When you need to continue your personal training education, the sheer amount of available information can be overwhelming. How do you know if a course is worth the time and money? Will it help you reach your goals and build your client base?

At Gray Institute®, we’ve been educating movement professionals for more than 40 years. Throughout our history, we’ve gained a unique perspective on what makes a personal training course truly great. Here are a few critical factors to look for when you’re scheduling your next continuing education class.

The Best Training Programs Have a Strong Reputation and Values

At Gray Institute, we honor individuality – both in how we approach movement science and how we relate to our professionals. We know that every trainer has their own professional journey, and you deserve an education that reflects your specific needs and goals.

Before investing in a personal training course, you should do your research. We would encourage you to:

  • Learn about the organization’s history and values
  • Read reviews and testimonials from past professionals
  • Assess its theoretical approach by reading its blog and published articles
  • Review its team’s credentials and experience

Ideally, you want to get training from an organization with a clear mission, world-class educators, and a long history of empowering their professionals. If you’re not excited to work with an organization, due to the quality of their instructors, point of view, and commitment to their professionals, the organization probably isn’t a good match.

The Training Organization Offers Courses With Remarkable Depth and Detail

No one wants to go to a continuing education program that simply spews out information you already know. Sure, these simple courses will provide you with CEUs, but they won’t make you a better trainer or help you grow your business.

Look for training courses that push your boundaries and offer you powerful information. For example, our courses all incorporate knowledge from the fields of physical, biological, and behavioral science. You may not have touched a physics textbook since high school, but our educators will show you how the science applies to the human body. We also explore how our body’s parts work together, rather than in isolation – giving our professionals an innovative perspective on human anatomy and movement.

When you gain new perspectives and evidence-based training, you build a strong foundation that will help you develop more effective, personalized workouts for your clients.

Focus on Value, Not Price

While price is important, it’s best to fully consider a course’s costs and benefits. If you’re spending time and money on a training program, it should make you a better personal trainer – not just satisfy a CEU requirement. A low-cost course that doesn’t teach you anything is a waste of your time and resources.

You are investing in yourself when you take a training course. We encourage trainers to choose a high-value course with a robust curriculum, rather than easy-to-get through content. We know you’re up to the challenge! Plus, the higher value course will probably offer you a wealth of information, resources, and industry contacts.

Ask Yourself: Does the Course Teach You How to Learn, or Just What to Learn?

Not every client will be a fitness junkie who wants to take their workouts to the next level or develop a more powerful golf swing. Many will need help recovering range of motion after surgery, staying active as they age, or reducing joint pain. A good personal training course will prepare you to evaluate their progress and address their individual needs, rather than teaching you to squeeze unique clients into cookie-cutter workouts.

Even if you’re looking for a specialization course, you still need to know how to train diverse clientele. At Gray Institute, we teach our students how to observe their clients, apply the truths of Applied Functional Science®, and craft customized workouts that target each client’s unique goals and capabilities.

RELATED: What Is 3DMAPS®?

Need Personal Training CEUs and a Fresh Perspective? Discover 3DMAPS

If you are a personal trainer who’s committed to excellence and training clients based on the truths of the human body, the Gray Institute 3DMAPS course is a great place to start. Offered as both an online and live course, 3DMAPS explores how the human body moves on three planes of motion and how movement professionals can create more effective individual coaching and workout plans. Plus, it’s CEU eligible!

Gray Institute: Building Better Workouts for Over 40 Years

At Gray Institute, we believe that personal training should never be cookie-cutter. Each client is unique, and when you have the tools to understand, assess, and evaluate their movements, you can deliver lasting results. That’s why we look at the body as a series of chain reactions, rather than individual parts moving in isolation. This perspective informs everything we do and has produced results that speak for themselves.

To learn more about our 3DMAPS, or to get more information on how Gray Institute can transform your personal training work, please fill out our simple online contact form and someone will get in touch with you soon!