Unit 6

Practical development and intructional skills

Being able to demonstrate and instruct
exercise is fundamental to becoming
a gym instructor and personal trainer.
Therefore, the core components of your
practical development are practising
exercise technique and instructor others in
technique.
Follow the process below to aid your
practical development:
1. Practice the mandatory exercises
2. Practice instructing others in the
mandatory exercises
Practice the mandatory exercises
A list of the mandatory exercises is found
in the ‘Unit 5 Planning Gym-Based Exercise’
assessment workbook.
The best approach is to video your
performance using a smartphone, 10-15
seconds of activity is all you need. Compare
your technical performance against each
exercises ‘model of good performance’,
which can be viewed by visiting the PT
Academy Youtube Channel.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/
UCtsVHV6jQLHT9_tdpw2ooHQ
learners only) who will be more than happy
to perform a quick video analysis to include
feedback then send it back to you.
Alternatively, the PT Academy learner
support team will be more than happy
to assist you with feedback on your
performance. Contact support@
ptacademy.com to ask for their support and
instructions on how to best send videos.
Practicing instructing others in the
mandatory exercises
Once you feel confident in performing the
mandatory exercises, it’s time to instruct
others. You will need to do this for the
assessment so practice regularly.
Use the ‘NAMSET’ acronym explained in
the table below to instruct others. It doesn’t
matter you are instructing CV, resistance
exercise or stretching the NAMSET acronym
works for all exercise.
Again, it is a good idea to video your
performance and then review back using
the criteria in the table below. You may also
want to seek further feedback from your
mentor or the learner support team.

Once you have looked at your video, you

may want to ask for peer feedback. Send
your video to your assigned mentor (flexi-

N Name the exercise; i.e. the squat exercise

A Identify the area of the body; i.e. the legs and hips
State the primary muscles being in the exercise; i.e. quadriceps, hamstrings and
M gluteus maximus
Show the client how to perform the exercise by giving a good demonstration
- 5 to 6 repetitions should be enough. Be sure to position your client relative
S to you demonstrating the exercise so that they can clearly observe your body
position; i.e. position the client to the side during the squat demonstration
Explain no more than three key points of the exercise; i.e. feet remain flat on
E the floor, knees track in line with toes, chest lifted
Teach and instruct as you go. Use instructional points with purpose to
T encourage correct form and to motivate the client to reach the end of the set