Quintin Hitge, a 26-year-old from Durban, moved to Potchefstroom to study Sports Sciences at the NWU Potchefstroom campus. He is pursuing his dreams of becoming a fitness instructor.
During his studies, he took part in the University’s athletics and helped to train first-year students. As a fitness instructor, Quintin works with everyone in the gym and provides them with various fitness programmes. “Everyone gets a custom-designed programme, depending on their goals and age and on whether they have any injuries,” he says. The gym has a physiotherapist to help the gym clients with their injuries but the fitness instructor strengthens the muscles around it.
Quintin says a fitness instructor must be able to work with people and have insight into the various programmes for different clients. For example, if a person has diabetes, you need to know what you are doing when it comes to training. He says one of the things he doesn’t like about his job is when people are on holiday and no one shows up at the gym. He laughs as he compares this with the fitness frenzy when clients come back in January, after the December holidays.
Seeing the progress and results in their clients’ health is one of Quintin’s most rewarding experiences. His highlights are when clients come back after a month or so and give him positive feedback on the results. These clients often ask for a much more strenuous programme.
Daily Duties:
“When I get here, I walk around the gym to check if I can offer my assistance. I need to ensure that the people are okay and are exercising correctly. I provide programmes to the clients, take them through them and ensure that they apply the techniques correctly.
Requirements:
To be a qualified fitness instructor, one would have to meet the basic minimum requirements to study Sports Science. Coaching and developing, biokinetics and anatomy are important modules in the course.
Promotional opportunities:
A fitness instructor can become a personal trainer. “That is what I am working towards, hopefully in a few months. If you like helping people and enjoy helping them get into shape, this is the job for you,” he says emphatically.
