I just started reading the Poliquin Principles , and I just so happend to turn to the inside back cover. There I found an ad for a Strength Coaching Certification offered by Coach Poliquin. I check the website and it says that it is a manual for the certification that includes a multiple choice test. I have a few questions about this. First, is there an actual certification you get when you complete this manual. Second, has anyone gone for this certification. Third, is this certification worth anything other than having Coach Poliquins name on it. As of right now, I am a personal trainer ( I know, I hate trainers to.) To the average client, the more certs you have, the better you are, but I don’t want to waste any money on something that isn’t worth me. Can anyone help?
Anyone out there know this, Chris?
1- there is an actual certification that you receive; 2- I have the certification; 3- It is not worth it, other than Poliquin’s name. It is more geared toward analization of the elite athlete’s workout program. If you are planning on training an Olympic or other pro athlete then get it, other wise save your money and buy another one of his books.
I took that old course back in the day. Cost me $104 bucks for a cheap notebook and a test. Good info but worth over a 100 bucks?! Not really. And I think I recall the ads saying something about it containing complete training programs for athletes. It does- but mostly for skiers and hockey players. Much of it overlaps with the Poliquin Principles too.
The certification process is a one page open notebook, multple choice test that even has a few joke questions. Parts were tough even with the book and parts were, well, a joke. You mail it off and if you get so many right (80%) you get a “certification” which is mainly just a coupon to get a 15% discount off Poliquin’s seminars.
The info is good, boring as hell, but good. But I’m not so sure about the validity of the “certification”. I don’t think it means all that much (although I did list it on my introduction letter to TC when I first started writing for T-mag. That probably helped since I ended up editing some of Poliquin’s work and having the “certification” proved to TC that I knew my strength coaches.)