Personal Training Certification: Which Is Best?

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shawn_s
shawn_s Posts: 27 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Morning, y'all. I want to look into getting a personal training certification here in MD and I want to pursue it part time right now (maybe 4 nights a week, 16 hours). I've only really compared ACE and NASM so far. Anyone have background in this or know some first hand info I could use in comparing the two? Any help would be nice! Thanks a mil!

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  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,704 Member
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    ACSM and NASM are great ones to have. I have ACE after letting my AAFA cert lapse and ACE is one of the most recognizable certs out there.
    But really the cert isn't as important. It's philosophy and method of how you're going to instruct that will be. Good luck.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
  • geekyjock76
    geekyjock76 Posts: 2,720 Member
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    There isn't any significant difference between the nationally recognized certs. Just choose one to land a job.
  • Lofteren
    Lofteren Posts: 960 Member
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    I agree with these guys ^. The certification doesn't really mean anything because you can pass the exam and still be horrible. Continuing education, experience and a passion to do well are going to be where you really learn.

    With that being said, I would recommend NSCA.
  • shawn_s
    shawn_s Posts: 27 Member
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    Yeah I would be starting this as a part time job for now. I love being in the gym and I love helping people work out. I think it'd be a great idea to pursue a certification. So basically all the big certs are universally accepted but how you do and if you get hired depends on experience and all? I have 0 experience in kinesiology. I've taken a couple nutrition classes a few years ago in college and I've been going to the gym for a few years now so I'm pretty familiar with basic muscle groups, exercises, and their effects.

    I just don't want to put out $700 and have the cert get me nowhere.
  • Leadfoot_Lewis
    Leadfoot_Lewis Posts: 1,623 Member
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    I agree with these guys ^. The certification doesn't really mean anything because you can pass the exam and still be horrible. Continuing education, experience and a passion to do well are going to be where you really learn.

    So true ^ I've seen more horrible Personal Trainers than I've seen good ones. I agree with you - I think they get the certification and then don't do anything more to educate themselves.

    Anyway, I went with NASM. It's a well known certification that I felt was one of the best ones out there.
  • Cherimoose
    Cherimoose Posts: 5,209 Member
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    I would say NASM is the best first cert to get. It's more thorough than most certs with diagnosing & correcting form deviations, which is important. Try to attend some of their workshops if possible, and watch all their videos carefully.
    So basically all the big certs are universally accepted but how you do and if you get hired depends on experience and all?

    Many / most gyms will accept new trainers with only a cert. They understand you have to start somewhere.
  • shawn_s
    shawn_s Posts: 27 Member
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    Got ya, got ya. I have been looking at NASM and ACE so far. Honestly, I might do one over another because of price. Is that the worst thing you've ever heard? haha
  • Cherimoose
    Cherimoose Posts: 5,209 Member
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    Got ya, got ya. I have been looking at NASM and ACE so far. Honestly, I might do one over another because of price. Is that the worst thing you've ever heard? haha

    No, the worst thing would be expecting to make a good living the first couple months of training. You'll need to work hard to build up your client base, since the gym probably won't feed you clients.
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
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    Got ya, got ya. I have been looking at NASM and ACE so far. Honestly, I might do one over another because of price. Is that the worst thing you've ever heard? haha

    No, the worst thing would be expecting to make a good living the first couple months of training. You'll need to work hard to build up your client base, since the gym probably won't feed you clients.

    I'm trying to figure out why anyone would pay someone with no education and no experience.
  • 82jeh
    82jeh Posts: 53 Member
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    After months of paying a trainer and having really awesome results, I've decided to get my CPT cert also. Acutally, over the past 10 years I've had 5 different trainers, and while some were definitely better than others, all of them got me results--and like I said, some results were definitely better than others. I've decided to go with NSCA's CPT and eventually want to get my CSCS as well--just to train myself.
  • shawn_s
    shawn_s Posts: 27 Member
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    Oh alright that's a good idea. And I wouldn't pay someone with no experience, unless I was desperately trying to lose weight. I would definitely need to get as much knowledge in as I could in the first couple months. And I'm sure it's like anything where you learn what works best for you. I would be passionate about it 100% but like I said, I have 0 experience training people and 0 experience in anatomical structure besides helping friends train.

    I think it's just going to be a slow process until I get clients and become comfortable with what I'm doing.

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