‘Any fitness enthusiast should consider it - you’re making a big difference to people’s lives’

Coleg Llandrillo is offering a new gym instructors’ course from January - and lecturer Sam Downey is living proof of the doors the course can unlock.

Sam is performance coach for the Cymru under-14 and U13 football teams, and was also drafted into the U17 men’s set-up for last summer’s European Championships in Cyprus.

From January 22, the former professional footballer will lead Coleg Llandrillo’s Level 2 Gym Instructors’ course - the same qualification that launched his career journey.

“It’s a really good way to get your foot in the door of the fitness industry,” said Sam, who now plays for Caernarfon Town in the Cymru Premier. “It covers anatomy, physiology, nutrition, health and safety, and customer service.

“The end objective is to give you the qualification to lead small group-based fitness classes, which is massive in the industry at the minute. There are loads of jobs looking for fitness instructors to lead a variety of different styles of classes, so it gives you that base level foundation knowledge to allow you to go and do that.”

Sam says the course is ideal for people of any age who want to work in the fitness industry - whether they’re starting their career journey, looking to change careers or want to turn their hobby into a source of additional income.

He added: “What people may not realise is that for those who are already in careers, it’s a really easy bolt-on to add to their life in terms of gaining this qualification and then doing part-time hours in the gym.

“Being an instructor pays well, and any fitness enthusiast should really consider it. It isn’t overly demanding in that you could pick up two or three classes a week, and if you go to the gym anyway then the difference is you’re getting paid for it!”

Sam gained the Level 2 Gym Instructors qualification while playing professional football as a teenager, and it has shaped his career path since then.

Pictures: FAW

“It’s how I got into the industry when I was 17,” he said. “I left school at 16 to join Lincoln City on a youth contract, and as part of the programme there you did one day a week at college.

“So I did Level 3 Performance and Excellence, which I now lead here at Coleg Llandrillo, and as part of that they also offered the Level 2 fitness instructing qualification.

“I did that and just banked it, because I didn’t need it at the time. But having that qualification has been instrumental in terms of the career I’ve had since then.”

After leaving Lincoln City, Sam played professionally in Sweden and Iceland, before studying a sport and exercise science degree at Loughborough University, where he became interested in strength and conditioning (S&C) coaching.

“At Loughborough you’re surrounded by all the best S&C coaches, so I was just drawn to it,” he said.

After graduating, Sam studied his PGCE at Coleg Llandrillo. His Level 2 Gym Instructors’ qualification enabled him to work as a fitness instructor at DW Sports, where he was soon asked to be the in-house personal trainer - delivering 20 to 30 classes a week which gave him his main income while training to be a teacher.

Once qualified, Sam started teaching full-time at Llandrillo, also becoming the strength and conditioning coach for the college’s football academy. Around the same time, he became player-coach at Colwyn Bay Football Club, where his talent was spotted and he was invited to join the Football Association of Wales.

“I’m the performance coach for the U14 and U13 age groups who train at Colliers Park in Wrexham,” he said. “So that’s looking after strength and conditioning, preparation, optimisation, recovery.

“We do a lot of fitness testing, developing a profile for our national players so that when they do get to U17 and U18 level, we’ve got a really good background history of their progress.”

Having impressed in this role, Sam was asked to join the U17 men’s squad for the European Championships in Cyprus, where Cymru faced demanding games against Austria, Croatia, and Denmark.

“It was the first time they’ve ever qualified so it was a really good experience,” said Sam, who was able to draw on Bangor University research taught at Coleg Llandrillo during his time with the squad.

“I was the practitioner for recovery strategies, optimisation strategies, strength and conditioning - but my main role was to deliver strategies on heat acclimatisation. The boys are playing at England-based clubs so we’re not exposed to the heat, and one of the main issues from a sport science perspective is making sure the players are prepared to deal with the environment they’re in.

“So I was asked to go in and lead the heat acclimatisation strategies, and it was actually research developed at Bangor Uni, which Steve Kehoe leads and delivers here at college in the advanced physiology unit on the Sport Science degree. So it was nice that it was research that was developed here that I could then go and practice at that level.”

Sam is also launching his own business offering sport science support to semi-pro football teams across Wales, in partnership with FAW physio Ritson Lloyd.

But while he has amassed plenty of experience working with elite sportspeople, he is just as happy helping ordinary folk achieve their fitness goals, and feels this is one of the most rewarding aspects of being a fitness instructor.

“Working in the fitness industry you come across every type of individual - from people who have never been in a fitness class before, to high-level athletes,” he said. “The challenges within that give you so much momentum and so much love for the job, because you genuinely are making a difference to people’s lives.

“To that person in the class who has never been in the gym before, you might be the most important part of their day, because you’re giving them the confidence to do it. You get to meet people who genuinely depend on you to guide them through their health and wellbeing, and it’s a really rewarding environment to be in.”

Are you passionate about fitness? Do you want to help others achieve their health goals? Coleg Llandrillo’s Level 2 Certificate in Gym Instructing, starting on January 22, is the perfect starting point for your career. Click here to learn more