Qualifications in Health & Fitness Industry (Mark Synnott)

Hi guys, Mark here, one of the coaches at Gravity Fitness. In this week’s blog, I want to give you some information on the qualifications in Health and Fitness that I have attained.

Firstly, I attended Dublin City University (DCU) to study BSc. Sports Science and Health, where I learned about a wide range of subjects including Psychology, Anatomy and Physiology. Within the four years of the course we built a foundation of sports science, while applying the learning in practical situations such as coaching and like and writing a thesis. Having graduated from DCU, I wanted to gain some real world experience in the fitness industry, and wanted to travel, so I decided to emigrate to Austin, Texas for a year. While over there, my degree alone was not enough to be allowed work in the American Fitness Industry so I ended up completing the American College of Sports Medicine Certificate in Personal Training (ACSM CPT) course over there. The ACSM is the largest sports medicine and exercise science organisation in the world, boasting 50,000 members and certified professionals worldwide. The certified personal training course required a strong background in human physiology, which I had from my college degree, along with specific ACSM practical’s and exercise prescriptions for special populations like such as diabetes etc. As an ACSM CPT fitness professional I was qualified to draw up and implement personalised programs, bespoke to individuals with unique needs whether that be fat loss client, disability, all the way up to the athlete training to compete at a high level. ACSM was known as the gold-standard of fitness qualifications in the states, recognised throughout the country and worldwide as a high quality training certification.

In January 2018, I began a new course in Sports and Remedial Massage. The course is aimed at helping athletes and the general population maximising their performance, reduce the risk of injury and increase the speed of recovery.  I thought of the course as a way to improve as a coach, as well as learning a completely new skill. The course covers a large range of topics from soft tissue release, muscle energy techniques, trigger points and many more. Gareth, the owner here, had previously completed the course and recommended it for the practical applications of the learning within the course. I consider myself a hands on learner, so constantly practicing techniques in a real world setting was quite appealing to me. This course will allow me to further help clients when they are feeling sore, muscle pain or get injured, along with opening another career path to work within professional sport while continuing the coaching in Gravity Fitness.

Mark Synnott, Bsc, ACSM CPT