Professional Development at CORE FOUNDATIONS PT

Why is ongoing professional development important to the team at CORE FOUNDATIONS?

Professional development is a very important part of each coach’s journey. We are extremely proud that we directly employ all of our coaches at CORE FOUNDATIONS. We take this approach to ensure that everyone is on the same page and all working towards the goal of providing our clients with the best of what is currently out in the marketplace. Professional development is a must for all fitness professionals irrespective of their qualifications and must be adhered to on an annual basis to ensure all relevant accreditation requirements are maintained. We embrace this and look at it as a great opportunity to explore and learn new techniques that we can apply to our clients on a daily basis.

Why is it important for your CORE FOUNDATIONS movement coaches to undertake professional development?

It is very important as we pride ourselves on finding and implementing new and innovative training solutions designed to help our clients get the most out of each session with us. It is crucial to our training philosophy to stay relevant in an ever-changing health and fitness landscape. With new science and research coming out all the time it makes absolute sense to ensure we are continuing to up-skill and develop better strategies for our clients’ success.

What is the benefit of ongoing professional development for our CORE FOUNDATIONS clients?

The benefits for clients are massive. With so much information out there on the internet, our clients are becoming far savvier with their health and fitness choices than ever before. If we are not continuing to challenge them and to provide them with the confidence they require to feel they are in safe hands then they will simply move elsewhere. Our job is to cut through all the fads and information out there and supply them with relevant, relatable information that is easy to digest. After all, we are in the game of offering personalised, tailored training solutions. Gone are the days of one-size fits all approach to fitness and clients are now looking to us for guidance now more than ever.

In what ways do the CORE FOUNDATIONS team complete professional development?

All our coaches require formal yearly continuing education credits to stay registered with their relevant governing body. Our job is to assist them in finding the best and most relevant courses that are aligned with our overall training philosophy. With a myriad one-day certifications and courses available it can be quite confusing and overwhelming for any fitness professional when it comes to selecting where to invest their professional development effort. Like our training philosophy, we prefer quality to quantity and encourage our coaches to challenge themselves each year to learn and develop in-line with our strategies to continue to deliver world-class training solutions and ensure we stay most relevant in the movement space.

However, not all professional development is held externally and we pride ourselves on working closely together as a team each month. We explore various topics and training modalities with each session delivered by a different staff member. We also work closely with our business development and marketing team to ensure we are staying relevant to the marketplace and offering world-class customer service along the way. We don’t want to just limit our coaches to delivering fantastic training sessions only. We develop them as human beings and enable them to take their learning at CORE FOUNDATIONS out into the real world.

What types of professional development are important?

Obviously, we are in the business of fitness so staying up to date with all that is relevant in the training space is very important to us. However, this is not the only area that we believe is important to the success of the business. We put a lot of importance in helping our coaches to continue to develop and improve their broader skills such as communication, empathy and listening. Communication in our business is a major part of what we do and if our coaches can’t effectively communicate our message then this will massively influence their ability to guide and advise our clients correctly. We consider all facets of the business like running workshops and new business development ideas as opportunities for ongoing professional development and help to provide strategies and structure to aid in these areas also. These days to be an effective coach you need to have the training knowledge of an Olympic coach, empathy and listening skills of a psychologist, and a business degree to ensure you can attract new clients. Therefore, we look to develop well rounded, high-quality movement coaches.

How does CORE FOUNDATIONS use outputs of ongoing professional development to develop and improve services offered?

Not all professional development is created equally so we place a lot of importance on our selection criteria when sending our team off to learn something new. Our job is to cut through the noise in order to invest in what we believe will be most relevant to our business and our client’s overall well-being. If we feel there is a gap in our service offering that will enhance our position and give our clients a better experience then we will definitely prioritise development in these areas. For CORE FOUNDATIONS professional development is considered to be an essential part of our day to day work not just to maintain accreditation. After all the fitness landscape is ever changing with new research coming out all the time. We feel that what might have been great two years ago has to be cross-checked to what is out now with the overall goal to ensure we continue to offer the best and most effective training solutions available.

Explore what professional development the CORE FOUNDATIONS movement coaches are currently doing in the following Q & A.

Regan

Q.   What are you studying at the moment?

A.   I have just completed the level 1 Human Foundations course delivered by Functional Patterns up on the Gold Coast in March of this year.

Q.   How will CORE FOUNDATIONS use this knowledge?

A.   The course was very much around helping people to improve their posture and gait cycle (walking/running mechanics). This is very cutting-edge research and will definitely aid in our postural assessing and exercise selection to ensure our clients are moving optimally. This will also support the development of sport specific training approaches.

Q.   What is the benefit for clients?

A.   Smarter and safer exercise selections focused towards improving the client’s most basic human functions like standing, walking or running. By helping to correct these postural imbalances we aim to provide solutions to reduce and eliminate common ailments and overuse injuries that occur in society today due to our sedentary lifestyle. With stronger and more sound foundations our clients will be able to access greater efficiency and performance from their movement.

Andrew

Q.   What are you studying at the moment?

A.   Functional Movement Systems – Screening and movement assessing.

Q.   How will CORE FOUNDATIONS use this knowledge?

A.   As the Functional Movement Screen is a significant element of our client induction, I have been learning the principles of how to conduct a movement screen and will be completing the formal program to learn how I can better assess the body as a whole. Understanding how the body should work as an integrated unit will significantly add to my existing capability of delivering world-class training solutions.

Q.   What is the benefit for clients?

A.   Smarter, safer and more effective exercise selection. The most important aspect of a new training program is to understand where an individual’s imbalances and or limitations may be. This helps to address any weak links and ensures that the client remains safe from the start.

To experience this professional development for yourself, make an appointment with Regan or Andrew today.

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