To Be (Certified) or Not to Be (Certified)? THAT is the Question.

I don’t know about you, but something must be done. I am going to go on about a subject that has stirred up a lot of controversy and I am going to put my foot down once and for all because something has got to give! I am talking about actual, accredited, personal training certifications.


The other day, I was minding my own business as usual walking through the gym I belong to getting mentally prepared to do a Crossfit training session that one of my most cherished friends turned me on to. In the zone, I was thinking strong, positive thoughts and focusing on preparing myself for the next ten minutes or so of my life when I happened to almost run straight into a girl balancing on an upside down Bosu Ball doing squats. I stopped mid-stride. Then I did a double take as I followed her gaze to the right. Standing there looking at himself in the mirror (and a completely different mirror than Bosu Girl) and talking on his cell phone was… her ‘certified’ personal trainer. The sight of this made me want to rip out my hair and I haven’t been able to shake the sight ever since. So, here I am on a Monday, hoping to get some piece of mind by sharing my thoughts on a sensitive subject with you, Faithful Reader, in hopes of gaining some new insight for myself as well as from you.


I’m sure we have all had or know someone directly who has had a bad gym experience. And by bad, I mean that they were misguided, injured, demotivated, misinformed, or stood up by their trainer or another ‘professional’ in their chosen facility. Some people even quit going to the gym altogether after having a negative gym experience. And these ‘professionals’ are giving those of us who have actually gone the extra mile to assure we have the knowledge, competence, skill-level, and degrees and certifications to be effective in this industry. Sadly and unfortunately enough, there aren’t many guidelines in the health industry when it comes to personal training and what you should or shouldn’t have to be an effective trainer. Now, before assuming I am just going off bias, I want you to fully understand that I realize there are exceptions to every rule. I definitely know some effective trainers who didn’t go through formal education and who don’t hold accredited certifications who truly make amazing trainers as they have taken the time to educate themselves and who have a natural ability and personality-type in order to be a people-person. And on the other hand, I also know some extremely educated trainers with multiple degrees and certifications who don’t have the social and personal skills to be an effective trainer. But, all in all, personal training is the only field in the health industry that isn’t regulated with standards and guidelines.


Being a certified professional trainer myself through the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA), I feel strongly about the benefits of formal education and degrees as I now realize what all is entailed when you deal with the health and LIFE of another person. This profession has gained a reputation as being somewhat of a joke and many people think that just because they enjoy working out themselves that that gives them permission to help other people train as well. This is where I begin to get finicky and when I put my foot down as these people are setting themselves, their clients and the industry up for failure. Folks, there is much more that goes into being a personal trainer than how to stick somebody into a machine and count reps for them. In getting into the industry myself, I admit to not realizing what I was in for when I enrolled into college. I thought like most other people that I would be fine as I thought so long as I knew how to properly workout correctly that the rest couldn’t be too bad. Boy was I in for a surprise! Personal Training in itself is an art-form and there is no one-size-fits-all protocol like the majority of people believe. Each aspect of health, wellness and fitness can and needs to be specialized to the individual person/client being worked with. Not to mention the extent of and depth of each subject. From anatomy and physiology, nutrition and kinesiology, business and psychology… the list just goes on. And each of these subjects is a major in itself that can take years, if not a lifetime, to grasp ahold of. The human body is not a simple thing and even more astonishing is how each body is no more similar than the fingerprints of each person in the world. Our body’s ARE our fingerprints. They are unique to us and what we need on an individual level will be completely different than the person standing next to us. While most people can’t fathom how to take care of themselves to begin with, how can people off the street who might know little else other than how to lift a few weights help people achieve their own goals when they have no formal education on what goes into customizing an exercise prescription for any given person who approaches them for health?


I was completely thrown for a loop in all I didn’t know and still have yet to learn on my own journey and can’t even fathom how or why a company would want to hire a person without making a judgment on their abilities to be an effective trainer and their capabilities in literally changing people’s lives. Excuse my harshness, but those people who think they can just take an 8-hour certification course and jump into being a trainer need to get an ego check as they do not deserve to be in this industry. Folks, we are dealing with lives here and the vast majority of the people in the world suffer from health ailments either controlled or uncontrolled that are detrimental to the everyday aspects of life whether it is a torn ligament to a stage 3 cancer patient. How can the health industry possibly allow the well-being of these people to be placed in the hands of someone with little or no formal training? As trainers, we will be exposed to every and all different clientele and each person comes equipped with their own limitations, contraindications, mental and physical health quandaries, health risk factors, likes and dislikes… and the list goes on and on and on! When these clients are placed with a one-size-fits-all trainer, injuries, damages and sometimes even deaths are more apt to happen and the client will actually be worse off than before they sought out the confidence and knowledge of their ‘trainer’. Doesn’t anyone else see a problem with this?


Just as well, when it comes to certifications, how does an aspiring trainer successfully pick a legit certification and even better still, how does a client know what to look for in a hiring a potential trainer? As this question gains popularity, controversy, and discussion with what little guidelines we have thus far, it is no argument that the best of the best certifications are nationally accredited through a certifying agency that basically acts in narrowing down the good from the bad in personal training. With over 400 certifications to date (and growing!), relying on a certification agency such as the National Committee for Certifying Agencies (NCCA), under the National Organization for Competency Assurance (NOCA), is a viable resource as it serves as a benchmark and foundation to which other organizations should manage and conduct certifications. According to the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), within these 400- some odd certifications that exist; only a handful have been awarded an accreditation. These specific certifications are what set legitimate certifications apart from other less distinguished and challenging certifications out there. With all these certifications floating around, it is no wonder that business owners, trainers and clients get caught up in confusion or oblivion on what they should be looking to strive for. In looking for the actual certification in itself, there are a few that stand out in the crowd such as (in no specific order) the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM), the National Sports and Conditioning Association (NSCA), and the American Council on Exercise (ACE). Although by no means the only accredited certifications, they are more widely recognized both nationally and internationally than any other certifications in the world. In having the different agencies meet certain standards and regulations through an accreditation process, the fear of possibly attaining a certification of little or no value can be eliminated. Trainers and clients alike should do their research in deciphering the good from the bad as it will only enhance both the efficiency of the trainer and experience of the client. And just as well, each certification brings something different to the table, so it is up to the trainer to pick and choose the certifications that best compliment their own interests and goals.


If it is this simple and obvious, you are asking, than why isn’t there a law or bill in effect already that can put a stop to this mess? As I mentioned earlier, just because a trainer has a degree or certification under their belt doesn’t necessarily guarantee the trainer is going to be a success or that they will be better than the person next to them who isn’t a college graduate or who doesn’t hold an accredited certification. A piece of paper can’t dictate a person’s career and many companies, corporations and businesses alike agree that it would be a waste of time, effort and money to put such a ban in effect. But truly think about it: Why is it that personal training is the ONLY branch of the health, wellness and fitness community that DOESN’T have any qualifications that should be met? Would it make sense for a person to deem themselves a brain surgeon if their “qualifications” consisted of watching a how-to documentary on television? Or if someone who is up to date on all the latest diet trends had the nerve to call themselves a dietician? Makes you shudder, huh? Well, why then, should it be any different for personal training? Just because someone thinks they know to train for themselves, why should that give them the right to train others? Also to be taken into consideration is this: As trainers, we spend, on average, anywhere from 1-4 hours/week with our clients and many times if our clients are loyal, we may have them for years upon years. It’s funny how doctor’s, dentists, and most other health care providers see their clients once or twice per year (on average), yet the standards to meet with both education and degrees are so extensive. Personal trainers see their clients more than any other branch of the health, wellness and fitness industry, yet pretty much anyone on the planet can become self-professed ‘trainer’ in the course of one weekend’s time! Although I am open-minded to the controversy, I just can’t see past the completely palpable fact that when it comes down to it, there is no excuse for not having a bill, ban or regulation on the personal training industry!


Although states have been lobbying passing a bill regulating the licensing of personal trainers for the past 20 years, state legislatures have just begun recently to really push the commencement of bills that will take a closer look at the qualifications of personal trainers. A few states that have already effectively introduced bills requiring personal trainers be licensed are Massachusetts, Jew Jersey, Maryland, and Georgia as well as the District of Columbia. One of the main organizations lobbying against passing these bills is the International Health, Racquet and Sportsclub Association (IHRSA). They say ‘why’ create accreditations for certification industries when the personal training industry has already regulated itself through the use of the NCCA. The problem with having a bill passed, they say, is due to unnecessary monetary involvement with everyone from the trainer to the state. There is also not a firm legislature that all states can conform to. However, on the flip-side, those in favor of passing a bill state that it would help to prevent injuries caused in part by unqualified personal trainers, it would weed out the ‘trainers’ who settle on taking a cheap and easy certification just to have one, and it would also create an unvarying harmony among the different methods of accreditation that would be synonymous across the board. In creating this harmony, better, more efficient personal trainers would be produced.


I don’t know about you, but upon getting into this industry and in doing something that I am absolutely passionate about and consumed by, it was really a no-brainer in that I wanted to strive for the best of the best. I feel that by creating a bill to license trainers to achieve certain credentials, the people who don’t take this industry seriously will step down instead of screwing up by not being able to see in front of or behind their egos. I feel that when something is your passion, the sacrifice of achieving something a little more challenging would be a reward and honor to those people and that ultimately it would help to unite the industry and the people who take it seriously. Faithful Reader, we are talking about human beings here. This isn’t a game. We are dealing with changing people’s lives and in helping them achieve their goals. And beyond that aspect, many clients come to the gym looking for ways to ease their symptoms, rehabilitate injuries and even cure disease. Most of the people that step into a gym are not healthy and we are making a serious mistake by putting those responsibilities into the hands of 8-hour-certification-Joe. As trainers we are still health care providers and our industry should be just as regulated as those we share the business with.


In obtaining a nationally accredited certification, some things, of course, will not be the same across the board with every trainer (such as the guarantee for success), but the benefits and pros ultimately outweigh the cons. Being certified puts the standard on professionals that they will have met a specific minimum of knowledge, skills and abilities in such areas as anatomy, physiology, proper technique and program design, psychology, and in regards to the business of personal training. It also helps those who want to stand out among the rest in that it shows commitment and compliance in meeting certain standards. This is a benefit to employers, clients and other trainers who can then determine those who went the extra mile and who aren’t starting from the bottom. These standards are especially beneficial to the client in that they can be assured that their trainer has the knowledge to bestow upon them safe and effective training program designs and guidelines. Most certifications cover areas of concern, such as special populations, that can ensue that the trainer has the knowledge of following safe and proper standards for the population they are working with as well. On behalf of the trainer, it also makes them more marketable and valuable to employers when they have an accredited certification or degree to show for. And one of my favorite things about being certified through a nationally recognized agency is that you are continually offered continuing education and must attain a certain amount of CEUs/CECs to have your certification renewed. This keeps the trainer up-to-date with the latest fitness trends and the latest in scientific advancement (once again, valuable for employers as well as clients), and it shows that the trainer is willing to put in the time to maintain and nourish their foundational knowledge, but also that they are just as willing to continue learning and progressing as trainer. And the best part about these CEUs?? They are a BLAST!


Speaking from experience, I can voucher that there has never been anytime during an interview where my possible future employer wasn’t impressed with my certification. It automatically tells a lot about the individual and it almost assures comfort in the employer as they can be sure their staff is educated and driven as well as possessing the passion to go all out and to physically and mentally want to stand out in the industry among the others. After what I went through to obtain my own certification, I can honestly say that I feel more confident in my field. By no means a genius, I have the tools and knowledge to help people within my scope of practice and I also have the knowledge of when and how to refer a client so they can reach their goals even if it isn’t something I specialize in. This is a mistake many trainers without proper education aren’t doing in their assessment process with their clients and this is exactly why injuries, damages and deaths occur more frequently in these trainers versus someone who knows what to look for and what to do in these situations. Again, we are dealing with real people who have real problems and who need real help. Why on EARTH would you trust someone who has no knowledge of this to be responsible for helping this population, or ANY population for that matter? Just like that fateful (and frightful) day at the gym, it is enough to make you throw your hands in the air and want to rip your hair out all at once.


Having moved out to Vegas and having explored what the fitness industry has to offer out here, I am truly impressed with what I see, but I am also extremely passionate about having a sound protocol that would help to eliminate the people who aren’t truly passionate about what they do. One of the things I love about living here is the drive and motivation that so many people possess. I constantly am around the most positive people I have ever met in my life who strive for greatness within themselves and others. It is truly inspirational and I wake up every morning and go to sleep every night grateful for being blessed with such an amazing and successful move to such a wonderful city as Las Vegas. Connect To Fitness has really brought me up close and personal with some incredible individuals who go above and beyond what most people do in their entire lives. In being a passionate person, and in knowing the gratification that actually comes from helping individuals lead better lives for themselves through the art of personal training, it is my just belief that you can’t help others unless you can help yourself and if you aren’t taking the steps needed to help better your knowledge and career as a personal trainer, I personally don’t think you have any business being in this industry. I also believe if you love what you do, then nothing will stop you from aspiring to be the best. Being involved with Connect To Fitness has even more-so boosted my drive to want to not only help save as many lives as I can directly in my own career as a trainer, but also to stand tall and speak up for the issues plaguing the industry today in hopes that maybe I will be able to save some lives indirectly as well. Connect To Fitness strives to push for excellence in the industry and also to push for the excellent people in the industry as well. The networking aspect has really made a difference in the lives it has touched so far, and I hope more of you will strive to get involved as it can help introduce you to the people and places you might benefit from as well to help you get to your next career stepping-stone. Stand tall with us and help us find ways to make our industry more proficient by creating the lasting relationships that can unite the passionate professionals in the industry together.


What are your views, Faithful Reader? I would absolutely love to hear your thoughts regarding certifications as I feel strongly on the subject. Even if your views don’t match mine, I would still enjoy hearing what it is you have on your mind regarding the industry, certifications, degrees, accreditations, and your own stories and opinions on the matter. Please write me via Facebook or Myspace, or feel free to email me at EPfitness7@gmail.com so I can get your viewpoints. It would be great to have a discussion regarding such a matter and to have a follow up discussion on what your views are. I am honored to be in the same industry as you and it is only together that we can make a difference in this world. What do you feel should be done regarding this matter and whether or not you agree or disagree with my viewpoint, why do you feel that way? Should we push for a bill, or is their an easier, more economical way to solve this problem within the industry? And please feel free to ask me any questions as well. I enjoy a good conversation about a great subject and am very open-minded in discussing different viewpoints. And just as well, what certifications do you have or do you recommend when trying to become established in the industry? What are your top picks and why? I really look forward to hearing from you and in seeing what your viewpoints are. Let’s get some controversy rolling!


So you see, Faithful Reader, this isn’t about me, this isn’t about you. It’s about US and what we are willing to do to change what is wrong about the industry we have dedicated our lives to. With your reputation on the line and the state of the industry in our hands, how long are you willing to sit still and to keep quiet?

Until next time, Faithful Reader...


“All labor that uplifts humanity, has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence.” –Martin Luther King Jr.


“Your work is to discover your world and then with all your heart, give yourself to it.” –The Buddah


“You are not here merely to make a living. You are here in order to enable the world to live more amply, with greater vision, with a finer spirit of hope and achievement. You are here to enrich the world, and you impoverish yourself if you forget the errand." –Woodrow Wilson