Our industry has suffered a number of body-blows in the press recently. Many of the comments relating to a lack of faith in our product and our people (eg. www.abc.net.au/unleashed/stories/s2766840.htm). In an environment where the general public are repeatedly reminded that anyone can become a qualified Personal Trainer in just weeks, there is considerable value in being able to clearly recognise differences in experience and qualifications. Enter Centrality. Last November the Centrality group launched it's 'Centrality Health Consultant' (CHC) program. This is a new certification for the health and fitness industry that provides another way for you, as an employer, to identify candidates with demonstrated success in dealing with clients. As well as setting clearly defined expectations, the CHC certification includes professional indemnity insurance, one free industry accredited training day a year and the ability to work towards getting a health insurance provider number. More specifically, Centrality advertise the following benefits to employing a Centrality Health Consultant: All Centrality Health Consultant’s are minimum Cert IV qualified All Centrality Health Consultant’s are Insured for fitness, rehabilitation & corrective exercise services No need to track staff CEC’s/PDP’s, First Aid or Insurance; Centrality does it for you Employ staff that understand the sales process & sell more one on one consulting time Senior/Master CHC’s have a proven track record of delivering Client Results Senior/Master CHC services can offer a Private Health Insurance rebate to their clients For more information, a look at their TV commercial and a full list of their upcoming training sessions head to http://www.centralityhc.com/. For a peak at their CHC Framework booklet head to www.centralityhc.com/data/CHCFramework.pdf. Providing health and fitness professionals with the ability to differentiate themselves to both employers and clients will ultimately lead to greater confidence in us all as an industry. A lot of work has gone into the development of this certification, in particular, securing insurance and provider numbers. I congratulate Paul Reid and his Centrality group for providing a service with real potential to make a difference. Please note, candidates can now indicate their CHC certification in their HealthyPeople registration, making it easier for you to identify them in the first instance. I welcome your views on this. Please add any comments to our blog.
Our industry has suffered a number of body-blows in the press recently. Many of the comments relating to a lack of faith in our product and our people (eg. www.abc.net.au/unleashed/stories/s2766840.htm). In an environment where the general public are repeatedly reminded that anyone can become a qualified Personal Trainer in just weeks, there is considerable value in being able to clearly recognise differences in experience and qualifications. Enter Centrality. Last November the Centrality group launched it's 'Centrality Health Consultant' (CHC) program. This is a new certification for the health and fitness industry that provides another way for you, as an employer, to identify candidates with demonstrated success in dealing with clients. As well as setting clearly defined expectations, the CHC certification includes professional indemnity insurance, one free industry accredited training day a year and the ability to work towards getting a health insurance provider number. More specifically, Centrality advertise the following benefits to employing a Centrality Health Consultant:
For more information, a look at their TV commercial and a full list of their upcoming training sessions head to http://www.centralityhc.com/. For a peak at their CHC Framework booklet head to www.centralityhc.com/data/CHCFramework.pdf. Providing health and fitness professionals with the ability to differentiate themselves to both employers and clients will ultimately lead to greater confidence in us all as an industry. A lot of work has gone into the development of this certification, in particular, securing insurance and provider numbers. I congratulate Paul Reid and his Centrality group for providing a service with real potential to make a difference. Please note, candidates can now indicate their CHC certification in their HealthyPeople registration, making it easier for you to identify them in the first instance. I welcome your views on this. Please add any comments to our blog.
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Tags : Health Consultant
Although interested in the Centrality concept, I baulked after their continual line of bashing the quality of personal trainers. There are many great PTs out there who are doing their best, and to have someone from within the health & fitness industry just slam them is disgusting. Its nothing more than a ploy to get people to sign up as its not enough for them to just promote what they do.If you go to engage an accountant do you just check they are CPA or CA qualified? Of course not. You pick their brains about how good they are and what they have done and what they can do. Consumers should do the same with PTs,, there are good & bad and it is up to the consumer to check them out properly. But having a group of people propose that they are the holy grail and PTs are just "paid friends" is pathetic and rather embarrassing on their part. Great concept, lame management.
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Carl Ziebell from Adrenalin Health in Hawthorn (VIC) called regarding the Centrality certification process. He suggested that he was going to get in touch with Paul Reid of Centrality to have a few of his questions answered. I have asked him to share his questions and answers with the wider community. D.
In the interests of maintaining a open discussion on things, the following link is to an article on the Australian Leisure Management site where Fitness Australia comment on some of the claims made by Centrality in their advertising (you may need to copy and paste this link into your browser): http://www.ausleisure.com.au/default.asp?PageID=2&ReleaseID=2071&Display=TrueD.
Having read the posted comments, I felt the need to clarify several items. First of all, the Centrality Health Consultant system is not about bashing Personal Trainer’s; the thousands of fitness professionals that have completed Centrality courses over the past 5 years will attest to our commitment to helping good fitness professionals succeed. CHC is about raising industry standards and ensuring that those doing the right thing are rewarded. Yes, there are many good personal trainers already doing the right thing, however, our industry has been inundated with poor quality in recent years, and, as a result, the reputation & credibility of all personal trainers has been irreparably damaged. In fact, many fitness professionals now shy away from the ‘personal trainer’ tag for this reason. Fitness professionals have repeatedly expressed concerns to us with the current state of affairs in this industry; low pay rates, high turnover & entry standards constantly being lowered. We truly believe that our industry needs to fight these trends if we are to raise industry standards & promote fitness as a credible career path. Re: Fitness Australia CommentsWe will be responding to Fitness Australia comments about our company later this week. They have misrepresented several items in the Australian Leisure Management article and we will be seeking for these to be corrected. We have in no way misled fitness professionals and will continue to offer the best systems & information we possibly can to our industry.If anybody would like to know more about our services please go to www.centralityhc.comCentrality Director, Paul Reid1300 309 606
Thank you for your comments Paul. There is certainly no question as to your passion to make a difference. Your input in this discussion is most appreciated. I look forward to your response to the Fitness Australia comments. Regards, D.
Paul, I am involved in gym management, and would like to know what Centrality are doing to support the fight of the PPCA and how this will affect all clubs? Also I have heard that your courses are no longer CEC accredited, is this ture?
A response to questions asking what Centrality is doing for the Fitness Industry;Centrality was created by fitness professionals that were unhappy with the direction that the fitness industry was headed. Centrality’s was established to develop products and services that help fitness professionals to overcome industry problems they are facing. We have grown year after year by listening to you. We continue to fight for the good of the industry, and, following legal advice, have decided that it is in the industry’s best interests to take Fitness Australia to court for misleading and deceptive conduct. We are not doing this to divide the industry, but to surface & resolve longstanding issues, and in the process, lead the Australian Fitness Industry to a better place. We cannot yet make the details of the case public, but will keep you informed as the matters progress. Centrality is dedicated to raising fitness industry standards. We have pioneered numerous vital advancements within the fitness industry in the past 12 months. Take a look at the below timeline: Introduction of a Standardised Industry FrameworkIn May 2009, Centrality released our CHC Best Practice Framework to help you to train your clients safely & meet your legal requirements. The Framework also ensures consistency in standards across fitness industry, a critical element to raising our profile within the medical & health sectors. Fitness Australia is yet to release a standardized client assessment framework. Introduction of a ‘results-based’ Industry HierarchyIn May 2009, Centrality released its industry hierarchy, helping to differentiate good personal trainers from the ‘average’, rewarding trainers based on knowledge, experience & results. Later in September 2009, Fitness Australia introduced its industry hierarchy where you progress through the levels based on how long you have been in the industry. Establishing links with Private Heal
Establishing links with Private Health Insurance ProvidersIn August 2009, Centrality secured a Provider Number for its Senior/Master Health Consultants & established partnerships with some of the biggest Private Health Insurance Providers in Australia. Much later in March 2010, Fitness Australia published a list of Private Health Insurance companies that offer rebates to its members. Helping Fitness Professionals meet their Legal ObligationsIn September 2009, Centrality made you aware of the very real danger of legal action via the Fernwood court case, giving fitness professionals access to a client assessment framework to help minimize the risk of being sued. Later in October 2009, Fitness Australia told you about the Fernwood case and provided advice on how to minimize the risk of being sued. Promotion of ‘good’ Fitness ProfessionalsIn October 2009, Centrality advertised on TV, promoting good fitness professionals and helping them to get more work via our CHC Referral Network. So ask yourself the question; do you just want to be part of the pack, or do you want to join a team that is leading the fitness industry? To learn more about joining our team or any of the above points, please go to our fitness industry website: www.centralityhc.com Kind Regards, Paul ReidCentrality Director1300 309 606
Paul, thankyou for your advertising above, but you did not answer my previous question. What has Centrality as a profit organisation done over the last 3 years in the fight against the PPCA? Without Fitness Australia my gym would be closed down due to this issue.Also, Centrality Health Consultants only need to attend one training day each year to keep up their registration with you, while still paying the $35/month on top. Do you think that staying in front of the industry and being at the forefront of providing the industry with the best trainers, doing one training course a year is satisfactory?Please answer these questions, without going through your advertising material, this is what the industry wants to know...