Training the trainer p1 - Military Transition - Military Times EDGE

Rene Moreno was pretty out of shape for a soldier. He could still meet his PT requirements but spent most of his Army workday behind a desk as a communication systems operator and maintainer. He had completed about half the coursework toward a bachelor’s degree in computer information systems when his career goals started to change.

Moreno spent four years in the Army and two years active in the Texas Army National Guard, and now he’s the specialist in charge of personal training at a corporate fitness center in Houston. He’s industry-certified with a bachelor’s degree in fitness and human performance, and although he does some personal training on the side, his day job doesn’t require traveling to meet clients at crowded commercial fitness centers.

Two of his greatest rewards have been his improved health and seeing his family begin to follow his example.

Here’s how the soldier-turned-trainer got started in a career he loves.

Personal experience

Moreno went to see a Pentagon wellness coordinator for help rehabilitating a chronic case of runner’s knee.

“The person in charge of it introduced me to NASM,” the National Academy of Sports Medicine, Moreno said. “He told me it’s a really good career.” The same wellness coach taught him about exercise kinesiology and exercise to rehabilitate his knee.

“I found it interesting that it was a combination of things I was doing wrong,” Moreno said — kinks, he calls them, in the kinetic chain.

Getting certified

Moreno wasn’t planning to become a personal trainer when he ordered the materials to study for NASM’s certified personal trainer exam.

“I thought it was a good fallback plan,” he said.

He was still plugging away at a computer degree when he started studying anatomy and learning “how the body works and how the body works as one system.”

The first time he took the personal trainer certification test at a proctored Army testing center, he found he needed to study even more.

“It was pretty difficult,” he said. “It humbled me quick.” The following month, he tried again and passed the test. The certification has helped him land his current job and past jobs at a Bally’s fitness center and a YMCA.

His best advice for people planning for their transition:

“They should take advantage, as much as they can, of their education benefits,” Moreno said. “Get as much [college] done as you can.”

Go with your instincts

After 60 hours of courses, Moreno had the feeling that computer information systems really wasn’t for him.

“I didn’t have the attention span to just be able to sit down and look through code for programs,” he said. “I wanted to be more active.”

He was able to transfer a number of his University of Maryland credits to count as electives toward the fitness and human performance degree he ultimately earned from the University of Houston-Clear Lake.

Next — since he still has about half of his Post-9/11 GI Bill eligibility — Moreno is eyeing an online master’s degree offered through a NASM-affiliated program at California University of Pennsylvania.

NASM certification

The National Academy of Sports Medicine’s Certified Personal Trainer program is Veterans Affairs Department-approved education program. For active-duty service members and their spouses and dependents, NASM discounts the cost of its exam and study materials 15 percent.