Nutritionist & Instructor ??s

[kristi]

I've seriously been contemplating a career change. My interests are in nutrition and exercise, but I need some advice and thought that maybe someone here might be able to answer my questions.

This is probably a stupid question but are nutritionists and dieticians the same occupation? Also, what kind of schooling do I need to become one?

My final question is regarding my love of exercise. I've thought of becoming a personal trainer and maybe an aerobics instructor. What certifications would I need? I know there are a few different certifications available, but which one is the best?

Thanks in advance for any advice you can give me.

 

[Aquajock]

I can't really speak to the nutritionist vs. dietician distinctions, although I do know there is such a creature as a "registered dietician" that entails its own set of credentials.

Regarding becoming a personal trainer and perhaps an aerobics instructor, the certifications are legion and many of questionable value. IMHO, to be a personal trainer you should have, at the very least, a certification by a major entity such as ACE (American Council on Exercise), NASM (National Association {or Academy} of Sports Medicine) or NSCA (National Sports Conditioning Association). The more formal academic training you have, at at least the undergraduate level, the better off you are.

For Group Fitness Instruction (which has replaced "aerobics instructor", given that many group fitness classes are not aerobic in design or purpose), an ACE Group Fitness Instructor certification is the most widely recognized. There is also AFAA (I have no idea what that stands for), NDEITA (ditto), and a jillion specialty certifications in specific modes of exercise. My suggestion is to go with ACE for your GFI.

Hope this helps -

A-Jock

 

[kristi]

Thanks Aquajock for all of your advice! This is a whole new world to me when it comes to accrediation and certifications. If I'm going to invest the time and money to follow through with this then I want to do it right the first time. Thanks again!!

 

[Aquajock]

You're quite welcome, Kristi!

I would also like to strongly suggest that you do some intensive informational interviewing with group fitness instructors and personal trainers in a variety of venues who are already in the field to give you the 411 on the realities of the industry. (i.e. don't expect the population of clients and participants to all be like the Cathe Crowd, in terms of motivation and conditioning level!)

Also check out the Turnstep bulletin boards (www.turnstep.com) and the Fit-Pro (www.fit-pro.com) bulletin boards to ask more detailed questions; each of these is precisely for fitness professionals of all jurisdictions ( }( ) and can give you a wealth of real-life information.

Good luck!

A-Jock

 

[ColleenM]

A dietician is usually an RD (registered dietician). When I was in college 17 years ago, it required a bachelor's degree and then either a master's degree or a 2 year internship program (for the life of me can't remember actual program name) and I believe boards of some kind.

A nutritionist can vary. Basically I could call myself a nutritionist because I have a bachelor's degree in nutrition. There didn't used to be a lot of jobs in this type of field for nutritionist but quite a few jobs for registered dietician. Most of the rd jobs tho were in hopsitals reviewing patient's diets, etc. A lot has changed since I was in school and with people becoming more and more aware and concered regarding health issues, I'd imagine the job market is much bigger. Also the pay wasn't that great back then. I made more as a legal secretary than the starting wages for an RD. Jenny Craig had "nutritionists" (they used to take anyone with ANY degree). In 1993 they offered me a job for $7.00/hour plus $2.00/hour incentive for every patient I could fit into an hour. I didn't end up taking the job because it seemed like they were more interested in getting clients than actually helping clients.

Colleen

 

[maxwells]

Hi Kristi --

I just posted over on the "Ask Cathe" forum about my own career change (in progress). I've done some research over the past 9 months or so regarding what I would need to get started, etc. Of course, an actual degree vs a certification is more impressive in my mind and allows you to have a little more credibility at the beginning of your new career. However, I'm not sure you have the desire to return to school for a number of years before starting something new. I know I didn't want to take that route. Also -- some gyms don't distinguish between the two when considering pay-rates (which seems unfair). Some of them only look at how many certifications you have rather than giving more weight to someone with a degree.

So I opted for a "Group Fitness" certification (through AFAA) and a "Personal Fitness Specialist" certification (through the Cooper Institute). I used to teach group fitness classes (for a few years) about 5 years ago. So that isn't new to me and has helped me a lot in getting my first job (things like phrasing, combination building, transitions, etc, take some practice and aren't things that you come away with by taking a certification course). I'm still trying to decide what to do with regard to the personal training thing (hours I want to work, where I want to work, if I want to be an employee or an independent contractor, how much to charge, etc). I have 3 possible opportunities right now and I'll just have to see how the interviews go before deciding some of the questions above.

Also -- I had planned to spend the next year getting started in the group fitness/personal training stuff and then switch to full-time by April 2005. However, if things move quickly...it may not be that long.

It seems that a lot of the credible certifying associations are now offering some "nutrition" specialist type-certifications which might be what you are looking for.

Oh...additionally, I have a personal trainer myself. He is actually the one who gave me the motivation to try it as a career. I hadn't considered it before simply because I didn't know I could make a living at it. But he has been great about answering lots of my questions and helping me to avoid mistakes. It has been really good for me to see how he works with me -- so then I will know how other trainers work with clients. So...if you have the financial means right now, you may want to get yourself a trainer for a few months.

Hope some of this helps!

Shonie

 

[kristi]

Thanks to all for your advice! I really appreciate it.

Shonie, sounds like you are planning your career very thoroughly. I really admire that and hope to do the same. I'm not sure yet if I want to go back to school. It is a very hard decision to make since I will still need to work full time while attending college along with family duties. I know it can be very challenging but doable. I'm checking out online colleges to see what they offer and see if there is a degree available for nutrition. Do you have a list of certifying associations that are offering "nutrition" specialty certifications? That is definitely something I would like to look into.

Thanks again for all of your help. I'm just trying to narrow my options down so I can make more informed decisions and plan where I would like my career path to go.

 

[maxwells]

Kristi --

As for nutrition-related certifications, I can't say for sure if any of the following are what you are looking for or whether they really focus on nutrition as much as you would want. I haven't actually taken these certifications so I can't give my opinion. I simply saw the description online and thought they might be interesting.

ACE offers a Lifestyle & Weight Management Consultant Certification. Their description of the certification says "demonstrates the requisite knowledge and skills to develop sound, balanced weight-management programs that bring together the three critical components of nutrition, exercise programming and behavior modification". So I'm not sure how much emphasis is placed on the nutrition part, but at least it is included.

AFAA offers an Advanced Personal Training Certification. They claim that the curriculum includes sports nutrition. They also offer a Fitness Practitioner certification that is their highest level of certification and includes nutritional education.

The Cooper Institute (www.cooperinst.org) offers a course (either on-site in Dallas or home-study) titled "Providing Dietary Guidance" that is a specialty certification. They describe it as "Our specialty certification in nutrition covers both fundamental aspects of nutrition as well as practical applications that will allow you to assess clients’ general dietary practices. Upon successful completion of coursework and proficiency testing, you will be able to give dietary guidance and general nutrition information to healthy adults for reducing disease risk and enhancing sports and fitness performance."

I was impressed with the Cooper Institute. I learned a lot more there than at the AFAA certification workshop.

One more thing -- I found an online book that has a lot of useful (practical) information on becoming a personal trainer. It was at FabJob.com. It was called "Become a Personal Trainer". It has a lot of pointers to other websites too. It was $14.95 which isn't bad for the amount of information it gives.

Hope some of this information helps!

Good luck planning your exciting new career!

Shonie

 

[kristi]

Shonie - Many Thanks!! You are definitely a gem!! It sounds like these are what I have been looking for.

I am so excited about doing something that I will enjoy and everyone's advice is certainly leading me in the right direction.

I can not thank everyone enough!!