Posted: 7 December 2023
Over the summer, we launched a new suite of Nutrition qualifications, endorsed against the Association for Nutrition’s competency framework:
YMCA Level 3 Award in Nutrition for Physical Activity and Exercise (610/2286/X)
YMCA Level 4 Certificate in Advanced Nutrition for Health, Weight Management and Sports Performance
Dave Ireson, owner of Envisage Training in Sheffield, along with several of his learners were the first cohort to complete the YMCA Level 4 Certificate in Advanced Nutrition for Health, Weight Management, and Sports Performance, which contains content from the smaller L3 and L4 qualifications. The group completed the course over six full days of learning and assessment, and they shared their initial thoughts and feedback about their experience.
The L4 Nutrition course uses digital education platform Suada to make the learning process as flexible and accessible as possible. Dave said it allowed him and his students to go into greater depth on the topic in comparison to other online learning tools, including Y-Mark.
The qualification is broken up into learning and assessment modules, covering a variety of nutrition topics such as how to calculate detailed body fat measurements and sweat loss testing. It also includes a variety of thorough case studies, which the group especially enjoyed. Although they were challenging, the learners felt a real sense of accomplishment upon completing them and gained confidence to be able to complete similar tasks with their own clients.
Dave also mentioned that the course helped him gain “a much better understanding of nutrition overall and how it applies to different client goals, including health, weight management, and sports/activity.” He found the experience quite challenging, but in a good way. According to him, it pushes learners to work hard and in turn will truly prepare them for the challenges they’ll face in the real working world.
The L4 Nutrition course is designed for the learners who enjoy a challenge and are looking to gain solid understanding of advanced nutrition in the focus area. Due to the depth of the course, the group greatly benefited from having a tutor with a strong base of knowledge and daily hands-on work experience with clients to help them reach their health and performance goals. Dave’s main piece of advice for centres looking to deliver this qualification is to ensure they have a tutor with a wide base of knowledge but who also works directly with clients to reach their health and performance goals.
Once they completed the trial run of the course, Dave’s learners said they’re excited to continue their nutrition studies. Some will be immediately applying what they learned into their own business and client base; others are looking to continue their studies by moving on to a degree in nutrition.
We are looking forward to sharing more information with you about the YMCA Level 4 Certificate in Advanced Nutrition for Health, Weight Management, and Sports Performance as well as our other upcoming qualifications. If you have any questions or would like to discuss the L4 Nutrition qualification further, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.