How to Become a Youth Fitness Specialist

Most personal trainers have adult clients. But there’s another demographic that benefits from working with a fitness trainer: youth. If you’re interested in working with children and teens in a personal training role, you can do this as a youth fitness specialist.

What a Youth Fitness Specialist Does

A youth fitness specialist helps kids and adolescents achieve a higher level of fitness through exercise. Their clients can range from as young as 6 to as old as 18. This specialist has the knowledge needed to devise a fitness program for their clients’ growing bodies. Kids have different exercise guidelines than adults. Understanding these guidelines is critical to the youth fitness specialist role. They’re foundational to creating a safe, yet effective exercise program.

A personal trainer who works with youth helps their clients understand the importance of physical activity. Physical education is a large component of what this fitness specialist does. You can tell kids to increase their physical activity, but you’ll get better results if you also tell them why. Let them know how regular exercise is good for their mental and physical health. Explain the benefits of the personal training program you’ve devised.

A youth fitness specialist often works with young athletes. Just over 54% of youth aged 6 to 17 participate in sports annually. (1) Approximately 3.5 million will sustain some type of injury. A youth fitness specialist can prescribe exercises to reduce injury risk. (2) They can also develop training programs to help young athletes improve their performance, helping them reach their sports-related dreams and goals.

One way they do this is by developing strength training programs for youth. For some, the idea of youth lifting weights is foreign. However, both children and teens can benefit from resistance training. This form of exercise is also safe, as long as basic youth strength training guidelines are followed.

Benefits of Being a Youth Fitness Trainer

Why become a fitness instructor for youth? A very important reason is that you can help reduce obesity in children. Data provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tells us:

• More than one in ten children aged 2 to 5 are obese.

• Of kids aged 6 to 11, more than one in five have obesity.

• Nearly one in four teens aged 12 to 19 are also obese. (3)

In short, the older kids get the greater their obesity risk. Curbing this trend requires finding ways for them to increase their physical activity. A youth fitness specialist assists with this goal. You can help kids and teens develop exercise habits to improve their health both now and long term.

Another benefit of working with youth is you can teach them that fitness can be fun. Exercise doesn’t have to (and shouldn’t) feel like a chore. If it does, good luck getting kids to stick with it long-term. Instead, as a youth fitness specialist, you’re in the prime position to make youth fitness fun. Create workouts kids will love and they’re more likely to make exercise a part of their daily routine.

If you have your personal training certification, you can also use what you know about training both adults and youth to develop family fitness plans. It’s easier to stick to exercise when your family works out too. Imagine the impact you can have when you create a workout plan that works for the entire family unit!

How to Become a Youth Fitness Specialist

Providing youth fitness training requires specialized knowledge. You need to not only have a basic understanding of health science for people in general, but you must also understand exercise science as it applies to children and adolescents. 

Fitness guidelines vary based on the youth’s age. For instance, there are age recommendations for when strength training can start. Begin this type of training too early, and the child could become injured. A youth fitness specialist understands how to create a program that is age-appropriate.

Obtaining training to become a youth fitness specialist also provides knowledge in other areas. You learn more about:

• How to assess a youth client’s body composition based on their physical development

• Ways to identify and prevent overtraining and overuse injuries in youth (which experts indicate is a growing concern) (4)

• A youth’s nutritional needs and how to help them eat healthier foods

• Sports psychology for young athletes

• And more!

Once you’ve obtained this specialized training, the next step is to earn your youth fitness specialist certification.

Importance of Youth Fitness Training Certification

Certification helps establish you as a fitness professional. It’s like the difference between a personal trainer and certified personal trainer. Both may have the same level of knowledge and even the same experience. But which is more likely to be recognized as a serious fitness professional? Likely the personal trainer with their certification.

Earning your youth fitness specialist certificate may also be required by your employer. Before hiring you, the gym or fitness center wants some level of assurance that you know how to work with kids and teens. Certification provides them confidence that you’re knowledgeable in this area. 

Continuing education (CE) credits are also needed to keep your certification current. This tells prospective employers and clients that your fitness knowledge is up to date. You know the latest techniques and approaches based on science-backed research.

You also get to choose the type of CE courses you take. You can take courses to learn more about topics relevant to youth fitness. Or maybe you’d like additional information about topics involving fitness in general. You could take CE courses in corrective exercise, group fitness, and more. 

You might even pursue another certification to maximize your continuing education requirements. Combining your youth fitness certification with other certifications enables you to expand your personal trainer program offerings. Good options include:

• Nutrition coach. With this certification, you can also provide your young clients with a personalized eating plan.

• Group fitness instructor. Want to be an aerobics instructor and work with several youths at one time? This certification option is one to consider.

• Performance enhancement specialist. This certification gives you more ways to help young athletes excel at their sport of choice.

What to Look for in a Youth Fitness Specialist Certification Program

Before selecting a course that provides certification as a youth fitness specialist, it’s important to consider how you will learn. An online course enables you to learn about training youth on days and times convenient for you. You can also earn your certification at your own pace.

Also, look for a certification program by a reputable organization. PT Pioneer provides a list of top personal trainer certification programs. Becoming a youth fitness specialist with one of these organizations is a good place to start.

In addition, take time to read the certification program’s reviews. Learn what others thought about the course. Pay attention to the program’s overall rating. The higher the rating, the greater your likelihood of receiving a high-quality education. The better your education, the greater your ability to become a successful youth fitness trainer.

Ready to get started? Check out ISSA’s online Youth Fitness Specialist Certification. This course teaches you how to develop a personalized exercise program for children and teens based on their fitness levels and goals.

References

1. Black, L. I., Terlizzi, E. P., & Vahratian, A. (2022). Organized sports participation among children aged 6–17 years: United States, 2020. https://doi.org/10.15620/cdc:119026

2. Sports injuries statistics. (n.d.). Stanford Medicine Children’s Health. https://www.stanfordchildrens.org/en/topic/default?id=sports-injuries-statistics-90-P01650

3. Childhood Obesity Facts. Overweight & Obesity. CDC. (n.d.). https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/childhood.html

4. Overuse injuries in children. OrthoInfo. AAOS. (n.d.). https://orthoinfo.aaos.org/en/diseases--conditions/overuse-injuries-in-children/