I’m excited to announce that I received my Senior Fitness Specialist certificate from the National Academy of Sports Medicine! Here’s how and why that came about.
As part of my 2016 New Year resolutions, I made it a goal to obtain two new certifications: Certified Group Fitness Instructor with the American Council on Exercise, and then Senior Fitness Specialist with the National Academy of Sports Medicine. At the time I’d just finished my Certified Personal Trainer (CPT) course in December 2015 after over two years of study, and while that material was still fresh in my mind I wanted to go ahead and get the others.
So in January, just shortly after finishing my CPT, I enrolled in the ACE group fitness course and completed that in late June. In the meantime, I also started the process to become a Silver Sneakers instructor to teach exercise classes for older adults. I attended a training for the Silver Sneakers Classic class, recently created my first workout program, and have been learning the moves and practicing how to cue — which I found is harder than it looks!
This week, I accomplished the other goal of completing the NASM Senior Fitness Specialist course, which is a much shorter course than the CPT and GFI. For the most part, it ended up being mostly a review of things I’d already learned in the other two, but I did learn a few new things and also earned 1.0 continuing education credits to use toward my GFI and CPT certifications. They both require 2.0 CEUs every two years in order to maintain certification.
I’m really glad I did it for those reasons, but also it feels great to accomplish a goal. Before I earned these certificates, I hung three empty frames in my workout room to help me visualize completing them, because at the time it seemed like an overwhelming challenge.
Now, when I see these on the wall, filled, it gives me not only a sense of accomplishment but a confidence boost for other challenges in life.
After three years of study and the pressure of having the exams hanging over me, it feels amazing to have that finished. But now the real work begins — using this education in the real world.
My next step is to find a place to teach my first Silver Sneakers class. I’m working on that now, and look forward to getting started soon!
