Sports Science
Why Trainers Should Become Motor Skills Specialists
From the FASTER syllabus: this article is taught in full in The Motor Skill Application Specialist →
In short: The Motor Skills Application Specialist course gives trainers a deep understanding of the human movement system so they can design safer, more effective, individualised sessions — which reduces injury risk, serves a more diverse client base, and helps them stand out and charge more in a saturated market.
The fitness industry moves, and the trainers who last are the ones who keep sharpening their skill set. The Motor Skills Application Specialist course is one of the qualifications doing that for a growing number of trainers. Here's what it actually gives you.
A real grasp of the human movement system
Every exercise sits on top of the human movement system. This course goes deep into how muscles, bones and joints work together — and once you genuinely understand that, you design sessions that are both more effective and safer. It's the difference between copying a programme and building one.
Better client performance
Every client wants to improve — lift heavier, run faster, move more freely. A proper understanding of motor skills lets you tailor exercises to an individual's biomechanics rather than handing everyone the same template. You target the specific qualities that will move the needle for this person.
Lower injury risk
An injury can wipe out weeks or months of progress. When you understand how motor skills are applied and where the body's limits sit, you can programme inside safe boundaries and cut the risk of setbacks. Clients notice when their training keeps them healthy.
A more diverse client base
No two clients are the same. Some carry old injuries, some are athletes, some are complete beginners. This course equips you to coach across that whole range, giving each person a plan that's genuinely customised to them rather than forcing them into a generic mould.
Standing out in a saturated market
The industry is crowded. To stand out you need to offer something specific, and being a motor skills specialist does exactly that. It sets you apart, draws more clients toward you, and supports higher fees — because you're no longer just another generalist competing on price.
Advanced techniques and a holistic approach
The course introduces training techniques and tools you can fold into your sessions, which keeps clients engaged and challenged rather than bored. It also pushes you past a narrow "lift weights and do cardio" view toward a rounded approach that includes flexibility, balance, strength and endurance — the full picture of what makes someone move well.
Stronger relationships, better retention
When clients see real results from an approach built around them, trust builds. That trust is what turns a short-term client into a long-term one and a satisfied client into a source of referrals. A specialism you can point to makes that trust easier to earn.
An investment in your career
The best trainers never stop learning. The Motor Skills Application Specialist course isn't just another certificate to hang on the wall — it's advanced knowledge that changes how you coach, sets you apart, and lets you deliver more to your clients. For anyone serious about making a mark in this industry, that's an investment worth making.
You just read one answer. The course is all of them.
The Motor Skill Application Specialist: every answer marked by a real tutor, with free return access for life. The price is on the page, payment plans at checkout, no sales calls.
What every FASTER student gets
Built around you, not around the course
- A real person marks every answerEvery answer is read and marked by a tutor, with written feedback.
- Marked as you goEach teaching point is marked as you answer it, not at the end of the module.
- Dictate instead of typeA microphone on every written answer: say your answer and it types it for you (Chrome, Edge and Safari).
- Listen to the lessonsVoice-overs on the lessons, and the audio to download.
- Built for the way your brain worksShort lessons, one point at a time, marked as you go, with the choice to listen, read, print or speak your answers.
- Streaks that never punish youYou set how many days a week you want to study. Miss a day and your streak pauses; it is never lost.
- Accessible to WCAG AA, with an AAA optionEvery page measured against the WCAG accessibility standard: no faults at level A or AA, with a skip link, screen-reader labels and pages that hold together zoomed to 400%. A high-contrast option takes it to AAA.
- Keep it plainOne switch turns off the extras, the streaks, the badges, the celebrations and the movement, so the site stays plain and calm. Switch them back on whenever you like.
- Bigger text and wider spacingTwo steps of bigger text, and more room between lines, words and letters, on every page.
- Calmer motionOne switch stops animations and videos that play on their own. It is on already if your phone or computer asks for reduced motion.
- A personal video lessonWhen an answer needs real explaining, your marker records a video that lands in your course.
- A note before you sendBefore you send, the page tells you if your answer copies the lesson word for word, so you can put it in your own words.
- The skeleton and muscle labsTap any bone on the skeleton, and see the muscles light up on the model.
- Print the notesPrint the lessons and go old school.
- Case studies on your phoneBuilt into the site, saved as you go, there on your laptop when you sit down.
- Pin it to your home screenNo App Store and no Google Play. It is just there.
- No resit feesWork sent back is a chance to add more, with no resit fee.
- Return access for lifeQualify once and come back to the content whenever you need it.
- PT Manager from day onePT Manager is yours to learn on from the day you sign up. Using it with real clients comes once you hold your Level 3 and are listed on the FASTER Trainer Register.
- The FASTER Trainer RegisterA free listing on the Register once you qualify.
- Your certificates in one placeEvery course and its certificate on one page.
- Ask JohnThe Ask John button on every page, and his WhatsApp.
And PT Manager, free
51 tools to run your business, with no monthly fee and no cut of your money
PT Manager is yours to learn on from the day you sign up. Using it with real clients comes once you hold your Level 3 and are listed on the FASTER Trainer Register.
See all 51 tools
Set-up
- Import clients Bring a whole client list across in one go.
- My quotes Daily lines your clients see — yours, not stock.
- Programme templates The programme shapes you reuse — a session or twelve weeks. Pick one for a client, get your own copy.
- Exercise library Every exercise with FASTER coaching detail.
- Money Products, payments and who owes what.
- Send from your own email Connect your own email service so invites arrive from you, on your domain.
- My brand & client view What your clients see when they walk in — views, header, accent, logo.
- Your enrolment pack What every new client gets the moment you enrol them — your forms, ours, or a mix.
- Products and services What you sell — blocks, packages, memberships and one-offs, with their prices.
- Insurance Your policy on record — provider and expiry. Client features unlock while it is valid.
- My menu Switch any tool on or off — for your menu, your home and your whole account.
- Your website A free website on your own web address, filled from PT Manager. Or just the client sign-in door on your domain.
- Your public page Your verified Trainer Register listing, linking out to your own site and socials.
Business day to day
- Clients Your client list — invite, open a client, manage their space.
- Clubs Group your clients — a board they share, a programme or a monthly price if you want one.
- Challenges A dated push everyone logs against — for everyone you train, or for one club.
- Calendar Sessions, classes, capacity and bookings.
- Reminders The dates your business can't let lapse — insurance and first aid, nagged ahead of time.
- Nudges Who needs a nudge today — opportunities, one tap each.
- Who needs chasing Every conversation about money, in the order to work through them.
- What needs doing Your own list, in your own words — the jobs you keep meaning to get to.
- Till Sell at the desk — cash, card or on their phone — and download the sales sheet.
- What you are making What is coming in every month, what was paid in the last 30 days, and what sells.
Templates and systems
- Forms & interviews PAR-Q, consent, consultations and your own forms.
- Coaching room The coaching tools shelf — wheels, journeys and resources in one place.
- Radar wheels Build a life or performance wheel a client fills in — see change over time.
- Nutrition by FASTER Nutrition sheets and habits without meal-plan pretence.
- Pathways Automated coaching journeys you assign to clients.
- Programmes Start a programme — a session, a month, 12 weeks or a season — and find the ones you have built.
- Games & drills planner Build game-based sessions and drills.
- Sport screens Pick a sport — the shots to film, the analyser, and a ready-made radar of the qualities that matter.
- Movement screen → radar Read joint angles off the analyser — they auto-score and fill a radar wheel.
- Assessment builder Build and run client assessments and re-tests.
- Tag analytics Every tag across your clips, grouped and exportable.
Client
- AI prompts Your reusable prompt library for coaching copy.
- Before & after Side-by-side progress comparisons.
Trainer tools
- Exercise generator Fresh exercise ideas from constraints you set.
- FASTER dice & wheel Spin-and-roll session variety for groups and games.
- Movement demonstrator A 3D model of the FASTER movement patterns — body or skeleton view, prime movers lit up, live joint angles.
- Client video analysis Your media library — client folders and your own. Pick a clip to analyse.
- Movement by FASTER (HMAC) Human movement analysis charts — see how a client moves.
- Live analysis Mount your phone and coach live — skeleton, reps, angles and depth in real time.
- Tell a group One thing, to the right people — and you see exactly who it reaches first.
Media centre
- Video builder Reels, stories and client report videos, in your own branding.
- Image builder Branded posts and cards for your socials, at the right size.
- Shot list builder Every shot with its size, angle, lens, location, people, kit and sound; sorted into shooting order, ticked off on the day, printed or sent as a sheet.
- Storyboard builder Plan a video shot by shot: what the camera sees, what is said, the move and the cut.
- Script writer Write what you will say, with the word count and how long it takes to say.
- Teleprompter Read your script off the screen at your speed, and film yourself behind it.
- Video and image organiser Everything you have made and every source you can pull from.
- Ad builder Make your own ads, coached as you go, in your branding. As many as you like, no fee, no cap.
Frequently asked
What is the Motor Skills Application Specialist course?
An advanced qualification that teaches how the human movement system works — how muscles, bones and joints coordinate — so trainers can apply that understanding to design better, safer, more individual training.
How does it help client performance?
Understanding motor skills lets you tailor exercises to an individual's biomechanics, targeting the specific qualities behind lifting heavier, running faster or moving more freely.
Does it help reduce injuries?
Yes. Knowing how motor skills are applied, and the limits of the body, lets you programme within safe boundaries and cut the risk of setbacks that cost clients weeks or months.
Will it help me stand out?
In a saturated market, a clear specialism differentiates you. Being a motor skills specialist attracts more clients and supports higher fees.
Who is it useful for?
Trainers working with a diverse client base — past injuries, athletes, complete beginners — who want to give everyone a customised, effective plan rather than a one-size-fits-all programme.
Reading this for your own training? Every trainer on the FASTER register has been assessed by us — search by town or speciality, free.
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