In today’s blog post, I share with you guys on my recent encounter with my good friend and mentor Jerrican Tan, CSCS (Managing Director at Fitness Innovations Malaysia, FiT) – who played a major role in me finally being able to take a bold step out of my full time IT career, into the fitness business.
Catching up over dinner and totally unplanned, I decided to turn this into an opportunity to update you guys on what’s been happening behind the doors at FiT Malaysia, the country’s first International Standard Training and Certification Centre for Fitness Professionals – which is where I spent a lot of time when I was first getting started out in the fitness business as a full time Personal Trainer.
Today’s post is really informal, and I’ll leave out the small talk, and present you guys with the juicy bits - also… there are quite a few people out there who think that Jerrican is the DailyMuscle blogger! - well, hopefully, with today’s post, you will now know that he is not. I can’t be having dinner with myself right? ;)
DM: Jerrican, things have certainly changed here in Fitness Innovations since I last did my preparation course - can you tell us how business has been for you this year, and the changes you have seen in the local Fitness Industry?
Jerrican: Certainly many changes! We had 46 people taking the ACE certification just 2 weeks ago, compared to the 15 during our first exam held here. Yes, our country is moving forward! I am also happy that universities are sending people here.
More fitness professionals now realize how important accredited certification is but there are many who are still unaware. At least someone (an internationally accredited body) can vouch that they have the minimum competency to serve in the industry.
Due to the volume of `unqualified’ personal trainers, unfortunately, many exercisers fail to receive quality `treatment’ from their personal trainers, which they DESERVE. They are surrounded by unqualified advice/opinion, myths and unethical treatment by personal trainers. Therefore, we experience an influx of these experienced exercisers taking the ACE Personal Trainer certification. At least, they will be able to dispel the truth and myths out there.
DM: So trainers, please watch-out! Your members/clients could be more qualified than you! Entertain us - do you have any funny incidents/stories you’d like to share with my readers?
Jerrican: Many! – How many words am I allowed?
Once, I overheard a PT client asking if she can have a copy of exercise programme that has been designed for her… and the trainer said ‘No’, because the programme is NOT for clients to read. EXCUSE ME!!!
I always witness personal trainers counting repetitions aloud while folding their arms, walk around their client and do nothing else! Gosh, Mr.Client, why do you need this trainer? Can’t you count yourself, or do you need a companion that badly? A trainer should be responsible for the client’s exercise form, to reinforce common errors, ensure better alignment of pull & etc and not just counting numbers!
On another note, I have also heard of certified fitness professionals who claim that they are now ‘KING’ when it comes to Fitness. Excuse me, your certificate shows MINIMUM competency to design and implement an exercise program, but you are not yet an expert in a given field. Even I am not an expert…
DM: Speaking of experts Jerrican, I understand that you have just recently obtained a NSCA-CSCS qualification, so congratulations! Can you briefly explain to us what it means to you personally, to be a certified strength and conditioning specialist (CSCS)? Perhaps elaborate how this has helped you so far..
Jerrican: It was tough but I have learned so much from the certification. It reinforces what I have been teaching at a greater detail and I have been exposed to how high performance training methods are like at an international level.
DM: How is the NSCA (National Strength and Conditioning Association) different from ACE (American Council on Exercise)?
Jerrican: The ACE Personal Trainer certification is an excellent certification for a trainer to get started in the industry. It gives the trainer a basic of how to assess your client health and fitness, set goals, implement and adjust fitness programmes as well as improve your professionalism. Although many experienced trainers think they know this but many actually have NO IDEA about this at first. What they know is to tell you what exercises to do without being able to justify your programme as a whole. Sigh…
NSCA-CSCS allows you to know and sharpen your skills to design a safe and effective strength & conditioning programme for amateur and professional athletes. Most reputable strength coaches, athletic trainers, physical therapists, personal trainers, physicians, chiropractors, researchers and educators in the U.S., for example, are CSCS qualified. You will go deeper into exercise science (relative to ACE PT), sports nutrition, sports psychology, plyometrics, speed-agility-quickness, weight lifting, resistance training, sports injuries, fitness testing, programme design & periodization programme and even on setting up a strength facility.
DM: You already have a string of qualifications under your belt - did you really need to pursue this qualification?
Jerrican: No need! But I love to reinforce what I already know because excellence is a habit of continuous training and reinforcement. Also, it is a good way for me to learn what’s new. It is also tough for me to learn through magazines and the Internet because there are too many unqualified claims.
Actually, my dream is to pursue a Masters in Strength & Conditioning in Australia but money is my problem. But I will one day! (By the way, a couple of days after this meet with him, Jerrican passed another - the ACSM-Personal Trainer certification – adding yet another one to his list).
DM: I believe many of us fitness enthusiasts already know the importance of certification, and getting professional and qualified advice from a coach/personal trainer when it comes to helping them reach their fitness goals… but to the layman, what is the difference between the NSCA-CSCS and ACE-PT, or other certifications in the Industry?
Jerrican: If you want to get fitter, faster and stronger, hire a CSCS! They will know what they are talking about! For example, do you want to improve your running speed?
DM: Where can my readers go to if they need more information on CSCS or even the other courses offered by Fit?
Jerrican: I do not encourage people to take CSCS before first doing their internationally accredited personal trainer certification (ACE, ACSM, NSCA-PT…). However, you need a bachelor’s degree in any field and a CPR cert to qualify for the exam registration. Visit our website www.fitmalaysia.com or call us at 03-77260030. Or if you want a personal touch, you can always email me at jerrican@fitthai.com.
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Basically, we ended the serious talk there, and everything else we talked about is probably not that suitable for this blog post anymore. :P
I’ll be catching up with him once again this weekend at the Asia Fitness Convention in Bangkok!
I hope you guys enjoyed today’s post, which is just some light, informational reading. Stay tuned for a scheduled post this Friday (while I’m in Bangkok), which I promise will satisfy your online fitness cravings. :D
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DM, yes, I totally agree that getting knowledge does make a difference and can save years of getting confused information. I’ll always be grateful to you for letting me know about Fitness Innovations. Will always remember the first time I met Jerrican- I could see that he is one person who truly believes in his mission and was not there to confuse me with wrong information or just to get me to sign up for courses. Sincere, unpretentious and tell only facts and not fads. I was so impressed and signed up straight away- till today, never regretted the course. No one else is undertaking this role in the fitness industry in Malaysia- and having the correct information is so important for safe and effective training. Well done to both of you.
I like the part where Jerrican mentions that there’ll be a time when the trainee is more knowledgeable than the trainer as more and more fitness enthusiasts out there seek for professional courses to attend.
To be honest, I myself am considering going for one of these classes, but schedule and/or money doesn’t quite permit. :P
I’m one of the fitness enthusiasts who took ACE to equip myself with proper knowledge. The experience is invaluable and it’s always great to be able to meet like minded people and share ideas at FiT. I call it my energy zone :D
Jerrican is passionate about bringing our fitness industry to a higher level and readily share his wealth of knowledge. He continually encourage and inspire me that sometimes I feel guilty for disappointing him. Jerrican, if you’re reading this, next year I will start using my ACE PT certification to good use, kay? ;)
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