10 Skills You’ll Gain From Studying a Cert 3 in Fitness (And the Career Paths You Can Take)

If you’re considering studying a cert 3 in fitness, you’ve probably been wondering what you’ll be learning about. Since a cert 3 in fitness is a foundational certificate, it covers a wide variety of areas from first aid to basic anatomy and even instructing children's movement programs (such as sports or game-based exercise). On top of this, there is a range of career paths that you can prepare yourself for.

Now without further ado, let’s jump into the 10 skills you will learn!

1. First aid

One of the first skills you’ll learn in the cert 3 fitness program is first aid. First aid is a handy skill to know as you go about your daily life, but it’s crucial on the gym floor. You never know when a gym member will overexert themselves during a lift or simply make an injury-causing mistake. Knowing first aid will ensure that you can respond to the situation and potentially save a life in drastic situations.

2. Instructing fitness routines

Having a cert 3 in fitness will teach you how to instruct gym members on the correct way to do exercises. You’ll also be able to create general programs for gym members or clients depending on their goals. Instructing fitness programs is one of the most important skills you will learn because this is how the people you work with will see their results.

3. How to interact with clients

If you work in a client-facing job customer service is a crucial skill that you’ll need to master. As a cert 3 fitness graduate, you’ll learn all about dealing with clients and how to manage their expectations. Having this skill is important as your actions will reflect on the company you work for.

4. Accommodating older clients

During your studies, you’ll learn how to tweak your fitness programming to match older clients. As you can probably guess, you wouldn’t be able to use the same program for a young adult as you would for an elderly client. Knowing how to pivot your programming will help you accommodate many types of clients which is a valuable skill to have—especially if you want to start your own personal training business.

5. Promote healthy living and accommodate special populations

As a cert 3 fitness graduate, you need to be a promoter of healthy living. You’ll learn how to encourage gym members and clients to adopt better eating, exercise and general health habits. On top of this, you’ll also learn how to accommodate special clients such as those who have a disability.

6. Awareness of human anatomy

During your studies, you’ll also cover basic human anatomy. You’ll learn about all the major bones and muscles in the body as well as how they work together for certain exercises. Once you have this knowledge, you’ll be able to create better programs for clients depending on their specific anatomy or injuries.

7. Provide healthy eating information

While general health promotion encompasses all the daily habits people can change, healthy eating plays an especially important role. With the correct healthy eating knowledge, you’ll be able to point clients in the right direction depending on their fitness goals.

8. Initial consultations, screens and fitness testing

Once you complete your cert 3 in fitness you’ll be equipped to tackle consultations, screens and general fitness testing. These tasks are all integral for new gym members or clients, especially those who are just getting started on their fitness journey.

Knowing how to effectively carry out these tasks will ensure that any new members and clients will be starting exactly where they need to. This knowledge will help them avoid injury and prevent them from getting discouraged if they’re not as fit as they thought they were.

9. Instruct group exercise sessions

As a cert 3 fitness graduate, you can begin instructing fitness programs. Gym instructors will usually teach group classes such as spin (cycling), circuit training or even dance classes. Popular examples include the Les Mills brand of group training, but you’ll likely need to implement your own programs as well.

10. Instruct children’s movement programs

Finally, you’ll learn how to create programs tailored to children. Some examples of these programs include sports or fun games and activities that involve some form of physical activity.

What career paths can you take after graduating with a cert 3 in fitness?

There are a few common paths you can take after graduating with your cert 3 in fitness. These paths include becoming a gym instructor, membership consultant, or personal trainer.

Let’s dive into them below.

Gym Instructor

Becoming a gym instructor is the most common path for cert 3 fitness graduates. Gym instructors are like gym floor supervisors and usually take part in a range of work activities.

These activities include:

• General customer service for members and clients

• Cleaning the gym floor and making sure members are okay

• Instructing exercise programs and group training

• Creating exercise programs

• Initial client consultations, screens and assessments

Membership Consultant

Membership consultants are mostly involved in bringing new clients into the gym. This role is more sales based than other roles in the gym but it can be just as rewarding as you can be the difference between someone starting their fitness journey or not.

Typical activities include:

• Showing potential members around the gym

• Liaising with people who have contacted the gym about membership

• Initial client consultations and screens

• Creating exercise programs (This task isn’t always applicable but giving away free programs could increase the number of members you sign up.)

Personal Trainer

While this role requires further study after your cert 3 in fitness, you’ll be on the right track for it. To become a personal trainer you’ll need to complete a cert 4 in fitness which will give you more specialised knowledge about training clients and helping them achieve their fitness goals.

Typical personal training tasks include:

• Initial consultation sessions such as goal setting, fitness testing and measuring key health metrics

• Creating personalised exercise plans for clients

• Scheduling and instructing one-on-one exercise sessions

• Creating tailored nutrition programs

There you have it! Now you know about the skills you’ll learn as well as the potential careers you can find yourself in after graduation. So what are you waiting for? Get started on your cert 3 fitness education today!