They may sound similar, but there are some important differences between the Group Exercise Instructor and Group Exercise Leader qualification.
Group Exercise Instructor
For those wishing to develop their own group fitness programs and plan individual exercise classes, the Group Exercise Instructor qualification is what you are looking for.
In particular, the unit of competency (UOC) SISFFIT007 – Instruct group exercise sessions.
This unit is a Certificate III subject from the Australian Fitness Training package.
Completing this unit qualifies instructors to design and deliver their own group exercise to music classes, as well as teach pre-choreographed classes and circuit style classes.
Remember that SISFFIT007 – Instruct group exercise sessions is not a core unit, which means it’s not automatically included a Certificate III in Fitness.
We recommend checking the statement of attainment issued at the end of your training to see if this qualification has been included.
If you find you don’t have this UOC, the good news is this can be completed as a separate course of study for those with a Certificate III in Fitness.
Group Exercise Leader
SISSS00128 – Group Exercise Leader or GEL skillset only covers four units of competency (in comparison to the 16 units in a Full Certificate III):
HLTWHS001- Participate in workplace health and safety
SISFFIT009- Deliver pre-choreographed or prescribed community fitness
SISFFIT010- Deliver pre-choreographed or prescribed group exercise to music
SISXCCS001- Provide quality service
Instructors wishing to do GEL training must also complete the certification process of a recognised pre-choreographed training provider i.e. MOSSA (formerly Body Training Systems), Les Mills, Zumba or Radical Fitness.
External certification from a recognised training provider is required to complete GEL and deliver pre-choreographed group or community fitness programs.
For those wishing to register as a GEL instructor, we recommend confirming the training certification you are doing is sufficient for your registration organisation.
Instructors choosing this option are not qualified to design their own classes and are only able to teach pre-designed classes developed by their training provider.
For those wishing to expand their qualification to the Certificate III in Fitness some elements of the GEL skillset may be able eligible for Recognition of Prior Learning RPL.
See Fitness Institute’s Certificate III & IV in Fitness HERE.
See Fitness Institute’s Group Exercise Leader HERE.
See Fitness Institute’s RPL guidelines HERE.
Images courtesy of: MOSSA AUSTRALIA
For more information see: Fitness Australia’s Scope of Practice
