Program

Associate of Applied Science in Fitness Management

Hocking College’s Fitness Management program provides you with training for employment in the fitness industry – from fitness trainer and strength conditioning coach to manager of a fitness facility. You will gain skills necessary for personal as well as group fitness assessment and training as you prepare for national certification through the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA), the American Council on Exercise (ACE) and/or the National Council of Strength and Fitness (NCSF). First aid and cardiopulmonary resuscitation certification are included as part of the program with additional lifeguard and aerobic certification available.

This program also provides you with the skills needed to operate your own personal training business. You will develop a business and fitness plan and competencies needed to succeed as a professional trainer, as well as a professional portfolio of required legal, business, equipment, and human relation forms. We will also provide you with the business skills required to manage a fitness facility including customer safety and satisfaction, retention, and operating principles.

The program concludes with a 300-hour off-campus internship program at a fitness or wellness center. Here you will have an opportunity to apply your fitness knowledge to a real-world setting.

Program Outcomes

The following outcomes are skills, behaviors, and attitudes cultivated in students seeking an Associate of Applied Science in Fitness Management:

• Create a portfolio of in-demand skills required in the fitness and recreation industry;
• Demonstrate ability to obtain complete fitness assessments that include the following: body composition, flexibility, cardiorespiratory, and muscular strength and endurance;
• Design safe, appropriate and effective exercise programs that incorporate the five components of fitness (cardiorespiratory, flexibility, body composition, and muscular strength and endurance) while adhering to proper prescription guidelines (frequency, intensity, type, time, and enjoyment) that are based on the client’s fitness level, goals and special considerations;
• Describe the benefits, limitations, and anatomical and physiological responses to flexibility and design appropriate warm-up and developmental plans using active, passive, dynamic Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation (PNF) stretches for all body parts;
• Demonstrate proper techniques for lifting and spotting resistance training exercises on free weights and machine apparatuses while ensuring proper breathing and use of weight belts and supporting equipment;
• Develop resistance training programs that incorporate needs analysis, exercise selection, training frequency, exercise order, training load and repetitions, volume and rest period for various populations, skill levels and training experience;
• Research business and management principles required for a successful modern fitness facility and recommend appropriate customer safety, satisfaction and retention measures;
• Present the four periods of a traditional periodization model to include the three preparatory phases and then design conditioning programs for various populations;
• Identify the coronary heart disease risk factors (both threshold and mechanistic classifications) and provide strategies to reduce cardiovascular disease; and,
• Prepare a basic business plan required to start a personal trainer business that includes market analysis, services offered, management style, feasibility and marketing plan.

Curriculum

• 2011 Transition
• 2012 Curriculum

Career Opportunities

Endless employment opportunities exist in the fitness industry. Graduates of the Hocking College Fitness Management Program find employment as personal trainers, strength and conditioning coaches or group exercise teachers in both private business and established facilities, commercial and corporate facilities, and community and recreational settings.

Occupational Profile

Hocking College Career Services