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Do your clients care that your personal trainer certification comes from a specific organization?

Do they even care that you have letters after your name at all as long as they get results?

Should there be a standard measuring stick for personal training certifications?

These questions have been wildly debated for years and there's still no clear cut answer as to what's best. One thing is clear however: some sort of training and education is essential so clients don't get hurt. 

As the adage goes, "knowledge is power" so the more knowledge a personal trainer has, the better equipped they are to properly and effectively train their clients to produce results without injury.

Where should this knowledge come from?

Some argue that earning a degree in exercise science and/or kinesiology yields the most respect among fitness professionals. The time invested guarantees that the professional had dedicated ‘real life' time to understanding human anatomy and how it works. It also assures that the professional didn't receive a fly-by-night certification from a "back-alley" cert company, which, by the way, are out there. National Federation of Professional Trainers (NFPT), strongly recommends that the certifications of choice are accredited by the National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA) of which NFPT is one.

Do your homework and talk to other trainers to gather information and opinions. Then, decide which path is best for you, considering your personal time, along with the crucial aspect of the knowledge base and benefits you'll acquire from your chosen certification organization. Find the right "fit". For example, if you want to work with average fitness training clients you may should chose NFPT. If you are working with athletes you may want to chose the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA). This is a logical approach to selecting what educational credentialing organization is right for you. Degreed fitness professionals will charge more and could be considered by some to be over qualified.

Most clients have no way of distinguishing between certification A or B and are content to know you have training to get results in the safest, fastest way. They don't give a hoot about letters after your name - they care that you helped their friend Suzy Q get fantastic results and they want the same.

When personal trainers were asked about standardization for the certification process, the overwhelming majority, according to PFP, said yes. However, they were also concerned about who would be the standardizing body and what standards would be set. Ron Clark, President and CEO of the NFPT states, "The most respected education providers within the credentialing industry have been meeting for years now to find an answer to standardization and believe that the NCCA accreditation is the most rigorous and best protects the public from unqualified trainers." Mr. Clark continues, "Embrassing the NCCA and industry self-regulation would further minimize the threat of legislators who could come up with laws governing an industry which they know nothing about, and that would lead to disaster."

Since personal training crosses many plains, e.g.: functional, post-rehab, bodybuilding, it would be difficult to establish one general standard that would fit all methods of training. Some point out that the industry would suffer because some trainers would not be able to afford certification, resulting in a lack of qualified trainers.

Others state that a general standardization would benefit the industry because it would weed out the non-serious, non-qualified trainers. Many noted that doctors have minimal requirements, why shouldn't trainers? Once again, there is consensus that NCCA is the standard our industry has been looking for.

What say you?

Would a governmental law develop more qualified trainers? Would a law produce trainers who automatically protect their clients and who are passionate about their craft?

Would a free market continue to bring every paper mill certification organization out of the woodwork? After all, there are scores of trainers with no certifications who have decades of hands-on experience and whose clients have seen incredible results and no injuries along the way.

No matter what happens in the industry, there will always be clients who choose uncertified personal trainers and pay "under the table" because they do not want to pay the higher price for a certified, educated fitness professional.

Personal trainers need to continually research, self-educate and keep abreast of current trends so we can be that sought-after trainer whose clients have to "take a number" to get session time with.

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