is the greatest concern to be our greatest concern . Although this has been a horrible time in our world history , this pandemic has provided a few benefits . The greatest benefit of all has been time . Time for our families , time for reflection and time for self-improvement .
Fitness Professionals had time , and have made time , to invest in their careers and education . During this pandemic , SCW has certified approximately 3,000 instructors during the past 9 months alone via our Live Stream and Online options and has re-certified thousands more .
For the past 35 years SCW has offered conferences in cities across the USA – Washington D . C ., San Francisco , Orlando , Atlanta , Dallas , Chicago and Boston www . scwfit . com . SCW Fitness has also continued to provide Continuing Education
Credits ( CECs ) to Fitness Professionals by utilizing the Zoom platform to conduct Live Stream MANIA ® Conferences . SCW was the first to offer a fully Live Stream Convention with over 170 sessions in May of this year . To do so , SCW had to build their own technology , which was frictionless to the consumer because , frankly , nothing else was available . To date , SCW has offered four conventions , with a fifth planned for February 26- 28 . Touted as “ the best in the business ”, these fitness conventions attract approximately 1,000- 900 attendees each . During this pandemic SCW has had face-to-face ( or should we say zoom-tozoom ) contact with over 10,000 professionals .
Every SCW MANIA ® Convention has offered continuing education credit / units ( CECs ) from ACE , NASM , AFAA , AEA , ACSM plus several other certification organizations . SCW has also been offering certifications in over 37 topics for the past 25 years . Again , with all the certification organizations approving 34 of the 37 SCW Certifications for CECs .
SCW has found that our core certifications such as Group Exercise , Personal Training , and Aquatic Exercise have expanded greatly . We have trained tens of thousands of fitness professionals in these areas . Additionally , our specialty certifications such as Meditation , Yoga , Active Aging , Barre , Foam Rolling , and Nutrition Coaching have expanded . Our most recent Virtual Training Certification has also sky-rocketed in attendance . Both Club Fit Pros and independent Fit Pros have flooded to this live streaming and online program .
The following list contains the Top 10 Certifications that Fitness Professionals have registered for with SCW Fitness and the Top 10 represents 60 % of all Certification enrollments :
1 . Group Exercise 2 . Personal Training 3 . Aquatic Exercise 4 . Meditation 5 . Yoga 6 . Active Aging 7 . Virtual Training 8 . Barre 9 . Rolling and Recovery 10 . Nutrition Coaching
This list really should not be surprising in the light of the pandemic . Fitness Professionals will always engage in the top three core certifications ( Group , PT and Aqua ) whether teaching at a facility or building their own business . During these times of stress that have been caused by the uncertainty of the pandemic , it makes sense that Meditation , Yoga , Rolling and Recovery , and even Barre share a place in the Top 10 . Active Aging continues to gain traction as our population ages and lives longer with an emphasis on quality of life . More individuals have been forced to eat at home during the pandemic and are looking to Fitness Professionals for advice on how to eat healthy and cook meals that are comforting without all of the calories . Lastly , the Virtual Training Certification teaches Fitness Professionals how to run their own business from a technological perspective , which has become a necessity with gyms closed and reduced class sizes in the ones that have opened .
After each MANIA ® conference , SCW conducts a survey that includes approximately 50 % of the conference attendees providing valuable feedback on a range of topics . During the past four Live Stream MANIA ® Conferences , over 2,000 attendees have indicated , which topics were and are their favorites . More than one selection is allowed . These are topics that they need covered