What Is an Athletic Trainer and Why Would You Want to See One?

These athletic trainers must obtain:

• Bachelor’s degree, or
• Master’s degree

Athletic trainers are healthcare professionals that provide medical service to individuals of all ages. An athletic trainer is well educated and very capable of helping you deal with injuries.

What Athletic Trainers Do

As a specialist in caring for athletes and anyone who exercise, these athletic trainers can help you in multiple ways, including but not limited to:

• Injury prevention
• Manual therapy
• Wellness services
• Musculoskeletal injuries or conditions

At the Y, personal trainers will help members with equipment orientation and set up. But members may have questions about various machines or exercises after orientation. An athletic trainer at the Y is a resource who can explain and show you the best way to perform exercises. In fact, you’ll often be see them showing members how to use the equipment in our facility properly.

As a member of the Y, you’ll want to see an athletic trainer under different circumstances.

When to Work with an Athletic Trainer

When and why would you want to work with an athletic trainer over a personal trainer? While both can help you reach your goals, the athletic trainer is the person that you want to see when:

• You want to prevent injuries
• You want to treat injuries

Athletes go to their athletic trainer when they’re suffering through injuries. The athletic trainer has the education to pinpoint the injury and can follow multiple paths to find a way to correct the injury.

At the Y, our athletic trainer works in our Cardio Strength Center and is available for consultations with all our members. Youth athletes who participate on our competitive gymnastics team or our competitive swim team also benefit from working with our athletic trainer. Even participants in our program for cancer survivors, LiveSTRONG at the YMCA can work with our athletic trainer.

These dedicated healthcare individuals will work closely with physical therapists, doctors and patients to ensure that you’re following the right plan to overcome injuries.

You may want to see our athletic  trainer when you’re:

• Returning to physical activity after an injury and want to make sure that what you’re doing doesn’t lead to further complications or set back your progress.
• Returning to activity after surgery and need to gradually work your way back to your former fitness level.
• Suffering from an injury or have been nursing a nagging injury and want to speak to a professional that can help you identify the injury and work to stop it from progressing.

Our Athletic Trainers Can Help You Return to Peak Fitness

Our members have the option of working with an athletic trainer to meet their goals. All of our members have access to athletic trainers as part of their membership. When you work with one of our trainers, you’ll be able to come back every week to mark your progress.

We have an athletic trainer at the facility 40 hours a week to better meet the needs of all members.

Monthly talks are also provided free of charge. These educational opportunities allow you to learn from a professional who will be able to help you understand injuries and pain, and keep you working toward your fitness goals.