Licensed to Drill

March 15, 2015

Personal Trainers Divided Over State Licensing

The stylist who cuts your hair needs a license from the state. So does the person who sells your house or gives you a massage, but that’s not the case for the trainer who leads you through rigorous workouts several times a week. In fact, Michigan has no minimum requirement for allowing someone to hang up a shingle as a personal trainer.

ELEVATE THE PROFESSION

Just because Michigan doesn’t have any requirements for personal trainers doesn’t mean it’s a free-for-all. Most trainers who work for fitness centers are required by their employer to become certified by one of several national personal trainer schools and many employers require more advanced credentials, college degrees or specific on-thejob training. Doug Peterson, who said he’s led over 15,000 group fitness sessions in the past decade, believes it’s time personal trainers are licensed by the state, as a way to elevate the profession and weed out unqualified interlopers.

"There’s a part of me that would prefer not to have the government involved and be part of it, however, there are plenty of examples where a lack of license means a lack of training," said Peterson, general manager of Iron Works, the private gym for employees of Hagerty Insurance in Traverse City.

STANDARDS HAVE DECLINED

Peterson said the rigorousness of the national accreditors’ standards has declined over the decades he has been a trainer to the point that it now means very little.

"Years ago – 15, 20 years ago – when I’d go take the ACSM, the American College of Sports Medicine certification, I had to go to Chicago for two days," Peterson said. "The first day I had to go sit in front of a board of six people, and they pulled some random person off the street and said, "˜Here’s his symptoms. Now, in front of us’ – and here there was like a doctor and a kinesiologist and a nutritionist – "˜we want you to write a program for him.’ It was nerve-wracking. It took hours."

That was followed by a test the next day. Today, Peterson said, the accreditation can be achieved by taking a test online. And, because it is so much easier, it means less.

"Back then, you needed that to get professional liability insurance," he said. "Today, certifications are often no longer required."

BURDEN OR BENEFIT?

Although several states have attempted to license personal trainers, only Washington, D.C. has made it law, according to Club Industry, a fitness trade publication.

Sentiment is split in the industry. Some groups argue that licensing would be an unnecessary burden on health club owners, and they note that fitness trainers have so far done well regulating themselves.

Peterson said he’s watched as Michigan required massage therapists to become licensed, beginning in 2012. He believes state licensure has benefited that profession by rooting out fraudulent schools and unqualified practitioners. It’s also boosted the profession’s legitimacy and led to more insurance plans paying for massage.

Peterson believes licensing could enable personal trainers to be treated like healthcare providers. The profession could one day be considered part of a preventative medicine regime.

"Let’s get ahead of it, let’s up our game," Peterson said. "I want to put us on the front lines of prevention."

Fitness training encompasses everything from aerobic instructors to high-level athletic trainers. Peterson doesn’t believe all kinds of trainers should be required to be licensed – just the ones working as science-based trainers. That way, the consumer could know what level of personal trainer they were signing up to work with, he said.

"The argument against licenses is always going to be it’s going to hurt and take away jobs from thousands of group instructors and personal trainers who won’t be able to qualify, but that’s always the argument," Peterson said. "I think the majority of them, if they’re categorized correctly, they want to get licensed; they’re going to be able to."

SOME TRAINERS FLUNK THE TEST

Zack Light teaches a class at Northwestern Michigan College that prepares students for certification by the American Council on Exercise. Light said that not all national certifiers are created equal.

"I’ve had perspective students come in that are already sanctioned by other certifying bodies. I give them my pretest for my ACE class, just to see where their head’s at," Light said. "I’ve had certified personal trainers, who are out there working, flunk my pretest."

Light, who is also a police officer with the Village of Bellaire, believes trainers should be licensed by the state just like police officers or auto mechanics.

Today, a consumer can ask to see a trainer’s national certification, they can research that certification online to determine how rigorous its requirements are, and they can Cover and above photo taken at Traverse City Whiskey check to Co. make by Michael sure a Poehlman trainer carries Photography. liability insurance.

Light said that, while consumers can do those things, most will not. If personal trainers were state licensed, that would ensure people who are not capable of attaining a minimum level of expertise and knowledge are weeded out of the field.

"There are a lot of trainers in town that are doing quote unquote personal training without any certification at all," he said. "There are so many people that are literally playing with fire because they have no liability insurance, because they can’t get it."

JUST ANOTHER TAX

Jeff Gauthier believes the best proof that he will provide qualified personal trainers is the 28 years he and his brother have been in business.

Gauthier, who owns Fit For You on Garfield Road with his brother Vern, said he is against state regulation.

"I think the way things are going now is OK," Gauthier said. "I’d like to see health clubs put more time into their personal trainers."

Gauthier requires the trainers at his club to be nationally certified, but he said that is just the beginning of what he requires.

"Just the certified trainer – don’t get me wrong, that gives them a lot of book smarts, but it still doesn’t give them hands on," Gauthier said. "So, what we do is we take them, we hand hold them, we teach them hands-on training. They’ll shadow with us for a week. They’ll put in just about 40 hours (being trained) before they ever start getting paid."

Gauthier believes a state license may offer gyms an incentive to employ trainers who only have the bare minimum training required.

"It’s not going to help the quality of the trainers," he said. "To make it state regulated, I don’t think that’s going to do it. I think all that’s going on there is the state’s going to figure out how to tax the trainers differently."

INDUSTRY SELF-REGULATES

Megan Madian turned years of devotion to exercise into a unique program she developed to help people stay in shape.

Modus45 opened just over a year ago in Traverse City.

"I’m pretty humbled by the positive feedback," Madian said. "So far so good, but I never take anything for granted."

Madion is not a physical trainer. She said she wanted to share a workout she developed as a busy mom who wanted to stay in shape.

"I’d describe myself as an advocate to help anyone take ownership of their wellness," Madion said. "We’re simply here to help. Modus45 is an extremely low impact class that blends strength, flexibility, plus physical and mental stamina. " Madion believes most fitness disciplines are well self-regulated.

She is ambivalent about whether fitness instructors or personal trainers should be required by the state to have a license.

"I used to travel extensively for work so I’ve had the opportunity to try all sorts of fitness classes nationally and some internationally," she said. "I think it’s a self-selecting thing. You know in your gut if it’s unsafe or not effective or if you simply don’t like it and then you don’t do it again. If governmental legislation can find a way to increase safety in classes, then that’s helpful."

FITNESS AS PREVENTATIVE MEDICINE

Whitney Sheets, owner of LUXBODY on Union Street in Traverse City, said she would welcome state licensing.

Sheets, who is a certified trainer through the National Academy of Sports Medicine, said it is important to have certified staff who are well trained and know what they are doing. Trainers should have a solid under standing of anatomy, physiology and nutrition, she said.

"We’re dealing with people’s hearts, so you better know how far to push people," she said.

Each piece of equipment in a gym requires additional training, Sheets said. She has TRX straps hanging from one end of the studio and she requires her instructors to get TRX certified.

"If you’re going to do kettle bells, I think you should be kettle bell certified," she said. "It’s like you have to pass the LSAT to get into law school. There should be an entrance ramp to get into this industry."

Sheets supports state licensure because it would mean a minimum training requirement and it might help the business; doctors might be more inclined to prescribe fitness routines to patients.

"It would definitely legitimize our business a little bit more," Sheets said. "Fitness is preventative medicine."

WHAT’S AT STAKE

What’s at stake when a personal trainer lacks qualifications?

"The worst harm is that the client gets injured, but that doesn’t happen all the time," Peterson said. "The hardest-to-quantify damage that’s being done is that people’s expectations are being beat up."

Robert Guenther, a trainer at Fit For You, followed a winding, unconventional path to the personal trainer profession. He was in a devastating car crash at age 17 that left him in recovery for years. He said he gradually became his own amateur physical therapist, especially after he had a hip replaced eight years ago. He has developed his own fitness routine which involves TRX training and balance boards. He said he takes the safety of his clients very seriously.

"I’m very cautious, no matter what age I have, depending on their skill levels," Guenther said. "You have to be cautious. In the four years I’ve been doing this, I’ve never injured anyone, not even myself."

Guenther said he would support a state license for trainers if it would ensure that people in the profession knew what they were doing.

"I’ve been to numerous gyms around the country and I’ve worked with numerous trainers," he said. "Some people aren’t fit to be a trainer. Not just physically, but I’ve been hurt by trainers. You’re asked to do certain things and they don’t know what your limitations are."