NASM Women’s Fitness Specialist

Hi friends!

Man, it’s been a while. I’m not here to make excuses on why, since I think the answer is pretty obvious. Balancing life with an infant, work, and an extra side project that I’ve been working on for a few months has been keeping me busier than ever. What’s this side project I’m speaking of? Well, it’s a new specialty and a re-certification on my CPT!

Longtime readers might remember me going through the process of becoming a Certified Personal Trainer back in 2014. (Side note – how has it already been four years?!)

I originally got my CPT to be able to create legitimate research-based workout templates together for the blog, and I had no idea that it would take me as far as it has. After I took my test with NASM, I got the opportunity to review a 30-day Personal Training Experience with a local gym and ended up working as a personal trainer and small group instructor shortly after!

I was so grateful to be mentored by the owner of that facility, and I absolutely loved working one-on-one with clients for about a year and a half. I also loved the feeling of training in a small group setting. Fun fact, I used to teach barre classes back in Orlando, too. It was my main job six days a week, and I only stopped when we moved up to Metro Detroit.

(a throwback to 2011!)

Due to a few relocations, I haven’t been able to focus on one type of training or teaching, and I wasn’t sure where that background would take me after we moved to New York City in 2016. I knew that I wanted to stay in the fitness industry, but I was looking for a full-time job that offered more than a group instructor’s schedule and salary. After seeking out a few different gyms and fitness centers, I decided to pursue managing on “the other side of the glass” at Orangetheory Fitness, and I have been focusing on growing in that role since I started over two years ago.

Like most certifications, you must go through continuing education courses to keep it active, so I have the choice to recertify or let my CPT expire every two years. Since I’m not anywhere near ready to let that happen, I decided to hit the books and am excited to announce that I am now a Certified Personal Trainer with a Specialization in Women’s Fitness!

There are a few other specializations on my bucket list, but this one really peaked my interest while I was pregnant with Skyler. It was important to me to keep up with exercise throughout my pregnancy, and I spent a lot of time researching and asking instructors questions on what I could or couldn’t do during that time. I learned the basic “dos and don’ts”, but I wanted to feel confident enough passing that information on to others with some merit.

(15 weeks pregnant after an Orangetheory Fitness workout)

I’ve always felt the most comfortable training women, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading about everything having to do with training adolescents, training older women, and working with pre and postnatal women. I’ve mentioned the thought of creating a mommy-and-me group training boot camp in the park to Scott, and I’m seriously considering finally doing it once the weather warms up again! I think that would be so fun!

(37 weeks pregnant – and just a few days before we met Skyler!)

Along with the certification, renewing your CPT requires you to get recertified in CPR/AED. I’ve taken the course three times now, and I always enjoy the process. Since becoming a mom this go around, I paid extra attention in the children and infant section, and it’s so nice to know the proper protocols (God forbid) in case of emergencies.

The process of getting a specialization as a CPT isn’t as involved as getting the original certification, but I did put in a good amount of time of online coursework for a few months. The NASM Women’s Fitness Specialization has eleven modules and includes quizzes with each one followed by an open-book final exam to finish the course. All in all, it took me a few months to get through the coursework by dedicating an hour to studying a few nights a week.

Seeing a lot of the information I read about four years ago was a great and much-needed refresher, and it feels good to have a specialization to focus on.

As you can imagine, I feel like my plate is pretty full right now, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that I won’t pursue getting back into the training side of the fitness industry. While it seems slightly intimidating to get on a microphone to teach after being away from it for years, it’s a goal of mine that I care about and actively want to work towards.

I guess all that I can say for now is … Stay Tuned!

 

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Ironically, I have received a few emails and I have talked about the process of getting certified through NASM with a few friends and co-workers lately. In case you’re in the same boat and curious about what the process is like, check out my NASM & Study Guides page here on the blog!

Thank so much for checking in today, and I’m hoping to be back later this week with a return to Friday Favorites.

Happy Halloween!