The most common mistake when teaching beginners

Yes, this buff dude was a beginner kettlebeller on this day!

The #1 most common mistake when teaching beginners is forgetting how difficult it is to learn the earliest progressions of a skill.

Lets take the simple example of putting the arms overhead like you do in any yoga pose.

Ask an untrained person to put their arms overhead with no further directions.  They will put their arms overhead and you will see them almost universally shrug their shoulders towards their ears.  So they need to be taught not to lift their shoulders when putting the arms overhead.

As you fix the shoulders you see that their arms starts to bend at elbow (shoulders and arms are connected).  You fix the elbow bend and straighten out their arms, teaching the student to flex at the elbow.

Then you notice that the students palms are facing forward.  You have the student turn the palms to face each other

You see that the students gaze is towards the floor so you adjust it to a forward gaze.

You notice that while you are giving all these corrections that the student is sort of holding her breath, so you remind her to never stop breathing.

So here we are teaching the simplest movement in the world, putting the arms overhead in a yoga pose, and there are at least 5 things that can go wrong for a beginner.     As a teacher you need to recognize the importance of fixing these simple things before you take the student further. You also need to understand that you may have to fix these elements multiple times during practice before the student does it properly on their own.

Teachers need to remember that students come to you with at least some level of anxiety because they are practicing something new.   An experienced teacher is able to put their own frustration-triggers aside so they do not compound the anxiety of a new student.  Your patience needs to be nearly unlimited and it is important that the student never sees you frustrated.

Should you do a trainer certification?

Should you get certified as a trainer?
 
Reasons for becoming certified.

Reason #1 - You want to  get a job at a commercial gym.  If you want to work at LA Fitness or a higher end gym like Equinox you will 100% need to be certified.    The NASM certification is the gold standard for personal trainers in private gyms.  ACE is less expensive and is enough for some gyms to hire you.

Reason #2 - To insure your own gym business.  If you want to insure/bond your personal training business you will be required to prove that you did some sort of certification in the past year or are planning to do one in the next 30 days.

Reason #3 - Meet experienced role model teachers.  This is specific to in-person niche certifications like kettlebell, olympic lifting or crossfit certifications.  You can often meet the best in the field at these certs because niche modalities have small followings and easy-to-access leaders.

Reason #4  - Personal satisfaction  Some people like collecting certifications for whatever personal reason.  You do not necessarily have to be a full-time professional trainer to get certified.  As a matter of fact I am convinced that most of the people I know with a long list of certifications are often hobbyist trainers and have not booked any significant amounts of money training clients.

Reasons to NOT get certified?

Prospective students NEVER (95%+)  ask you about your certification.

When you sign up a client at a commercial/group-class gym they are joining because they like the teachers personality and the atmosphere of the gym.

When it comes to private training people sign up with you because they like your references, personality and whether or not you inspire them.   You get people in the door by being a living example of what you teach and whether or not you are certified makes little difference to them.  

You can demonstrate your competence as a teacher through social media 
Post a few years of videos different types of students succeeding at your gym in your modality and you have basically proven yourself as a teacher.