update Akademie GmbH · Münchwilen (TG)
We train the people who get others moving.
Fitness and movement trainers, personal trainers, nutrition coaches, group fitness instructors: all of them learn the theory online with us and the practice on site. At the end there is a diploma that is valid in every fitness centre in Switzerland.
- Company
- update Akademie GmbH
- Based in
- Murgtalstrasse 20, Zukunftsfabrik, 9542 Münchwilen (TG)
- Managing director
- Markus Gsell
- Fields
- Fitness, sport, nutrition, group fitness
- Learning model
- Theory online, practical days on site, online consultation hours
- Quality
- ISO 9001:2015, certified by TÜV Rheinland
- Associations
- Swiss Active, SVBO
- Recognised by
- Qualitop, Qualicert, SFGV (module exams), SERI (federal contributions)

Why we exist
For a long time, getting ahead in the fitness industry meant sitting in a training room on fixed evenings. Anyone working shifts, raising children or living far away was left out. We saw it ourselves and in the trainers at the centres we work with.
So we turned the training around. The theory lives on our learning platform: course notes, videos, audio files, knowledge checks. You decide when and how fast you learn. Whatever you do not understand, you ask in the online consultation hour. Only once the theory has sunk in do you come to the practical days. There you practise in small groups with people who do the job themselves.
The model has held up for years, for career changers as much as for trainers aiming for the Swiss federal diploma. Every qualification counts towards the next. Nobody learns anything twice with us.
The academy is an independent company. We are closely tied to update Fitness AG: many of our instructors run centres there or teach classes. What does not prove itself on the gym floor does not make it into our course notes.
A few numbers
- 15’000+
- graduates
- 4.8 out of 5 from 326 reviews
- average of the approved reviews on this website
- 16 instructors
- all of them work in the profession
- 4 fields
- fitness, sport, nutrition, group fitness
As of today. Reviews and team size are calculated from this website.
How a training works
- Advice
- Online info evening or a one-to-one conversation. Both are free and without obligation.
- Theory
- On the learning platform, at your own pace. At home, on the train or at the gym.
- Consultation hour
- Online with our subject experts. Regularly, no travelling.
- Practical days
- Small groups at locations in German-speaking Switzerland, often at weekends. This is where application counts.
- Exam and diploma
- Once you pass the exam, your diploma is valid throughout Switzerland. And it counts as a building block for the next level.
Who teaches here
Nobody here only teaches. All 16 work in the profession: at the centre, in the class room or in their own practice. Four of them:
Markus BenzOperations ManagerQualified teacher, personal trainer and fitness and movement trainer. He keeps the place running.
Michalis GiannakopoulosHead of Fitness, Health & AthleticsMaster in Sports Science, fitness, personal and athletic trainer for many years.
Daniela StarkHead of Group FitnessTeaching since 2001, master trainer for P.I.I.T, UpCon and Powerstep, presenter at national events.
Naomi KempterSubject expertBachelor in Sports Science and Psychology, CAS in Sports Nutrition. Advises athletes on nutrition as an independent consultant.
Who vouches for us
Whether we are good is not for us to say. That is done by health-insurer labels, the associations and an independent certifier.
Where we are
Murgtalstrasse 20, Zukunftsfabrik
9542 Münchwilen
+41 71 555 36 42
info@update-akademie.ch
- Office
- Monday to Friday, 8 to 12 and 13 to 17
The practical days do not take place in Münchwilen but at locations in German-speaking Switzerland. Dates and venues are listed with each training.
Want to know whether this is right for you? Join the online info evening or book a conversation. Both are free and without obligation.