If you are looking to become a personal trainer, or you are looking for a personal trainer and want to know which personal training certification is best, it can be a difficult task. Due to lack of regulation, there are literally hundreds of organizations that will certify a person as a personal trainer. Some of these organizations are reputable, but unfortunately many of them are not. In this article we’ll take a look at how to spot the better certifications from the not so good one’s.
A quick search on the internet for a personal trainer certification will yield hundreds of results. Virtually all of the organizations out there claim to be the best. For someone looking to get into the field of personal training, or simply trying to find a qualified personal trainer, this can make it seem a bit overwhelming. Due to a lack of regulation in most places, personal trainers get certified, and not licensed. This would be fine if all of the organizations out there had universal standards. Unfortunately, they do not.
You may be surprised to learn that some organizations will “certify” a trainer in an afternoon. The more reputable organizations generally require six months or more of study in order to pass their exam. Exams for the reputable organizations typically take place in professional testing centers across the country. They are monitored, and the person taking the exam may be photographed and/or videotaped while taking the exam. These quality control methods ensure that no one is able to cheat or pass the exam in an unfair way.
The most appropriate question at this point is how to find the reputable organizations. If you are an aspiring personal trainer, you want to make sure your time and money is well invested and will help land you clients and employment. If you are simply looking for a personal trainer, you want to make sure you have a personal trainer who is well qualified, and has studied thoroughly in order to pass their exam. One of the best ways to sort out the good organizations from the not so good one’s is to go online and do a search for personal trainers. You will want to take a look at dozens of personal trainer bios and their backgrounds.
After doing so, you will begin to see the same certifications coming up again and again. You can begin to write down the names of the certifications that you see often. After you have done thorough research in this area, you can then do an internet search for the website of each individual organization. Upon doing this, you will begin to see how old the organization is, what their testing format is, how many people they certify worldwide, and if their testing standards have been accredited through an outside third party.
The major certifications are proud to display their background and testing standards. Rather than claiming to be the best, their testing standards will prove whether or not they are a reputable organization. The best or most reputable certification is ACSM (American College of Sports Medicine), but NSCA, ACE, NASM and ISSA certifications are all good too. The most important aspect of a successful personal trainer is the trainer themselves.
The field of personal training has hundreds of certifying organizations. Only a small handful however are well respected and acknowledged in the industry. Whether you are studying to become a personal trainer, or just want to make sure you have a well educated trainer to work with, it’s important to take the time to research personal training certifications. For more information, you can visit the cleveland personal trainer website on this and other related topics topics.