Fitness Professional - Certificate
Certificate | mhcc.edu/HPEAAR
Faculty Advisers
Matt Hart: 503-491-7455 | Room PE161 | Matt.Hart@mhcc.edu | Students with last name A-E
Petra LeBaron Botts: 503-491-7355 | Room PE155 | Petra.LeBaronBotts@mhcc.edu | Students with last name F-J
Dawn Markell: 503-491-6984 | PE158 | Dawn.Markell@mhcc.edu | Students with last name K-O
Amanda Shelton: 503-491-7350 | Room PE157 | Amanda.Shelton@mhcc.edu | Students with last name P-T
Josh Stratman: 503-491-7201 | Room PE160 | Josh.Stratman@mhcc.edu | Students with last name U-Z
This program gives students the knowledge, skills and experience needed to become a fitness trainer. Trainers guide, instruct, and motivate clients to pursue health goals through exercise, nutrition, and lifestyle changes. Fitness trainers can work in fitness and health facilities, corporations, or as private contractors. Courses in the program teach students about: nutrition; proper exercise techniques and training instruction; health and fitness assessment; designing fitness programs; and more. Students who complete this program will earn a First Aid and CPR certification, as well as take a national fitness trainer certification exam.
All core courses must be completed within 5 years in order for the certificate to be awarded.
Program Outcomes
Upon successful completion of this certification program, students will be able to:
- Identify, analyze and apply behavior modification strategies to promote health and fitness to clients
- Apply advanced exercise principles in order to create responsive, adaptive, and personalized exercise programs for a diverse population
- Describe national standards of professional practice including ethical business practices, confidentiality, adherence to legal requirements and professionalism as they relate to the fitness professional
- Administer and analyze various fitness assessments including cardiovascular endurance, power, speed, body composition, anthropomorphic measurements, muscular strength, endurance and flexibility
- Identify and implement widely-accepted procedures and protocols for emergency cardiac care, airway obstruction, automated external defibrillator and basic first aid
For the most part, courses that fulfill general education requirements can be taken in any term. Students should work with the faculty adviser(s) to create a custom academic plan based on course placement levels, career goals, and full time/part time status.
Admitted students may also log on to Navigate to start the process of building an academic plan based on this major and can notify an adviser for review.
| First Quarter | ||
|---|---|---|
| Fall | Credits | |
| HPE170 | Structure and Function of the Human Body | 3 |
| HPE295 | Health and Fitness for Life (Course offered online) | 3 |
| MTH065 | Beginning Algebra II (Course offered online) (or higher, excluding MTH098) | 4 |
| PE131 | Introduction to Exercise and Sports Science | 3 |
| HE252 | First Aid: Responding to Emergencies | 3 |
| Credits | 16 | |
| Second Quarter | ||
| Winter | ||
| HPE172 | Exercise Science | 3 |
| HPE260 | Prevention and Care of Exercise-Related Injuries | 3 |
| COMM111Z | Public Speaking (Course offered online) | 4 |
| WR121Z | Composition I (Course offered online) | 4 |
| Credits | 14 | |
| Third Quarter | ||
| Spring | ||
| HE204 | Nutrition for Health | 3 |
| HPE174 | Fitness Assessment and Programming | 3 |
| PE280B | Coop Ed-Physical Education | 2 |
| PSY201 | General Psychology (Course offered online) | 4 |
| Health/PE electives | 2 | |
| Credits | 14 | |
| Total Credits | 44 | |
Exploring fitness professional as your major? Learn more with MHCC's Career Coach, which covers: skills needed for each career, wages, employment rates, and live job postings in the Greater Multnomah County Area.
Careers related to fitness:
HPE110 Teambuilding and Group Facilitation
Credits 3Fall
This course introduces students to teambuilding activities, group facilitation, and processing. Students learn how to lead activities that develop teamwork, communication, leadership, and trust. Topics covered include conflict-resolution, decision making, group development, leadership, and followership. Students learn facilitation techniques, problem-solving initiatives, teambuilding initiatives, ice breakers, games, and processing techniques.
This course fulfills: Health & Physical Education; Human Relations
HPE120 Introduction to Navigation
Credit 1Fall
This course introduces students to wilderness navigation. Students learn wilderness navigation concepts including map and field bearings, declination, triangulation, contour line interpretation, GPS receiver use, map types, scales and coordinate systems.
This course fulfills: Health & Physical Education
HPE170 Structure and Function of the Human Body
Credits 3Fall
Registration Requirement: RD090 and WR090, or IECC201R and IECC201W; and MTH020; each with a grade of "C" or better; or placement above stated course levels.
This course is the first in a series of courses that introduces exercises science to students who are interested in pursuing a career in the fitness industry. This course will introduce the anatomy and physiology of components involved in the human movement system including the nervous, skeletal, muscular, endocrine, cardiovascular, and respiratory systems. The processes of how the body produces and utilizes energy for exercise will also be introduced.
This course fulfills: Health & Physical Education
HPE172 Exercise Science
Credits 3Winter
Registration Requirement: RD090 and WR090, or IECC201R and IECC201W; and MTH020; each with a grade of "C" or better, or placement above stated course levels. HPE170 is recommended.
This course is the second in a series of courses that introduces exercises science to students who are interested in pursuing a career in the fitness industry. This course will introduce the mechanical laws and forces that affect movement as well as the effects exercise has on the human physiology will be emphasized. Common training concepts and how exercise impacts health and fitness will also be presented.
This course fulfills: Health & Physical Education
HPE174 Fitness Assessment and Programming
Credits 3Spring
Registration Requirement: RD090 and WR090, or IECC201R and IECC201W; and MTH020; each with a grade of "C" or better, or placement above stated course levels. HPE170 and HPE172 are recommended.
This course is the third in a series of courses that introduces exercises science to students who are interested in pursuing a career in the fitness industry. This course will introduce methods of assessing the health and fitness status of individuals. An emphasis will be placed on assessing the exercise readiness of individuals and designing exercise programs that are safe, efficient, goal oriented and addresses the needs of the individuals.
This course fulfills: Health & Physical Education
HPE260 Prevention and Care of Exercise-Related Injuries
Credits 3Winter
Registration Requirement: RD090 and WR090, or IECC201R and IECC201W, each with a grade of "C" or better; or placement above stated levels. Co-requisite: MTH058 or MTH065, or placement above stated levels. Recommended requisites: HPE170 and HE252.
This course is designed for future health and fitness professionals, coaches, or individuals involved in sport as an introduction to support the safety and well-being of participants. Throughout this course students will gain a basic understanding of human anatomy, learn how to recognize signs and symptoms of medical emergencies, develop and implement an appropriate emergency action plan, utilize strategies to recognize and reduce risk for injury or illness, and identify basic sport injuries. This course consists of lecture classes with an emphasis on hands-on application of skills.
This course fulfills: Health & Physical Education
HPE270 Introduction to Sport Psychology
Credits 3Winter/Spring
Registration Requirement: RD090 and WR090, or IECC201R and IECC201W; and MTH020; each with a grade of "C" or better, or placement above stated course levels.
This is an introductory course into the psychological principles of sport and exercise. Throughout this course students will explore different strategies for enhancing confidence, concentration, and motivation; discuss team development and leadership styles; and identify factors that influence motor skill development.
This course fulfills: Health & Physical Education
HPE285OL Wilderness Survival
Credits 3Fall/Winter/Spring
Registration Requirement: RD090 and WR090, or IECC201R and IECC201W; and MTH020; each with a grade of "C" or better, or placement above stated course levels. Students must be capable of participating in the field outing associated with the class. Students with disabilities are responsible for requesting accommodations and must do so a minimum of two weeks before the beginning of the term.
This course provides the information and skills necessary for safe, low-impact, outdoor travel. Topics include environmental hazards, land navigation, survival skills, introduction to search and rescue, introduction to wilderness emergency care, low-impact camping and environmental issues. This course includes information on Wilderness First Aid and Adult CPR and is recommended for all students interested in recreating outside.
This course fulfills: Health & Physical Education
HPE291 Lifeguard Training
Credits 2Fall/Spring
Registration Requirement: RD090 or IECC201R, with a grade of "C" or better; or placement above stated course level. On the first day of class, all participants must successfully complete the following: 1) 300 yd. continuous swim demonstrating rhythmic breathing, 2) 2 minute tread-water using only legs, 3) a timed event (within 1 min, 40 sec) including a 20 yd swim, dive 7-10 ft., retrieve 10# object, swim 20 yd on back using both hands to hold the object and swim with face above water.
This is an American Red Cross/college course that will teach students to recognize an emergency, respond appropriately, and prevent injury in an aquatic environment. Effective pool supervision, education and enforcement of rules, and various rescue techniques will be covered. Successful completion of this course may include the American Red Cross Lifeguard Certification, CPR/AED Certification and First Aid Certification.
This course fulfills: Health & Physical Education
HPE295 Health and Fitness for Life (Course offered online)
Credits 3Summer/Fall/Winter/Spring
Registration Requirement: RD090 and WR090, or IECC201R and IECC201W; and MTH020; each with a grade of "C" or better, or placement above stated course levels. This is a 3-credit class which includes 2 hours of lecture/wk and the face-to-face student is expected to participate in 1500 minutes of ACT Lab workouts during the term.
Health and Fitness for Life explores how wellness, physical fitness, stress, nutrition and cardiovascular health affect an individual's health and well-being. This course includes an exercise component that requires students to actively engage in exercise within a designated workout facility.
This course fulfills: Health & Physical Education
Course offered online
Cultural Literacy course