Fitness and Health Promotion Professionals Assist Entire Communities

  • Added:
    Jan 17, 2014
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Fitness and Health Promotion Professionals Assist Entire Communities Photo by Pamela Wendell

Imagine being the person who helps someone make healthy lifestyle choices that will reduce or prevent the occurrence of acute and chronic diseases by providing professional fitness assessments, recommendations for health and fitness exercise regimes and strategies to meet their health and wellness goals. It is possible with training from Centennial College's Fitness and Health Promotion program. This offering, which is completed through two years of training, employs practical learning in laboratory and placement settings, and a comprehensive academic grounding to prepare students for employment in community, corporate, municipal and retail settings in a wide array of positions.

The courses cover a wide range of topics that allow for much hands-on experience thanks to the use of Centennial College's newly constructed Athletic and Wellness Center (located at Progress Campus) as well as field placement opportunities in the fitness industry. Here is a look at some of the standout courses of the offering.

Health and Wellness Concepts: As an overview course, this aspect of the program looks at the fundamentals and dimensions of fitness and wellness from a holistic perspective. While a strong emphasis is on behavior change and the benefits of engaging in fitness and health promotion activities, the course also covers content related to research methods and software applications to familiarize the student with the use of computer technology. As a hands-on aspect, students investigate software packages related to the fitness industry through a course assignment, which is presented to the class.

Nutrition: Nutrition is just as essential to health as fitness. As such, students study key nutrients that aid in maintaining a healthy body and lifestyle, the process of digestion and what effects digestion, as well as issues surrounding dietary supplements, weight management and the marketing of food.

Fitness Assessment (1 and 2): The first of these two courses focuses on various assessment strategies, tests and tools with practical hands-on application of both the assessment of and interpretation of testing activities. This course also provides students with an understanding of basic math calculations as needed for a career in the fitness industry. The second, meanwhile, helps students to further understand and perform various fitness appraisal methods and to promote a heightened proficiency in the execution of fitness assessments, the interpretation of assessment results, and the planning of appropriate fitness regimes based on the results.

Fitness Training (1 and 2): As this is a health promotion and fitness training program, these two courses are a natural fit. The first looks at the effective design, monitoring and comprehensive evaluation of various exercise regimes and how these programs enhance individual physical fitness status. The second assists students with acquiring the skills necessary to become a certified personal trainer according to the CSEP-PT requirements. During both courses, students benefit from instruction in a laboratory setting to acquire and then practice skills.

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This article, written by Jason, details the standout features of Centennial College's Fitness and Health Promotion program, such as a field experience during which students employ what they have learned to real world situations.


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