I’m seriously looking into becoming a PT. It’s not a short-term goal as I know there’s tons to learn, and tons to do (to look the part, of course). But according to T-Mag and some others, ISSA seems to be the best. I go into a rage when I encounter mis-informed PT’s who spread their “knowledge” to their clients. Thanks!
I’m ISSA certified.
ISSA is one of the,if not “the” best. I’m Issa certified for 5+ years. Some of their nutrition/supplement info. is outdated, but I beleive it’s a great place to start.
Good luck!!!
ISSA is good, NASM is also very good. Do you have a health related degree? If you do, the NSCA has a great program, ACSM is decent but I feel it is overrated. I am certified by ACSM, NSCA and NASM. Each for a different reason. ACSM would be the one I would drop. I have looked into ISSA’s stuff pretty thoroughly and I like it. Not that this should mean anything but you do did post! Just my 2 bits.
still need to finish reading the the ISSA book…Dozer hates to read but I’ll finish eventually.
Hey guys, thanks for the input. No … only background I have in this area is my own reading and workouts! My main profession is a web developer … but right now the IT industry is awful. No one has money to spend; so no one has money to give me! LOL
My husband is actually considering getting certified and training with me in a couple of years. He’s senior network manager at a large healthcare corp, but he’s thinking he might rather let computers be a hobby once my business is well established. My studio should be finished by January, and hopefully he’ll be able to join me later on. He’d get ISSA certified as well.
I’m ISSA certified and my take on it is it’s probably the best convenient certification. By convenient I mean you can just basically go to a weekend seminar and get certified or do a home study certification which probably takes about 3 or 4 weeks if working on it for an hour or 2 per day (you also must have a current CPR certification). Out of all the certifications one can obtain this easily ISSA probably has the best information. However, with any certification that one can obtain through just one weekend seminar you’re gonna have people who have no business being personal trainers and this includes some ISSA certified trainers. The A.C.S.M. takes a while longer to get certified and is probably more thorough but is also quite a bit more expensive. I’d say the N.S.C.A. certified strength and conditioning specialist is probably the best but it requires a college degree.
I am ISSA certified and recommend it to anyone looking to work as a personal-trainer. While a lot of the info is a bit outdated it is considerably ahead of most other organizations and you also get Charles Staley as a resource which is gold in your pocket. Actually, after going to a seminar of his my life (training-wise) was never the same. If you ever get a chance to see him then snatch it up! After the whole ceritification experience with ISSA I found that I was much more educated than those that had college degrees. But of course I was real disciplined on continuing and advancing my education on my own. By the way, it was through ISSA that I found Testosterone.
I would put the ISSA or the NASM (with NASM getting the most votes) credentials near the top of the list as places to start a training career. NSCA and ACSM are up there too, but they require a health-related degree.
Just remember, the cert is just where you start. I learned some valuable info in school and I learned a lot studying for my certs, but I’ve learned even more just reading and exploring all the great theories and applications that are being used in the real world of sport and conditioning. And I learned the most when I tried to use it.
I believe people are most successful if they are always focused on and aware of what they don't know yet, not what they think they know already.
Good luck. It’s a great living.
I’m Certified by ISSA as a trainer and specialist in performance nutrition. Also certified by NFTA. First, NFTA sucks ass. I could pass the test by reading a few muslce and fitness magazines. But, hey, that piece of paper allows me to make another 10 bucks an hour. ISSA is a pretty thorough deal. The test is very thorough. The seminars are great. I’ve attended the seminars in NY with Tom Platz and Cha Dikito, and another one with Hatfield. Also, they’re convenient take home tests. I have a degree in nutrition, and let me tell you, the (SPN) is no joke. It took me a lot longer that I anticipated with this one. Very in depth, but the supplement stuff is like everyone else said, way outdated. Theres like a paragraph on creatine and the andros, but like 3 pages on choline and inositol!
Hey Guys, thanks for the input. I registered yesterday and already have begun studying.
Hey jenn if you are interested charles staley has a very good online book called physically incorrect. It has some very good training/nutritional information and little or no fluff. If you are into his stuff you probably already have this but it is really good.
Hey thanks! I have been debating about getting his online book but I think I have copies of everything he has written that is available.