National Certificate in Fitness (Group Fitness Instruction) (Level 3)

This is an REPS registered course

Group fitness has to be one of the most exciting areas in fitness.  If you are passionate about helping others be the best they can be, then there is no better way of making a real difference than instructing a group fitness class.  The awesome atmosphere created from leading a group of enthusiastic participants through a fun and effective workout to music is hard to beat! Become a choreographer, an entertainer, a coach and a mentor.

You will develop the skills and knowledge from industry experts to become a great group fitness instructor.  Our blended delivery model includes distance learning, classroom sessions and weekly practical classes, offering you flexibility and support so you can be the best!

The course covers fitness fundamentals, mechanics of music, group communication and control, creating choreography, delivering a dynamic performance and much more.

This fun course can be undertaken as a stand-alone course, or it can be added to our Certificate in Personal Training as an additional specialist certificate.

Course location: 

Workshops for the compulsory modules - Pioneer Sport and Recreation Centre, 75 Lyttleton Street, Spreydon, Christchurch (next to Centennial Park).

Practical sessions for elective modules A & B - SIT Main Christchurch Campus, 60 Waterloo Road, Hornby, Christchurch

• Customer service
• Health and safety
• Knowledge of the fitness community
• Risk management
• Motivating participants
• Planning and teaching one of a large number of class types

Compulsory Modules

First Aid

• Provide first aid until help arrives
• Provide resuscitation Level 2

Group Fitness Health and Safety

• Demonstrate knowledge of workplace health and safety requirements
• Monitor and promote client security, comfort, enjoyment and learning in recreation

Health Risks and Exercise Stress

• Describe key health risk factors; identify and describe common diseases in modern society; describe the relationship between health risk factors and common diseases; identify and respond to an exercise participants risk level and identify and act on indicators of excessive exercise stress

Fitness Communities and Culture

• Describe issues, needs, and barriers in own community, and resources available within own community to address them and describe the process of community development from own experience as a participant

Customer Service

• Describe elements of good customer service, provide customer service and respond to a customer complaint
• Explain the purpose and structure of a fitness enterprise
• Demonstrate and apply product and/or service knowledge in own practices

Manage Personal Fitness

• Assess personal levels of physical fitness using reliable techniques; develop and produce a personal exercise plan based on results of personal fitness assessment and implement the personal exercise plan and measure progress in relation to goals

Motivation and Group Fitness Classes

• Explain the principles of exercise and their application; explain the components of fitness and their application; explain how the motivational needs of exercise participants involved in group fitness classes may differ; explain the effect of motivational techniques on the success of participants; explain the selection and use of motivational techniques on individuals with differing motivational needs; demonstrate knowledge of the typical class structures and components and demonstrate knowledge of the choreographic principles

Demonstrate knowledge of exercise prescription

• Design and implement an exercise programme in accordance with the client’s goals and objectives. You will learn exercise terms and principles that you need to understand in order to design and review exercise programmes. In particular we examine how the ‘FITT’ principles can be applied to training and how by manipulating the frequency, intensity, time and type of training you can create a variety of programmes.

Elective A Module

Plan and teach a Circuit class (offered only in course 2)

• Design, prepare and teach a planned Circuit class

If you have completed our Personal Training certificate you may cross credit unit standards to complete this portion of the course.

Timetable Semester 2

Theory Workshops (Pioneer)

• Saturday 20th July (9-1pm)
• Saturday 27^th July - First aid course (8.30am-4.30pm)
• Saturday 3rd August (9-1pm)
• Saturday 17th August (9-1pm)
• Saturday 7th September (9-1pm)
• Saturday 28th September (9-1pm)
• Saturday 19th October (9-1pm)

Weekly Practical sessions (Hornby 60 Waterloo Road)

7.15-9.15pm Wednesdays

• 10^th July
• 17^th July,
• 24  July
• 31^st July
• 7^th August
• 14^th August
• 21^st August
• 28^th August
• 4^th September
• 11^th September
• 25^th September
• 2^nd October
• 9^th October
• 16^th October
• 23^rd October
• 30^th October

1 week holiday Monday Sept 16

• All applicants should demonstrate a keen interest in fitness instruction and have academic attributes which indicate they have a reasonable likelihood of successful completion of the programme;
• It is desirable that applicants have a good level of physical coordination and mental, physical, and emotional fitness.
• Applicants should be a minimum of 16 years of age, with a minimum of 2 years secondary education. 
• School leavers should have attained a minimum of 12 NCEA credits at level 2 in each of 4 subjects).
• Mature students are welcome to apply.

This course is covered by the Zero Fees Scheme.  The student direct material cost is $520.00.

For students to be considered to have satisfactorily completed the National Certificate in Fitness (Group Fitness Instruction) (Level 3), and be eligible for award of a qualification, they must have:

• attended for not less than 80% of the timetabled class hours and other scheduled learning activities relating to the programme
• completed all scheduled course work requirements and assessments
• successfully completed assessment requirements for all units, and achieved a total of 57 credits.