Current members must log into the Members Portal to receive membership rates for online courses, exams, workshops and conferences.

2024 CPTN Personal Trainer Online Summit Session Information

All Online Sessions

CECs: CPTN-7/14

Mental Training

S01: Utilizing Psychological Skills Training to Support Clients (WS)

Serena MacLeod, CPsychol, HCPC, MSc, BSc, Dip Social Worker

This workshop will equip personal trainers with psychological skills to support their clients. Psychological skills training consists of practising different strategies, dependent on the individual, to improve and maintain performance levels. We will explore how to implement various psychological skills, including self-talk, reframing, goal setting and self-regulation techniques. The workshop also includes client case studies and how to navigate challenging cases.

Credit(s): 1.X

S02: Fitness Psychology: Starting and Building Healthy Fitness Habits (WS)

Ashley Nooman, BPHE,BEd, MACP (Candidate)

Join Psychotherapist (qualifying) Ashley Noonan for an engaging, practical workshop that explores the importance of setting reasonable goals, taking small steps daily, and prioritizing balance over perfection. We will discuss what health truly is, how we can get in the way of our own goals, how to prioritize balanced nutrition and much more, prioritizing creating personal change from a place of self-compassion and exploring practical ways to create significant shifts in your life.

Credit(s): 1.X

S03: The Art & Science of Behaviour Change (L)

Deanna Lawson-Langford, BA, CPTN-CPT.M, CCF-CMCP, OFC-TFL

Client success can be as much about behaviour change and motivation as program design. As trainers, we can create the best program, but success will continue to be out of reach if we can’t get clients into their workout space. Just as there is an art and science to program design, there is an art and science to supporting behaviour change. Drawing on theories of motivation and behaviour change and more subtle strategies to enhance a trainer’s ability to notice what the client is saying and not saying, this session will add more tools to support success.

Credit(s): 1.X

S04: Flexing Your Mental Muscle (L)

Marc Lebert, BA, CPT, NLP Practitioner

As a personal trainer for 25 years, Marc became convinced that a person’s fitness level is primarily determined by how they see themselves. If they picture themselves as fit and healthy, that image prompts consistent actions and pursuit of continued improvement. It is a simple idea; however, you must do very specific things - deliberately and thoroughly - for those images to take root. In this workshop, Marc explains how the mind works, how to foster greater self-awareness and how to construct new and desired actions; this is empowerment on steroids!

Credit(s): 1.X

S05: Brain Optimization for Enhanced Performance (WS)

Ken Kinakin, DC, CSCS

The function of your physical and mental state is determined by how well your brain is functioning. Learn strategies to increase neurotransmitters through water, light, food and supplementation. Not only will you learn how to become smarter, but you will also learn how to perform better each day simply and easily.

Credit(s): 1.X

S06: Counselling & Communication Skills for Trainers: Best Practices to Connect With Your Clients (L)

Jodi Robinson, BSc, RD, MEd (Candidate)

The counselling approach you take helps you inspire, connect, and serve your clients with trust and likeability. This session is ideal for those looking to refine and sharpen their motivational interviewing skills to cultivate quality relationships, connect with diverse populations, and positively influence clients towards change. You will be guided through best practices that will help you assess, reflect, and expand on essential counselling skills to best serve your clients. As well, a bonus module featuring best practices for readability when developing written communication materials such as presentations and blog posts will be shared to help you successfully apply plain language and clear design skills with confidence.

Credit(s): 1.X

Older Adult Training

S07: Functional Exercise for Optimal Aging: From Evidence to Practice (L)

Cody Sipe, PhD

Exercise benefits older adults in virtually all its forms, but not all are equally effective for improving function as people age. This is primarily because older adults vary widely from one another, covering the spectrum from frail to fit, diseased to healthy, and completely sedentary to very active. In this session, we explore the scientific evidence for different forms of exercise to improve and maintain functional capacity for older adults of varying ability levels and provide practical recommendations trainers can use with their clients.

Credit(s): 1.X

S08: From Mat to Vertical Pilates for Older Adults (WS)

Susan Lee, PhD, CPTN-CPT

Step into the world of Pilates to learn about the exercise benefits, relevant research and guiding principles. Gain a repertoire of exercises, instruction cues, and movement variations to train older adults to live actively and to optimize their well-being as they improve their body awareness, core engagement, postural alignment and functional movements with Pilates. This workshop will focus on postural alignments and fall prevention for older adults. Sample the transitions from classical mat to contemporary vertical Pilates. Learn effective cueing techniques for practical and safe Pilates exercises while training older adults with diverse needs and fitness levels.

Credit(s): 1.X

S09: Home Workouts Fit for Older Adults (WS)

Libby Norris, BA, PTS, FIS

Nearly 80% of adults 60+ will present with health issues or challenges. This group has the means and the desire to maintain function and improve their quality of life/health span but often steer clear of gyms that may feel intimidating. In this session, learn tips for training older adult clients at home with exercises and equipment options that can help get them moving in a comfortable space and pace. Identify progressions and pathways to the gym or into small group training that can offer a social connection for clients and a revenue referral for you!

Credit(s): 1.X

S10: Vectors & Movement – Fascial Training Principles for Older Adults (WS)

Elaine de Markondes, MD, MSc, PT

Dive into the forefront of fascial system education tailored for older adults. Uncover groundbreaking insights into anatomy, biotensegrity principles, functionality and sensory perception. This course, grounded in scientific research, unveils training principles for the fascial system, aligning with Thomas Myers’s Anatomy Trains. Explore three vectors through tailored exercise progressions, fostering force transmission along myofascial pathways. Revolutionize movement with innovative tools like the Tye4X® wearable accessory (when available). Elevate your understanding of fascia activation and liberation while enhancing body perception. Join us on a transformative journey merging science, movement, and innovation for a holistic approach to myofascial health among older adults.

Credit(s): 1.X

Post-Rehabilitation Injuries

S11: Pickleball: Functional Training Tips to Minimize the Most Common Injuries (WS)

Kevin Duguay, Dip. Health Sciences and Athletic Training, CPTN-CPRCS

According to the Sports and Fitness Industry Association, pickleball is the fastest-growing sport in North America, with an estimated 40+ million players by 2024! Like any sport with rapid growth, injuries are sure to follow--and pickleball is no exception. This seminar looks at the most common injuries athletes sustain in this sport. It explores the common neuromuscular and soft tissue injuries and the typical movement patterns and mechanics of play to provide personal trainers with the tools and foundation to formulate and design functional exercises from both a preventative and rehabilitative aspect, making them a vital component of a pickleball player’s conditioning team to keep them active in the sport for years to come.

Credit(s): 1.X

Exercise Technique and Program Design

S12: Regression Isn’t a Bad Word (WS)

Deanna Lawson-Langford, BA, CPTN-CPT.M, CCF-CMCP, OFC-TFL

As fitness professionals, our goal is to help clients make progress. However, sometimes, we must first step back to move ahead. Whether working with someone brand-new to fitness or returning to fitness, regressing exercise can be an art, a science, and a mindset. A negative attachment to the word regression may impact the client’s motivation and adherence. Since regressions are, in fact, often the solid framework on which we build fitness success, this session will help trainers consider new ways to break down and regress exercises and shift clients’ mindsets to embrace regressions, leading to better overall success.

Credit(s): 1.X

S13: Isometric Training – Against the Wall (WS)

Karsten Jensen, MSc, CPTN-CPT.M

How can I help my clients build strength, muscle mass or endurance even if they don’t have access to weights? How can I support my clients in a challenging workout if they have slight aches and tendon pains when performing dynamic contractions? How can I give my clients a more challenging session in less time? The solution is to incorporate overcoming isometric contractions (with a wall or simple equipment) in the client’s training program. In this session, you will learn the science behind isometric training, isometric exercises that cover the whole body, unique breathing patterns for isometric exercises and isometric program examples.

Credit(s): 1.X

S14: Great Regressions (WS)

Libby Norris, BA, PTS, FIS

Add to your repertoire and tools working with the older adults that represent a growing demographic and opportunity with training and revenue, value-added service, and customer experience. This session provides a program design chart and tools based on foundational movement patterns that support activities of daily living. In this session, we will cover sample exercises in each category with a full range of progressions and regressions that provide creative and functional options along the continuum that will engage and get results. Learn how to step back and move forward by training clients in small and full group programs.

Credit(s): 1.X

S15: GOATA: How the Body is Designed to Move Through Space (WS)

Roger Makhlouf, BA, GOATA Certified

Learn how we use the GOATA global laws to organize the body to move through space. We will also give insight into which exercises help or hinder movement patterns that are safe and secure and put together a full body sample workout that will involve groundwork, standing and travelling drills.

Credit(s): 1.X

S16: Help Clients to Focus Thru Strategic Program Design (WS)

Karsten Jensen, MSc, CPTN-CPT.M

Personal trainers experience that some clients cannot optimally focus during exercises and even talk during a set. They remind clients to focus, but that does not always work. The solution is to incorporate elements of an open environment in the program design. In this session, you will learn 7 specific program design tactics that, by their very nature, help the client to focus optimally without you having to remind them.

Credit(s): 1.X

S17: Challenges to Exercise Myths and Assumptions (L)

Judi Laprade, PhD, MSc, BSc, BA

Does the foam roller stretch out the IT Band or break down adhesions? Should we let the knees go in front of the feet when we do squats? Stretch after a workout or before--or at all? Weight belts--a help or a hindrance to doing heavy lifting? Get answers to exercise myths, assumptions, and more using anatomical truths and current research.

Credit(s): 1.X

S18: Breathing to Optimize Strength and Power (WS)

Karsten Jensen, MSc, CPTN-CPT.M

Clients need trunk stability to progress effectively with resistance training. “Engage your abs,” “Activate your core,” or “Tighten your abs” are well-intended cues to provide trunk stability, but they are too vague for the client to translate into effective trunk stability. French Press Diaphragmatic Breathing (FPDB) is a technique that optimizes trunk stability during resistance training. In this session, you will learn a proven 4-step to teach FPDB, the exact cues to give clients, 3 highly effective cueing shortcuts, a test to assess if the client is breathing correctly and how to integrate FPDB with respiratory muscle training during cardio exercise.

Credit(s): 1.X

S19: Chair Yoga (WS)

Sujena Sutharasun, BA, OCELT, E-RYT 200

This workshop addresses the needs of individuals with mobility and balance issues, especially older adults. It explores chair-based adaptations of traditional yoga asanas, enhancing accessibility without compromising the essence of yoga or client safety. Gain valuable tools to make your training programs more inclusive and ensure that the benefits of yoga are more attainable for diverse populations.

Credit(s): 1.X