Fitness Coaching

by Brian
(Ohio)

I am working on becoming a Certified Personal Trainer but it's taking some time. My trainer says that I can coach fitness classes without being certified as long as I have everyone sign a waiver stating that they are aware of the possibility of injury, that signing the waiver states that they/their family will not pursue legal actions against the coach and that they are aware that I am not a certified trainer. My question is; is that enough? I've read a lot about this (I'm not going to blindly jump into something that could potentially get me into trouble) and there seems to be a divide there... some people say that a waiver is fine especially if you are fully open with the people and are not "training" them but just doing a workout and they're following along. Others say that it doesn't matter what they sign, they can still sue you if they hurt themselves... What do I need to know here? is there anyway to accomplish a coaching type setup without certification and insurance?