Jobs for fitness trainer and instructors continue to increase due to individuals wanting to make healthier changes to their lifestyle for better overall wellness. With more people making commitments to better personal health and fitness, the need for fitness professionals to know First Aid also increases. Here are some reasons that fitness professionals should get a certification for First Aid:
1. Increasing fitness can sometimes increase your risk of injury. Doing an intense cardio session or lifting heavy weights can sometimes cause injury to clients. We have all witnessed a potential risk for injury at the gym. Someone falling off a treadmill or trying to lift weights that are too heavy are all potential factors that may require First Aid from a fitness professional.
2. First Aid provides lifelong usable skills. Knowing First Aid is something you can benefit from for a lifetime. Healthy habits for life include not just fitness or nutrition, but knowing how to take care of yourself and keeping healthy, too. Knowing First Aid can prevent a minor issue from becoming a big issue.
3. Accidents happen sometimes, especially with children. If you are training with children or coaching them with kid sports nutrition, then you know how clumsy kids can sometimes be. Knowing First Aid and how to administer it correctly can help parents feel at ease letting their children train with you. It could be a pulled muscle, a sprained ankle, or a minor cut or scrape from a fall on the sidewalk. Whatever the accident may be, knowing First Aid will help you be prepared for anything.
4. Fitness is a yearlong commitment and so is the need for First Aid that supports it. Runners for example, rarely take a season off. Running, like many other activities, is a year round sport. You will be outside regardless of what month it is or what the temperature is. Runners expose themselves to possible heat exhaustion and heat stroke in the summer and the possibility of hypothermia in the winter. Knowing First Aid keeps you prepared for all sports and all possibilities for any medical situation.
5. High-intensity workouts sometimes need an instructor that is just as tough with their First Aid skills. Kickboxing trainers have noted that sometimes hitting punching bags at the wrong angle can break or sprain a finger or joint. Contact sports such as martial arts fitness deal with injuries quite often. Knowing how to administer First Aid correctly in these unique settings can also help you grow your career as a fitness professional in the health and fitness industry.
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