Every fitness professional will have their own demographics in their facility, but the following are some educational areas that seem to be expanding the usual certification channels while remaining in the scope of practice.  

Medical Fitness Specializations. Not to replace professional recommendations, these new certifications allow the trainer to have the knowledge to communicate and work in tandem with the client’s medical care provider, especially since a healthy fitness program is usually recommended. Diabetes, cardiovascular disease, chronic fatigue and blood pressure specializations are just a few that have specific parameters for the trainer to be educated in for their clients.  

Nutritional Coaching. These specializations allow the fitness professional to take their nutritional programs beyond calorie counting and menus. Becoming certified in areas such as fitness cooking, weight loss coaching, metabolic testing and even ergogenic sports nutrition are all areas that now have credentialling available while staying outside the medical practices of registered dieticians.  

Wellness Coaching. Wellness is a broad stroke of a multitude of areas needed to create a complete lifestyle change for your clients. The current research has created specific specializations in the areas such a mindset performance, goal planning assessments, assisted stretching, percussion gun application, motivational interviewing, mindset performance and even certifications in sleep programming. Adding these tools to the fitness professional’s repertoire allows for a truly complete program that will affect the client even outside the gym.  

As with all specializations, research the industry credibility when selecting a customized certification. Be careful to stay within the scope of practice, even when marketing. The fitness professional will benefit greatly from these customized credentials, especially when communicate with professionals in that particular field. This will gain not only trust, but also referrals, allowing for another avenue in which to stand out as true provider in the field.