An Athletic Trainer is Not Your Personal Trainer
PERSONAL TRAINER (CPT)
Who Are They
According to www.acsm.org, a personal trainer is a fitness professional.
Education and Training
Personal trainers have less strict educational requirements than an athletic trainer. Minimum requirements to obtain a CPT are to be 18 years or older, a high school graduate, and legal CPR/ AED certification. They may obtain their certification and education online from accredited organizations, such as www.nasm.org/. They may also obtain their diploma or associates degree at an accredited institution.
Where Do They Work
Personal trainers are often found in gyms where they instruct and train individuals, who are usually healthy and non-athletes. They may also be asked to make personal visits to a client's home for a training session. They may even own their own personal studio or gym and run their own fitness regime.
What Do They Do
These professionals work with individuals whom they train in areas of fitness, overall health, and better eating habits. Personal trainers teach their clients how to properly weight-lift, proper aerobic techniques, adequate nutritional and caloric intake needs. CPTs individualize each program and work closely with their clients to assess and meet their goals.
ATHLETIC TRAINER (ATC)
Who Are They
The National Athletic Trainers' Association recognizes an athletic trainer to be a certified health care professional.
Education and Training
The NATA states that ATCs must attend an accredited institution, graduate with a bachelor's or master's degree. They must pass the Board of Certification (BOC) test and earn a number of continuing education units (CEUs) each year after certification.
Athletic training students (ATSs) study human anatomy and physiology, nutrition, assessment of injuries, therapeutic exercise, therapeutic modalities, exercise physiology, biomechanics, among other topics. ATSs are required to participate in clinical hours in order to sit for the BOC exam. Clinical time is spent gaining a valuable experience and gives the student ample room to display skills on patients, while overseen by an ATC and doctor.
Where Do They Work
Athletic trainers may work in a number of locations ranging from hospitals to corporate offices to professional sports to the circus. However the most common places ATCs may be found are in high schools and physical therapy clinics, working largely with the athletic population.
Unfortunately, only 42% of high schools have employed athletic trainers, as reported by www.usatoday.com. High school athletes especially need ATCs present because these individuals are still developing physically and mentally and are still learning the basic skills of playing sports. This leaves them open to experiencing more acute or emergency injuries.
What Do They Do
Athletic Trainers, as stated by the NATA, specialize in prevention, assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of chronic and acute injuries. They are part of a sports medicine team, working closely with doctors, physical therapists, athletic training students, coaches, athletes or patients, and/ or parents.
ATCs in the athletic setting often work various or long hours in multitudes of different weather on the field, court, or arena. They also must depend on their skills and training and available equipment to treat athletes. Therefore, athletic trainers must possess critical thinking skills, and rapid ones at that, in times of emergency.
It is often misconceived that athletic trainers and personal trainers are the same. Although they may require an overlap in training and knowledge, both entail particularly different job descriptions. Athletic trainers are noted health care providers and must deal with more emergency situation and athletic injuries whereas personal trainers deal more so with fitness training of the healthy population. So it's safe to say that the athletic trainer is not your personal trainer!
American College of Sports Medicine. 2007. www.acsm.org
Gary Mihoces. 2008. www.usatoday.com/
National Academy of Sports Medicine. 2010. www.nasm.org/
National Athletic Trainers' Association. 2010. www.nata.org/
PayScale. 2010. www.payscale.com/
Published by Britt
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- An athletic trainer is not a personal trainer.
- An athletic trainer is a certified health care professional.
- A personal trainer is a fitness professional.