Hello Cathe, I am a huge fan of your videos. I am a mother of two, and exercising at home is the best option for me. I have been using fitness videos religiously for over seven years, and have become quite familiar with many different instructor's routines. I am a stay-at-home mom looking for a hobby to do with fitness that can keep me busy. I was wondering if there is such a thing as a fitness video critic? I am very interested in being a part of the fitness industry, and this would be the perfect thing for me at this time. Thank you for any advice you may have. Sincerely, Tracee [email protected]
fitness video critic
- Thread starter Tracee4
- Start date
I'm not Cathe but have been working in the fitness field for a long time.
A fitness video critic should have a strong background in the areas of exercise phyisiology and kinesiology. A lot of what we see in videos isn't always good for us but the layperson would not know unless he or she knew what to look for. The more education I gain in this field the more upset I become watching videos that have risky exercises, exercises that do not target the muscle group being worked, led by instructors with little knowledge of even basic exercise physiology or kinesiology. Case in point: Doing chest presses with dummbbells while sitting up. A very well known video production company put these on their recent upper body tape. I grab my medicine ball and do chest squeezes in place of this. Would you be able to tell if an exercise does not effectively work a particular muscle group? Would you be able to evaluate an exercise and note that it might be risky for certain populations? Would you be able to suggest appropriate modifications for contraindicated exercises? Would you be able to determine if a particular routine made sense? The flow of a class is very important as well as the combination of exercises chosen to accomplish the goal of the video.
Critiquing videos goes way beyond judging for proper cuing, physical attributes, the intensity factor, etc. If you are really interested in pursuing this, my suggestion would be to further your education and learn about muscles and their joint actions, physiology, anatomy, and perhaps even obtain some certicications in the field.
Regards,
Roe
A fitness video critic should have a strong background in the areas of exercise phyisiology and kinesiology. A lot of what we see in videos isn't always good for us but the layperson would not know unless he or she knew what to look for. The more education I gain in this field the more upset I become watching videos that have risky exercises, exercises that do not target the muscle group being worked, led by instructors with little knowledge of even basic exercise physiology or kinesiology. Case in point: Doing chest presses with dummbbells while sitting up. A very well known video production company put these on their recent upper body tape. I grab my medicine ball and do chest squeezes in place of this. Would you be able to tell if an exercise does not effectively work a particular muscle group? Would you be able to evaluate an exercise and note that it might be risky for certain populations? Would you be able to suggest appropriate modifications for contraindicated exercises? Would you be able to determine if a particular routine made sense? The flow of a class is very important as well as the combination of exercises chosen to accomplish the goal of the video.
Critiquing videos goes way beyond judging for proper cuing, physical attributes, the intensity factor, etc. If you are really interested in pursuing this, my suggestion would be to further your education and learn about muscles and their joint actions, physiology, anatomy, and perhaps even obtain some certicications in the field.
Regards,
Roe
Thank you for your suggestions. I have taken a few college courses in health and fitness, but I definately need to complete more of them. I am looking into getting certified as a group instructor (I would love to teach step classes and women's self defense), but I am unsure about which school to get certified through. There are so many of them. Any suggestions?
Sheilaraecote
Cathlete
My certification is through Ace - website: http://www.acefitness.org/
One other organization I thought about getting certified through is AFAA as well. I do believe that Cathe links have some information on various fitness organizations as well: http://cathe.com/fitness.htm AFAA also helps you with presentation skills as an instructor.
You may also be interested in another online group called www.videofitness.com since they are all about reviews of fitness videos and instructors.
Good luck,
Sheila
One other organization I thought about getting certified through is AFAA as well. I do believe that Cathe links have some information on various fitness organizations as well: http://cathe.com/fitness.htm AFAA also helps you with presentation skills as an instructor.
You may also be interested in another online group called www.videofitness.com since they are all about reviews of fitness videos and instructors.
Good luck,
Sheila
Hi Tracee,
Both ACE and AFAA are excellent organizations. My group exercise certification is with AFAA and Personal Training with ACE. I also have Step Reebok but that is no longer available. AFAA offers a Step certification but you don't need it to teach Step. Their Primary certification covers it.
ACE does not have many interactive classes to prepare you for the exam. You could do it by reading but it is hard to put theory into practice as a newcomer to the field.
AFAA has courses that prepare you for the Primary group exercise certification. When I got certified there were two types: One is a weekend course that teaches you only what you need to know to pass the exam. The other is a more comprehensive course that met for eight weeks. I chose the latter and was glad to have spent the money. The instructor went over everything in detail, especially physiology and kinesiology. Learning all of the application and applying it to the theory was so helpful. I recommend a more extensive course - you'll be surprised how much you will learn even as an advanced exerciser.
Good luck!
-Roe
Both ACE and AFAA are excellent organizations. My group exercise certification is with AFAA and Personal Training with ACE. I also have Step Reebok but that is no longer available. AFAA offers a Step certification but you don't need it to teach Step. Their Primary certification covers it.
ACE does not have many interactive classes to prepare you for the exam. You could do it by reading but it is hard to put theory into practice as a newcomer to the field.
AFAA has courses that prepare you for the Primary group exercise certification. When I got certified there were two types: One is a weekend course that teaches you only what you need to know to pass the exam. The other is a more comprehensive course that met for eight weeks. I chose the latter and was glad to have spent the money. The instructor went over everything in detail, especially physiology and kinesiology. Learning all of the application and applying it to the theory was so helpful. I recommend a more extensive course - you'll be surprised how much you will learn even as an advanced exerciser.
Good luck!
-Roe
Roe, The team at 'Ask Cathe' has been very helpful, and I appreciate all of your feedback. Thank you for your advice. I have already begun to look into both places for certification. Thank you for your suggestions on which path to choose. You are very lucky to be able to do what you love and also get payed for it. I am hoping someday to be as fortunate. Best Wishes and thank you, Tracee Crawford
melanalyus
Cathlete
Tracee: On a lighter note, there are many internet sites that you can include your own input on the particular video. Many people do it for a hobbby--not necessarily a career option, but I've critiqued a exercise videos for fun in the past. Videofitness.com & amazon.com are two sites that I know of. I'm sure there are more. 