Personal Training Certifications: A Different Perspective
I’m going to start this off by saying that I fully expect many of you to disagree with what I say here.
Oh well.
Talk about personal training certifications and you’re bound to get a bunch of opinions and some people get pretty worked up over it.
I’ve heard plenty of fitness professionals complain about people being able to get certified in a 1 or 2 day weekend workshop or do a home study certification.
I’ve also heard a few guys scoff at people when they created their own certifications.
This is where I’m about to lose half of you.
Get over yourself.
See, coming from working in a University setting – this is how we looked at the educational hierarchy:
Level 1: Certification
Level 2: Associate Degree
Level 3: Bachelor’s Degree
Level 4: Master’s Degree
Level 5: Doctorate
Ummm, which is the lowest in this hierarchy?
Yep – Certification.
In my opinion – a Certification is a starting point – and only a starting point – for someone who wants to become a personal trainer, or in the case of specialty certifications – become more proficient in a particular discipline.
Let me give you another example outside the fitness industry that hopefully you all are familiar with.
CPR Certifications.
I’m pretty sure that it doesn’t take 6 months to get one of those. And if we’re equating importance of knowledge acquired with length of the course – shouldn’t it?
We’re talking about someone learning to save someone’s life, right?
If you’re going to give someone CPR, shouldn’t you practice more than an afternoon?
Shouldn’t you practice under adverse circumstances – because it’s pretty unlikely that you’ll actually be using what you learn in anything other than adverse circumstances.
To quote the American Heart Association: “The CPR Certification is a basic program designed to give you the confidence to respond in an emergency situation with skills that can save a life.”
But you wouldn’t assume that going through a CPR Course qualifies someone to be an Emergency Room Physician, would you?
You wouldn’t even say that qualifies them to be an EMT, right?
No – the Certification is simply a workshop where you learn a set of skills and some specific knowledge –and then are tested on the material that was presented to assess your proficiency.
Isn’t that what most fitness certifications are?
A workshop or specific material with a test to make sure that you were actually paying attention?
Personally – I wish more people had certifications where they gave a workshop and then actually tested you on the material that was presented.
These guys may hate me for saying this, but do you think the industry would be more or less effective if Mike Boyle was delivering workshops and the attendees were tested to see if they actually ‘got it’ when they came to training athletes?
What about if Alwyn Cosgrove gave a workshop on fat loss programming and the trainers were tested on their understanding of the material?
That would be bad?
Not from my perspective.
Personally, I don’t think that ‘too many certifications’ is the issue at all.
The issue is that some people think that Certification = Expert.
Nothing could be farther from the truth.
If you get a Certification, this is what it means to me: you were willing to fork over some money and invest some time and effort into learning more about a particular subject and are willing to be tested to measure your knowledge / proficiency.
It’s the starting point.
To become an expert, you don’t wait on your Diploma to arrive in the mail – you continue to study, research and work.
When you get your Certification – you know CPR – you’re not a doctor.
Let me know what *you* think below. Do you think I’m wrong? Tell me why. Do you agree? I want to know.
Dedicated to your success,
Pat Rigsby
Pat Rigsby is a Co-Owner of the International Youth Conditioning Association & the youth fitness franchise Athletic Revolution as well as a fitness industry consultant serving thousands of personal trainers and fitness entrepreneurs. Sign up for his fitness business free newsletter to discover proven marketing, sales and business strategies, along with blog updates, news, and more! While you’re at it, follow him on Twitter.
You make a great point. I certainly agree with you in most respects in terms of being certified is certainly only a starting point. I’m not sure exactly how the process works in the US but in Australia some companies offer an 8 week course where you come out a qualified trainer.
In my opinion there is no way these guys that finish school and do 8 weeks of study have the approriate skills to help someone with their health. But then again i guess there is only one way to get experience.
A great topic!
I find it funny how people think they’re experts because they got certified through NASM, NCSA etc. To tell you the truth a trainer can be book smart and use big words if they want too but they sure as hell won’t be booked with clients. Clients could care less who you certified through. They want to know if you have the knowledge to get them to where they need to be. A certification is a must but there shouldn’t be a hirearchy of the type of certification. NASM, NSCA, ISSA or whatever cert a trainer has means he or she has basic knowledge but there are so many articles, magazines and books that can enhance your knowledge.
Great Post Pat!
Some thoughts from a dude who has 9 of the best certification the industry has to offer:
#1) The body is one of the most complex things in the universe. Learning never stops and can take on many forms, personal experience being the most valuable.
#2) However, 1 year of experience repeated 10x is not the same as 10 years of experience!
#3) Therefore, it is important to go out and learn from multiple disciplines and perspectives, which allows us to be comprehensive and…
#4) …allows us to educate our clients and provide real world solutions for them.
“The purpose of knowledge is action” ~ Sir Francis Bacon
Cheers.
Jonathan
I agree with the main point of the article. However, I don’t see the difference between testing after a Boyle or Cosgrove workshop versus testing after learning a 16 hour course in CPR?
Also, if professionals are spending their time and paying the money to attend a workshop, I would assume that those people would put in the time and effort to get something out of it. If they aren’t willing to study and understand the material then it’s their loss.
But I do agree with your last point. I really dislike when people have a know-it-all attitude after they complete a basic certifcation (especially if they let it be known that they are ‘certified’)
Like all the others, I agree. What drives me crazy when I watch the “trainers” at my gym is body language. They don’t care about the person in front of them at all and it’s totally obvious. They show them an exercise and stand there and count to 10. There’s no encouragement, no praise, just count to 10 and write it in a log book. Plus they all look like professional beer drinkers and not a trainer.
No people skills.
While I understand what you’re posting, and agree with it in the context with which it was posted, it’s just not (at least IMO) representative nor indicative of much of the fitness world/industry.
A “certification” is more or less – simply put, anyway – just a third party test of some sort to determine that an individual knows something. This is supposed to signify to the otherwise uninitiated third-party (i.e. – customer) that the certified individual actually knows what they’re doing and can be trusted to do what they’re been ‘certified’ to do.
And herein lies the problem.
One of the posters above mentioned that certs have been bastardized by the industry. How true.
Certifications have a bad “rap” b/c of who is giving them, who is able to get them, and what it takes to actually become ‘certified’.
There is one *major* fitness organization out there right now…I won’t mention it by name…but is arguably one of the most popular certifying bodies right now and has been growing by leaps and bounds in recent years. This organization offers more different versions of it’s certification (different levels, a ton of specific certifications, etc.) than you can shake a stick at.
Here’s the rub though – it’s certification guidelines aside (which some people would consider “sketchy”, but I won’t comment on) – the participants of the certification program AREN’T EVEN TESTED. So, in essence, as long as you make it through the certification weekend and the check clears, you can be ‘certified’.
And that sucks.
And let’s be honest – a certification is designed to be a test, is it not? It is supposed to test your knowledge/abilities/etc. Yet how many certifications actually *teach* you during their certification? How is that testing you? It’s not. That is seminar – not a certification. But, b/c you get a plaque at the end, they can jack up the price by up to 10x.
And now you’ve got anybody who deems themselves an “expert” (and has enough paying customers/fanboys who agree) putting out a certification. Ugh.
I see nothing wrong with certs per se, but as they’re being perpetrated now…at least in America…I think the vast majority are a sham.
Wiggy
Finally!
You hit the nail on the head dude! Nice article.
THIS IS GOLD!! I find it remarkable that people are now claiming that a brief exposure to a Certification course makes them an expert in a specific field. I view these courses as a ripple in a pond – they are designed to whet the appetite and encourage further investigation on the part of the students. Attending a weekend seminar does not an expert make! Thank you for bringing this out into the open!!
Last time I checked Paramedics(EMTP) are “certified”. In my line of work, be leary of ANYONE who says they’re an “expert”, run the other way, they’re going to get you killed.
Yeah, you said it. Certs are great starting points, and I think the “industry” has profited wildly from them. The public at large thinks a cert means something. But it doesn’t, necessarily. It means somebody took some time to study (maybe), took a test, and paid a fee.
Same in the IT industry or anywhere else for that matter. You bring up a great point about CPR – I took a baby CPR class before I had my first child and I’ll be damned if I knew 5 percent more coming out than going in and I certainly would not feel very good about having to perform CPR on my kid or anyone else for that matter.
Experts abound. Not.
Pat,
I couldn’t agree with you more!
People ask me all the time what certifications do I have and don’t get me wrong I think being a NASM-PES, CPT was hard work and well worth both the studying. The problem lies in that there are too many in our industry who feel like you said…
If they obtain a certification they are an expert!
I had a follower on Twitter ask me the other day how I became a Core Training Expert…and I simply replied through my 8 + years of hands on experience. It wasn’t given to me by a book or a test.
You can use my brother as an example. He served our country in the USMC for 5 years where he reached the rank of Sergeant. In that time he became a Combat Conditioning Specialist, A Black Belt Martial Arts Instructor but more importantly he spent time running the Body Composition Program every morning with his Marines on base.
For that work alone he was recognized by his fellow Marines as the Expert on base.
He returned home to run boot camps with me and as I have told him having a certification next to his name is no where near as important as the experience he gained through his work with those Marines. It is his service and that work accomplished within the USMC that helps set him apart from others in our industry.
I am always researching, reading, developing and fine tuning everything I do. Studying those who have been here before me and making sure everything I do can not be matched in my area. For that I consider myself an expert.
No certification can provide me with that.
I hear ya! Our provincial regulated certification is a weekend course.
One of my intern always asks me why I keep her on, as I am always going on about education and she just got her second cert.
I tell her its because she has the desire to learn and get better!
and My members love her!
She also sees the value in the internship program, when it would have taken her years and thousands of dollars to get the knowledge she has now!
Oh yeah and thanks BJ! Because I have learned more from you in the past 6 months then I have from anyone else in the past 4 years!
On a side note: Just because you have a masters doesn’t mean you can apply it!
Pat,
I like the message you sent out. Im gonna graduate with a degree in kinesiology (submajor exercise and fitness) in may. I am not certified as of yet, but I want to do ACE. Ive heard some facilities say you have to be certified in something. School has taught me that with a degree in kines, that may be all the “certification” I’ll need to start off as a basic level trainer. What do you think? I obviously realize that learning never stops when dealing with fitness but once I graduate in may, where do you think my next step should be? My goal for the immediate future is to be a personal trainer for the summer months then from there I dont know. Should I start with something simple as ACE, or take time to study for a CSCS exam.
thanks,
Brandon
Hey Brandon – Getting the ACE credential will certainly do you no harm. Get it then work toward the CSCS.
I’d also suggest you go to at least one of the Perform Better events and one of the events we do.