A sports nutrition certification will set you apart from your peers and competition. It reassures your clients and shows your level of commitment to gain skills to ensure they get the best. You also guide them in developing healthy habits, including a combination of a healthy diet and supplements and fitness.
Part of sports nutrition entails understanding the different food groups and how they affect one’s fitness level. With this information, you guide clients in choosing nutrition-dense foods and meal preparation to ensure they get maximum benefits from each food. You also get to learn how nutrition and exercise interact and affect each other and how to assess a client’s nutritional needs and give proper guidance. Below we explore the various benefits of sports nutrition certification from American Sports & Fitness Association for personal trainers.
Sports Nutrition Certification Gives You Credibility and Respect in the Industry
As a certified sports nutritionist, you get the most prestigious certification in sports nutrition. Some of the units taught during the certification include nutrition and exercise strategies for weight management and other advanced topics in sports management. Others include functions of vitamins and minerals from a clinical and physiological perspective and practice on sports nutrition. During the practicum, you plan and implement a sports nutrition program, have a case study on a community member, and proceed to have a complete assessment. This prepares you to serve your clients with confidence.
You Get a Better Understanding of Sports Nutrition
Sports nutrition is slightly different from general nutrition meant for the masses, considering it goal-oriented. It is combined with exercise and, at times, supplements to achieve a specific need that a client has in mind. You also get to learn what foods give optimal results. This prepares you as a personal nutritionist and trainer where you can give a personalized approach to each client. For instance, bodybuilders take raw eggs to maximize the protein intake; this may not work for a middle-aged woman who needs to lose a few kilos.
Better Career Prospects
Sports nutrition certification gives you better career prospects as a personal trainer. You can venture into the fitness business as an owner since you have a better understanding of the industry. You may choose to become a sports nutritionist, online nutritional coach, personal fitness nutritionist, or an elite fitness coach. The certification gains you respect as a practitioner and as a well sought-after expert. It may also come with other advantages such as being invited to give talks, engagement as a part-time lecturer, board membership, and other benefits.
Increased Revenue Streams
Sports nutrition certification can open many avenues that enable you to increase your revenue streams. Through personal training, you guide clients online since not everyone can have a one-on-one engagement. As an expert, you can also author books on sports nutrition and meal preparation. These include EBooks that you sell online or give freely on the condition that a client signs up.
You can also use other content creation avenues to educate the masses, such as blogging, speaking engagements, videos, and podcasts which have proven to be great avenues to share value and get paid through endorsements and other monetization avenues.
As a sports nutritionist, you help your clients shape up through the gym and give them valuable information on what to eat for maximum benefits. As a reward, you have better career prospects and income.