Published January 2004

EvCC, EdCC
offer programs
for personal trainers

By Kimberly Hilden
SCBJ Assistant Editor

As a health club owner and manager in the mid-1980s, Jay DelVecchio was fed up with hiring “certified” personal trainers who lacked hands-on experience to help his clientele.

In those days, there were a number of “one-day, crash-course” certification seminars, said DelVecchio, who was tired of having to “baby-sit them for six months” while the personal trainers developed their ability to work with clients one-on-one, perform fitness assessments and create personal fitness plans.

So the Virginia man put together a regional, six-week certification program that offered textbook work and lectures on anatomy, exercise physiology, nutrition, musculoskeletal injuries, health screening, communication and legal guidelines as well as hands-on training.

“When I went to some of the national (fitness) conventions, I told them what we were doing at a regional level, and they wanted us to expand the program,” DelVecchio said.

In 1995, the World Instructor Training Schools, or WITS, was launched to do just that.

Today, the WITS personal trainer certification program is held at 150 sites nationally, with a number more overseas, said DelVecchio, WITS vice president of operations.

Since fall 2002, WITS personal trainer certification has been offered at Everett Community College, and it was added to Edmonds Community College’s continuing education offerings this past summer.

WITS selects host sites based on their reputation, longevity and good rapport with the community, DelVecchio said.

When EvCC was approached by WITS, the college did some research of its own to gauge possible demand, said Karen Landry, program manager for continuing education.

“We did our own survey of five different gyms from Bellingham to south Seattle, asking them how they hired their trainers and what kind of credentials they required, and almost all of them, if not all, required them to come in with some sort of certification.

“... There seemed that there was a high demand for the certification, and there was nothing like it in the area,” she added.

According to IDEA Health & Fitness Association, an international group of health and fitness professionals, personal fitness training is among the strongest growth segments of the fitness industry.

Between 1991 and 1998, IDEA’s personal trainer membership category grew by more than 800 percent, from 791 to more than 8,000, according to the group’s Web site, www.ideafit.com.

DelVecchio has noticed the growing demand as well.

“We run 10 personal training courses for every one of the group exercise or aqua or senior fitness (certification) courses,” DelVecchio said of WITS, whose course offerings have grown over the years.

At both EvCC and EdCC, the 36-hour certification course has run from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. (with a lunch break in between) once a week, usually on weekends, for six weeks, with the last class reserved for WITS’ national certification exam.

The course offers students a 10-to-1, student-to-instructor ratio, DelVecchio said, “and that’s maxing it. If there are more students, we bring in another instructor.”

“Courses are offered quarterly, at least one time per quarter,” Landry said. “We did do two at one time because it filled up so fast, so we opened another class.”

Beginning in the winter quarter, EvCC also is adding WITS’ three-hour continuing education workshops for personal trainers, Landry said, as well as senior fitness certification.

For more information on WITS personal trainer certification, call 888-330-9487 or go online to www.witseducation.com.

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