Preparing Health & Fitness Professionals to Achieve Success - NASM [Podcast Series]
[:54] Dr. Bantham introduces her guest, David Van Daff
David Van Daff is Vice President, Industry Development and Public Affairs at National Academy of Sports Medicine
He has almost 30 years experience in the health and fitness industry.
[1:22] Health & fitness industry entrance
“I found that I really enjoyed working in fitness. My passion had been sport, but I did not want to give up a career in fitness to go back to trying to pursue in that avenue. So it became my lifelong career.”
[4:28] Industry evolution
“The evolution of fitness has been so inspiring and so interesting to see over time and a lot of that came about with more and more chains and independent gyms and smaller boxes and franchises that really flooded the market then, in a good way, making it more convenient and accessible for Americans to be able to get to a health club and start sustainable programs and achieve their goals.”
[7:02] Industry staffing and development challenges
“A problem that has plagued our industry forever is we take passionate fitness professionals, we educate, certify them, and very often they start into the workforce, have difficulties and phase themselves out and don't achieve success and have frustrations and have to adapt to the business development elements and sales elements of the position.”
[9:46] Preparing health & fitness professionals to achieve success
“We are consistently trying to prepare, coach and motivate our professionals to achieve success in the space. That, to me, is, is more of that professionalism, not just standard certification, but really continually be side by side education, tools and resources to help you in your career. Be an effective fitness professional. Do things with evidence based programming, safety and efficacy.”
[13:54] Creating comprehensive programs to help people look and feel better
“This is a, this has just become so important based on client demands and and for professionals to be able to offer a wide variety of services, for them to be able to capitalize on the in-person training, also doing online, creating comprehensive programs to, over a course of months, to be able to help people to look better and feel better.”
[18:12] Contributing to the greater good
“The fitness industry is a wonderful industry to be a part of, and a number of different perks, but ultimately, you can go to bed at night knowing that your work is contributing to the greater good.”
[23:57] Finding the fun in physical activity
“And if we can peel back layers, whether it's early childhood to seniors, where it's just a, just get moving, you know, let's figure out some things that you enjoy, if we can combine enjoyment and fulfillment with activity and movement.”
[25:29] Educating health & fitness professionals
“It's critically important for us to make sure that we are doing the right things, the most effective things, not only as a business, but as a, as a provider of education to fitness professionals.”
[28:28] Benefits of a strategic advisory board
“It's so great to have people that you can bounce ideas off of at a minimum, or come to them and say, I'm seeing things from this perspective. Do we have consistency, if not tell me what I'm missing?”
