What is the best way to go about getting certified?
I want to become certified in the near future, maybe even before August, so I can have my certification before I go back to college.
This certification is to help me get a better job to work while I am working and paying for school, bills, food, existing. However, I don’t want to make a mistake, spend hard-earned money, and get ripped off from some weekend bullshit certification that means nothing.
I also would like the certfication to be prominent enough to be a potential career oppurtunity to fall back on if my degree doesn’t pan out to be fruitful, or, takes awhile to bear aforementioned fruit.
To give a little background, I have been in some form of martial arts or combative training since I was eight years old: Karate, Tae Kwon Do, Boxing, Wrestling, Muay Thai, BJJ, you name it, I have done it. I also used to teach kickboxing, self-defense, and submission grappling. So, obviously, if I were to end up making Personal Training some sort of a career, I would want to be able to train athletes in general and fighters specifically, or at least tie my talents and the things I am most knowledgable about into it.
Please, intelligent muscle elitists, help me with advice.
I was a personal trainer a few months ago and my fiance is one now. Most gyms I have talked to highly recommend the NASM. The ACSM is probably the best/ most expensive and time consuming. I don’t particularly like the ACE. I think its too cheap and too easily obtainable. Most who have it take a weekend seminar and bam they are ACE certified. If you had the time and the money the NPTI program where you get a diploma instead of a cert is much more knowledgeable. Its just a little pricey and is a 500hr course! Hope this helped if not you can pm me with other questions.
I’m a college student currently studying to become an NSCA CPT, in my opinion these certifications are bullshit. They provide only limited knowledge on the mechanics and physiologly of training someone. They also ignore some of the newest data and methods in favor of the old “3x10” standby of tried and true methods for hypertrophy. That being said… they do in fact “get your foot in the door”.
I think that the NSCA certification, though flawed as the program is, would be among the better choices. After all they are also the institution that hands out the CSCS certification as well. Go and get your certification/insurance so you can start training clients… thats where you really develop the business from what I’ve been told…
Its about selling yourself and your training products + experience… Certifications are just the red-tape to get to that point… Goodluck though.