Health & Fitness Continuing Education Workshops and Certifications

Metabolic Syndrome has been described as a health crisis hiding in plain sight (Metabolic Syndrome Canada). It consists of a combination of visceral obesity, hypertension, insulin resistance, a poor cholesterol profile and elevated blood triglycerides. Approximately 1 in 5 Canadians have this disease and, unfortunately, most do not even know about it. Left untreated, this condition results in diabetes, cardiovascular disease and a multitude of other serious complications that contribute to 17% of all health care costs in Canada and 43% of deaths.
Are you ready to join in the fight? This workshop will provide you with a foundation of knowledge about this condition and appropriate exercise prescriptions so that you are able to help your clients as they walk away from Metabolic Syndrome and towards a healthier future.

Virtual fitness services have revolutionized our industry and are now part of our reality. Discover the mistakes to avoid and biggest revelations to success. Whether you’ve already made the transition to virtual or have recently decided to pursue your career with a hybrid version of your services, you’ll take away a multitude of tips to use immediately so that you and your clients can thrive in virtual!

The focus of this session is on adherence and self-sabotage. Do you know why people do what they do? Explore human behaviour and how it relates to your clients and class participants who are either super-committed or self-sabotaging. The better you understand people, the more you will create relationships and have lifelong fans. We will explore elements of human psychology, neuro-linguistic programming, and spiral dynamics amongst other areas. If you’ve ever wondered why people do what they do (including you), this will be a fascinating and informative session that will help you take your teaching and training to a whole other level.

With the overwhelming amount of nutrition information that floods our newsfeeds every day, it can be difficult to know just how to eat right and how to answer clients who ask for advice. This 3-hour course with anti-diet dietician Robin Glance will empower you with accurate, up-to-date information to help understand the basic nutritional needs of the human body in order to best guide your clients with their health goals and to recognize that healthy eating should never include restriction or deprivation, but rather, providing the body with the right amount of nutrients and loving what we eat. Topics will include: Nutrition when and what: Meal timing and balance - Exercise nutrition: What the body requires before, during and after movement - Warning Signs: recognizing unhealthy food behaviors and when to refer to a nutrition professional (or... when to refer your client to a dietician)

In this workshop, we will explore the fascinating world of running, from a fast 100m sprint to a long and gruelling 42.2km marathon. You will learn the different stages of creating a running program as well as the importance of periodization. Basic techniques to maximize your performance and minimize your effort will be discussed as well as proper cadence and stride length. With this workshop, you will have a better understanding of the importance of proper biomechanics; from heel strikers to forefoot strikers, to the new fad of barefoot running. By the end of the workshop you will be able to design a safe and progressive running program for any distance.

During this workshop, participants will learn what to eat before, during and after aerobic and anaerobic training to improve their athletic performance and recovery. We will also look at whether or not some supplements, such as protein, caffeine and creatine powders really boost performance and if so, how to use them.

When it comes to training or giving a fitness class to pregnant women, you may have a few questions. How do the movements affect the mother and baby’s health? How do you encourage them to be active while preventing diastasis recti ? Are there movements that are dangerous for the baby? What movements should you avoid? What about the pelvic floor? This workshop will address beliefs and behaviours with regards to fitness during pregnancy. You will also learn about the risks and benefits of exercise for pregnant women who are healthy, pregnant women with pathological conditions and post-partum women. Finally, you will look at different exercise recommendations for these populations.

This six-hour gap course for trainers with existing YMCA Canada Individual Conditioning Certification to upgrade/update their certification to YMCA Canada Personal Trainer has been developed. This course can also be taken to obtain continuing education credits for all the FIT certifications.

This six-hour gap course for trainers with existing YMCA Canada Individual Conditioning Certification to upgrade/update their certification to YMCA Canada Personal Trainer has been developed. This course can also be taken to obtain continuing education credits for all the FIT certifications.

This six-hour gap course for trainers with existing YMCA Canada Individual Conditioning Certification to upgrade/update their certification to YMCA Canada Personal Trainer has been developed. This course can also be taken to obtain continuing education credits for all the FIT certifications.

This 42-hour theoretical and practical specialty course will provide you with the tools required to evaluate and train clients according to their individual needs. This course includes postural assessment, muscle and joint testing, and the application of basic functional tests. These skills provide the trainer with a more accurate blueprint for the strength and conditioning needs of his/her clients. Athletic, injured, and de-conditioned clients will benefit greatly from corrective conditioning programs. Pre-Requisites: YMCA FIT or College or University Education in related field. This workshop is given in english.