L’educazione del professionista dell’esercizio fisico preventivo per la promozione della salute

[Autom. eng. transl.] No cycle of studies can offer complete and definitive training. This is also the case in the profession of those involved in physical activity and sports. Learning takes place throughout the life span. Despite the recent position taken by the legislator (see legislative decree 28 February 2021, n. 36 "Implementation of article 5 of law 8 August 2019, n. 86) which are the indicators of knowledge, competence and skills that do they make a personal trainer reliable? In a work from 1999, Rupp et al. Reported that a training or certification course in gyms guarantees that the instructor has completed a professional training course. In Italy, at the moment, there are no indications that can provide what the teaching standards, in methods and contents, are for courses of this type. Additionally, there is an overabundance of associations that claim that only their courses certify the knowledge, skills and competences that are essential to working as a fitness teacher. La Marca (in Zanniello, 2008), referring to the role of teachers, as well as to that of any educator or trainer, highlights how professionalism can only take place in contexts in which the subject is directly or indirectly involved. Specifically, Thomas et al. (1993) report that extensive non-formal learning in the health and fitness professional does not necessarily translate into a competent and capable professional. Furthermore, only 39% of the people interviewed had a university degree related to the sciences of exercise. Upon filling out a questionnaire with questions relating to nutritional aspects, physiology and exercise planning, those who had achieved one of the two most accredited international certifications, that of the ACSM (American College of Sports Medicine) or that of the NSCA (National Strength and Conditioning Research) and those who had a university education in physical education or exercise science, performed better than those who did not have any of these qualifications. Formal education, therefore, seems to be more important than non-formal education for the knowledge of the personal trainer. Several authors (Fuller et al., 1994; Cereda, 2008 and 2013) have proposed subjects that are considered fundamental for the technical and educational preparation for a personal trainer: human anatomy, anatomy of the musculoskeletal system, posture and balance, biology, body composition analysis, nutrition and weight management, human physiology, exercise physiology, biomechanics, injury prevention, functional assessment, exercise planning, weight training, general and special pedagogy, psychology. At the university level, in Italy, the degree that encompasses all the above subjects is the three-year degree course in Exercise and Sport Sciences (L-22). This provides theoretical and practical knowledge and skills relating to the professional areas of education and training of the person through movement and sports activities. As part of the national and regional planning choices that have introduced the experimentation of the so-called AFA (Adapted Physical Activity), the graduate in motor science is the figure considered important for the purposes of health promotion, providing that this activity does not fall within the health services, but has the task of reconditioning at the end of a rehabilitation protocol, fighting a sedentary lifestyle, promoting socialization and promoting more correct lifestyles. The need for more specific training to work with people defined as "fragile" characterized the training course of the master's degree in science and techniques of preventive and adapted motor activities (LM-67, S.T.A.M.P.A.).