Which certification do you hold?

[TheClips]

Hi guys, I'm sure this has been done before in a poll, but I couldn't find anything. Obviously, I'm considering making the jump to being a personal trainer and know the importance of having certification and just don't want to make the "wrong" decision.

If you could, please tell me:
1. Which cert program you went through
2. Where you work primarily (gym, own your own PT business, etc.)
3. Are you earning enough to live and have this be your only job?
4. Any regrets going through the program you chose?
5. Have you ever received any noteworthy PRAISE or CRITICISM about your cert?
6. How difficult was your course and what type of prep did you do?
7. Any other career-uplifting advice you'd like to offer?

Thanks so much guys, and I'll try to give out as many reps as I can.

[TheClips]

Whaaaaaat? Twenty-seven people read this in the personal training section and NONE of them are certified?

What's a cert-hopeful-homeboy to do??

[reichman]

Hi guys, I'm sure this has been done before in a poll, but I couldn't find anything. Obviously, I'm considering making the jump to being a personal trainer and know the importance of having certification and just don't want to make the "wrong" decision.

If you could, please tell me:
1. Which cert program you went through
2. Where you work primarily (gym, own your own PT business, etc.)
3. Are you earning enough to live and have this be your only job?
4. Any regrets going through the program you chose?
5. Have you ever received any noteworthy PRAISE or CRITICISM about your cert?
6. How difficult was your course and what type of prep did you do?
7. Any other career-uplifting advice you'd like to offer?

Thanks so much guys, and I'll try to give out as many reps as I can.

I am certified through NASM. The reason I went with NASM (back in 2009) was because I planed on moving back to Boise ID where my family was once I got out of the Navy. In Boise it seemed that all the gyms used it there and one gym recommended the cert so I went for NASM. I never did go back to Boise and live in Washington State now, haha. I do work at a small gym that has other trainers with ACSM and ACE. This job is not my only job. I currently work another job unrelated to this field, but I do have an interview with another gym tomorrow! I will let you know what they require or what happens. I have no regrets with the cert I have. There are plenty of prestigious ***** out there so whatever one you choose I think you will be fine. Good luck!

[TheClips]

Awesome, thanks for your input! It's seeming the more I hear, the less it "truly" matters which certification you have, provided you aren't inept, understand fitness in a safe context and are motivated to help people.

Oh yeah, and how hard was the test? I've been an avid reader of health/fitness related stuff for years and have taken anatomy/physiology in the past (not collegiate level though) as well as nutrition classes (in college). I guess for some reason I'm always worried about the possibility of failure even though I'm intelligent, good at learning and passionate about this type of thing....maybe it's the money investment involved, or just the plain ol' fear of failure.

Anyone else?

[coloBB]

1. Which cert program you went through
ACE CPT, NASM CPT, ISSA Fitness Nutrition Cert., (next month) USA Weightlifting Level 1 Sports Performance Certification

2. Where you work primarily (gym, own your own PT business, etc.)
Private studio 30 to 35 session per week, 10 to 15 independant (in home) sessions per week.

3. Are you earning enough to live and have this be your only job?
More than enough, and able to save 1k per month.

4. Any regrets going through the program you chose?
ACE was IMO not worth the $. and the ISSA Nutrition cert I just recieved, so the jury is still out on that.

5. Have you ever received any noteworthy PRAISE or CRITICISM about your cert?
NASM everyone is impressed by, and soon to be USA weightlifting coach seems to be held in high regard.

6. How difficult was your course and what type of prep did you do?
Studied for 6 months for my first cert, and then only a couple of months for each after that. Not too difficult if you have a basic understanding of biology, human movement.

7. Any other career-uplifting advice you'd like to offer?
Just like any other career it takes TIME. But you HAVE to have a passion for health/fitness (which you obviously have). Try to specialize and try to find a good area to train with a high income (i'm lucky to live where I do).


Good luck man!

[HollisterHB]

1. Which cert program you went through
NASM CPT and NASM CES

2. Where you work primarily (gym, own your own PT business, etc.)
Corporate Gym

3. Are you earning enough to live and have this be your only job?
I'm barely making enough to cover living expenses and going out once and a while. First 3 months, wasn't even close to covering life expenses luckily had money saved up. (started 7 months ago)

4. Any regrets going through the program you chose?
No, it's a highly respected cert and haven't seen a gym that doesn't prefer it.

5. Have you ever received any noteworthy PRAISE or CRITICISM about your cert?
Never received any bad criticism about having NASM.

6. How difficult was your course and what type of prep did you do?
I purchased the textbook online and read it on and off for about 3 months. Purchased the package online, set up a date to take the exam and passed. I personally thought it was a piece of cake but I also have a background in health sciences.

7. Any other career-uplifting advice you'd like to offer?
Same as the above poster. It takes time. The location of the gym also matters. I work at a corporate gym in a very wealthy town and it really makes a difference. It's nice when the people at the gym can actually afford training. The tough part is providing enough value for them to want to actually train with you.

[TheClips]

Awesome answers, guys! Thanks for all the intell and advice....luckily I do indeed live near a rich-ass town, so hopefully finding clients won't be a problem! I think I'm probably gonna go for it, get certified and do it......but not before I get more responses in this thread ;P

[reichman]

Like I said I would I will share with you my experience with the interview I had today.

The guy who interviewed me told me he liked how I was certified with NASM. He told me that he has seen nothing but great things from trainers who have this certificate. I was relieved to hear this because I was afraid he was going to tell me he wanted me to have a different certificate, haha. The interview went well and I now have a second interview or a mock up training session with the owner of the gym.

Have you decided on what certificate you are going to go after yet?

[bryan101b]

If you could, please tell me:

1. Which cert program you went through:
NSCA, as well as SETS (School of Exercise Training & Science, local private school)

2. Where you work primarily (gym, own your own PT business, etc.)
No job, but am looking to start (just got certified oct)

3. Are you earning enough to live and have this be your only job?
If I was single, not yet, but once things got rolling im sure it would.

4. Any regrets going through the program you chose?
Nope.

5. Have you ever received any noteworthy PRAISE or CRITICISM about your cert?
Only from people who know who and what the National Strength & Conditioning Association are/is.

6. How difficult was your course and what type of prep did you do?
National pass rate for the NSCA-CPT last i checked was 45% fail, 55% pass. pass/fail in my class was 50/50.

7. Any other career-uplifting advice you'd like to offer?
No, but I'd be happy to have some too.

[Torrtrefireto]

1. NSCA-CPT and CSCS, soon to be USAW and someday CSCCa
2. Tennis club's fitness center and d1 athletics (intern)
3. **** no, not yet. I made 130$ during the past two weeks, not even enough for the gas it takes to get to and from my internship
4. Keeping my CPT was probably a waste, will probably let it expire next time. USAW isn't that respected in the S&C field so it will be a waste but its still almost required
5. NSCA-CPT no. IMHO its the best CPT cert but nobody knows the difference, CSCS people who are actually in the field are very impressed. Regular people on the street couldn't care less
6. NSCA-CPT not hard. CSCS hard.
7. If you can market well and are outgoing you can make good money as a PT.

[rdferguson]

1. Which cert program you went through

Being Australian, I haven't done abything in the poll. I went to college and spent 2 years fulltime studying Cert III, Cert IV and Diploma of Fitness, with 2 elective courses (each 1 semester long) in Strength & Conditioning. Since then I've done a Pilates Matwork course (I was introduced to the good aspects of Pilates during my Diploma; once I did the Pilates course I quickly realised that what little I'd been introduced to during the diploma was about the only stuff worth knowing or implementing from Pilates), PUNCHfit trainer course, and Level 1 Powerlifting Coach course through Powerlifting Australia.

2. Where you work primarily (gym, own your own PT business, etc.)

In spite of all the qualifications listed above and the fact that I've been training people since 2008, I've only had part-time work as PT thus far, and currently I'm between jobs. As much as I'd love to start my own independent PT business, I'm not interested in training people in parks (and feel like I'd be doing people a disservice at this point if I did try to run business outdoors), I don't want the hassels of training people in their homes and I definitely don't want the risks to my own privacy of training people in my own home...plus having 2 neurotic jack russels at home that would bark at (or affectionately tackle) any clients for the duration of any PT session just makes it an unprofessional, inappropriate environment. For me I don't want to be doing PT outside of a gym environment, so I'm just waiting for a viable position in a gym to land my name on it.

3. Are you earning enough to live and have this be your only job?

Obviously not; refer to above.

4. Any regrets going through the program you chose?

No, although if I hadn't have looked into things that contradicted a lot of the stuff I was taught during my cert 3, 4 and diploma (eg the issue of squatting below parallel) and had just assumed that everything I'd learnt was accurate and complete, that would be something dreadfully mournful.

5. Have you ever received any noteworthy PRAISE or CRITICISM about your cert?

When I was finishing my diploma, a job recruiter from a big-name gym announced that he'd come to our college because of how good our students were, but other than that, no. Most gym managers seem to be oblivious to the different courses out there or different teaching/training standards around the place; but it is a concensus amongst most PT's in Australia that AIF (Australian Institute of Fitness) is an epic phail at producing quality PT's.

6. How difficult was your course and what type of prep did you do?

It was the hardest course I've ever done. I've had to do some hard work mentally at school and in other courses, but the 2 years getting my main qualifications were a lot more intensive than what most uni students I know have to endure. I'm glad I didn't have a job on top of study, or I would have burnt out.

7. Any other career-uplifting advice you'd like to offer?

The certifaction you get is the first in a long line of stepping stones. Your cert doesn't mean you know everything about fitness, it means you're ready to start learning about fitness. Safety comes first, and don't listen to all the hoo-hah about confidence. It's accurate that you need to be confident, but worrying about having confidence usually only results in arrogance. Instead, focus on learning how to train properly. Train properly yourself. Apply proper training principles to your clients. Focus on what works, not what's in vogue. Have a positive attitude: towards yourself, towards your clients, towards your work, and towards people in general. And have drive. If you have drive and attitude, and you constantly put in the hard yards to make yourself more knowledgeable in the things that are worth knowing, and in making yourself more competent as a trainer, confidence will come. Get used to saying hi to people, set objectives for yourself every time you go to work (and those objectives don't have to be picking up X amount of clients, but they might be to introduce yourself to X amount of people and to get the gym floor looking presentable) and work towards meeting those objectives. As you come to realise that you can actually do your job, you'll become more confident. So again, don't worry about trying to be confident, just focus on doing things that will result in more confidence in yourself as a person, and in yourself as a personal trainer.