GET HEALTHY HERE
PERSONAL TRAINER & KINESIOLOGY
DR. DEWITT
Dr. DeWitt teaches in the Kinesiology department.
In Kinesiology there are different tracks that students can major in:
Teaching, Recreation, Pre-Professional, Recreation and Sport Ministry, and Fitness. In the Fitness track the focus is how to make general baseline assessments for where people are in their health status, and how to plan for healthy living in exercise and nutrition.
The students are taught not only how to properly lift weights and workout but how to set up programs tailored to their clients for maintaining a healthy lifestyle. In their senior year there is an optional class for the fitness kinesiology students to take a certification through the National Counsel on Strength and Fitness.
The students are able to take this course which is a review of all the information they've had in four years and then they can take the certification examination before they graduate. This means that the students can walk out of Ouachita not only with a degree but also with a national certification as a personal trainer.
This type of certification allows them to be a professional personal trainer that can set up flexibility programs, nutrition programs, conditioning programs, strength programs, and a variety of assessments for different people. They can work with children, adults, senior citizens, and people with special needs.
Dr. DeWitt is passionate about Kinesiology and is appreciative for the Fitness classes offered here.
"Fitness is a really big deal because it involves everybody. Everybody deserves to live to be a hundred. The way you do that is through having a healthy lifestyle. There are no guarantees but at least you can help yourself along the way by living right."
There are a few students on campus who are currently certified as personal trainers. Majors other than Kinesiology are able to take the review class but there are two or three prerequisites that should be completed before taking that senior level class.
