The Acquisition and Development of Fitness Trainers' Professional Knowledge

Abstract

This study investigated the acquisition and development of fitness trainers' knowledge and how this is related to their practice as health and exercise professionals. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 11 fitness trainers, who had successfully completed a course accredited by a Register of Exercise Professionals (REPs) certifying organization. Findings were organized using Coombs and Ahmed's conceptual framework of formal, nonformal, and informal learning and later analyzed using Sfard's metaphors of learning. Results suggested that fitness trainers learn in multiple and complex ways, many of which are informal and arise through the naturalistic processes that occur within the context of their everyday work. The study concludes that there is a need for greater integration between the current formal (REPs) accreditation system and informal knowledge developed while working as a fitness trainer.

Embodying Industrial Knowledge: An Epistemological Approach to the Formation of Body Knowledge in the Fitness Industry

“…De Lyon and Cushion (2013) concluded that fitness employers attribute greater value to industrial knowledge and are less likely to acknowledge the benefits of higher education courses. Similarly, fitness trainers expressed their need to develop industrial knowledge as part of their occupational skills (De Lyon & Cushion, 2013). Profit-making, as the core of industrial knowledge, is a value tacitly adopted through working in the business-driven environments of health clubs.…”

“…When fitness instructors have limited possibilities to form or apply their own personal knowledge in their classes, they are steered to materialize industrial fitness knowledge through their bodies. De Lyon and Cushion's (2013) findings indicate that fitness instructors who work within highly restrictive gym environments have limited opportunities for career progression and off-the-job training, as well as a reduced sense of personal and professional development. From Mansfield's (2011b) perspectives on gendered power mechanisms, the heteronormativity of industrial fitness culture has important material effects on the ways in which bodies have been constituted, affecting both their present capacities as well as their future potential.…”

“…Fewer epistemological discussions of physical activities are framed by the economic interests of the sports and fitness industry. Furthermore, several studies have indicated that the body can provide the dominant site of knowing for fitness professionals (De Lyon & Cushion, 2013;Markula, 2004). Although scholars in a variety of disciplines have engaged in epistemological discussions of body knowledge (Bresler, 2004;Evans et al, 2004;Johnson, 1991;Malmsten, 2000;Matthews, 1998;Oliver & Lalik, 2000;Sheets-Johnstone, 1999;Todd, 2001), theoretically grounded rigorous conceptualisations for analyzing body knowledge are limited, and the problem of how to classify the notions of both "body" and "knowledge" in the context of physical exercise remains.…”

“…My epistemological approach to body knowledge in this paper is built on phenomenological and feminist discussions on embodiment (Merleau-Ponty, 1962;Grosz, 1994), a recent epistemological discussion on physical activity (Stolz, 2014), and feminist research on women's fitness (Kennedy & Markula, 2011). This research aims to provide a " suitable platform for examining "industrial knowledge," remaining aware that such projects have often been undertaken in organizational contexts and management studies (De Lyon & Cushion, 2013). My purpose is to analyze how mainly tacit, invisible, and hidden industrial knowledge might become embodied through the performances of fitness professionals.…”

“…In this sense, the lived body becomes a key factor in understanding how industrial fitness knowledge is transmitted and reproduced in the performance of fitness trainers. Drawing upon empirical research on group fitness instructors and trainers (De Lyon & Cushion, 2013;Felstead, Fuller, Jewson, Kakavelakis, & Unwin, 2007;Lloyd, 2008;Malek, Nalbone, Berger, & Colburn 2002;Mansfield, 2011aMansfield, , 2011bMelton, Katula, & Mustian 2008;Smith Maguire, 2008), my analysis focuses on the businessdriven work environment that imposes demands in the form of specific skills and approaches to fitness service delivery.…”