Tomorrow’s the big day… At one o’clock, I’ll be sitting down to take the ACE Certified Personal Trainer Certification Exam. As I fret and worry and spend these last few hours cramming, in the back of my brain I’ve been wondering, What was I thinking?! Here’s how I feel when I think about the test:
Deciding to become a certified personal trainer went hand in hand with starting this website. It all started when I was upset, embarrassed, and ashamed by the way I was treated by a personal trainer at a local gym. After I dried my tears (and talked to my mom!), I remember thinking: There has to be a better way to help fat people who want to get fit.
Now that over a year has gone by, I can say that I’m very glad I made the decision to start writing BFD. I’m not sure if the certification thing was also a smart choice, however. The studying has been very difficult and overwhelming. Not only am I not very good at remembering things to do with anatomy and physiology, but a lot of the content in my study materials annoys and offends me.
First of all, I’m not going to get hired by a gym and have already athletic people want me to train them, and yet I have to learn how to do that for this certification. Rather, I want to work with people who aren’t comfortable walking into a gym in the first place – because they feel ashamed, embarrassed, and unwelcome, just like I felt last year. You would think gyms and personal trainers would be welcoming of people who are just starting on their fitness journey, even (especially!) when they are fat. But a lot of fat people very quickly discover that while society wants us to not be fat anymore, they don’t us to be seen trying to get there.
Second, the books talk over and over about how to help clients permanently lose weight. Oh, sure, they acknowledge that it’s difficult, but like most diet culture, they say “people seem to have a hard time keeping weight off.” I’m paraphrasing here, but you get the gist: It’s the fatties’ fault that we can’t stay skinny. Obviously, we’re just not trying hard enough. Really? No mention that over the past 500 years of trying, no one has been able to figure out how to get people to permanently lose weight? I guess that means all those millions of people who’ve tried and “failed” were just all lazy and undisciplined.
Most interesting: One of my study books talks a lot about how each of us has a genetic predisposition for how fit we can become. Meaning you can increase your fitness to a certain level (and for some people, that’s a really high level), and then you level off. Okay, that makes sense. But why doesn’t this idea of genetic predisposition also apply to our body composition? Oh, no, that’s ridiculous! If you can’t stay skinny forever, that’s your failing, nothing to do with your genetics.
Anyway, back to my exam. I honestly don’t know if I can pass it. I’ve dedicated a lot of time, effort, and brain power to studying. I’ve memorized programming progressions for both muscle strength and endurance and cardiovascular training. I’ve learned about training special populations, how to build rapport, and the name of that muscle on the side of your back (latissimus dorsi, in case you were wondering). I’ve learned a ton of things that I’ll probably never put into practice. And hopefully, tomorrow I’ll be able to regurgitate it all and get a passing score.
If I don’t? I very much doubt I will try taking the exam again. I don’t think the stress or the financial cost would be worth it to me, at least not at this stage of my life. I’ll probably take a different path, one that helps to spread my message about health, happiness, and fitness for all, not just if you’re skinny. Life coaching, maybe? One thing is for certain: Big Fit Deal will continue. Thanks for coming along on this journey with me so far. It’s been a big fit adventure, eh?
