What Personal Trainer Certification Is Best?

What Personal Trainer Certification Is Best For Me?

You have made the decision you would like to begin a career as a personal trainer. You know that to be taken seriously and establish credibility as a qualified exercise professional, earning your personal trainer certification is the next step. With a multitude of options, you are probably asking yourself, what personal trainer certification is best?

Here are some key factors you should take into consideration when selecting the certifying organization from which you will earn your personal trainer certification from.

Accredited

To easily weed out some of the less legitimate personal trainer certification options that saturate the market, choose a certification program accredited by the NCCA (National Commission for Certifying Agencies). The NCCA has become a gold standard in the health and fitness industry and is something that many employers have come to expect. Make sure to look for the official NCCA-accredited program seal when choosing what personal trainer certification is best for you – not all organizations have gone to the work of earning this distinction.

Quick Fact: NETA is one of only three certifying agencies in the fitness industry that offers NCCA-accredited Personal Trainer Certification and Group Exercise Instructor Certification programs.

History & Reputation

With new and unvetted personal trainer certifications popping up regularly, make sure you do your homework and choose a certifying agency that has a long standing history and well respected reputation. Industry recognition is extremely important as employers often look to hire those with certain certifications over others. Can you imagine the disappointment of investing time and energy into a cheap online personal trainer certification option only to learn afterwards that none of the gyms or fitness establishments in your area view it as a valid certification?

Quick Fact: NETA was founded in 1977 and for over 4 decades has been a recognized leader in the health and fitness industry. And just like some of the other popular certifications such as ACE and NASM, NETA is a well known and respected personal training certification with potential employers. NETA has provided career education, training and certification to more than 130,000 fitness professionals and our credentials are now recognized by over 18,000 fitness facilities nationwide.

Study Materials

Study materials are an integral part of the learning process, so when trying to determine what personal trainer certification is best for you, choose a certifying agency that has a wealth of materials and preferably a variety of study mediums to choose from. Do they offer a study guide, practice tests, online learning modules, live workshops? You probably absorb and learn differently from your fellow trainer, so make sure they have materials that will meet your learning needs.

Quick Fact: NETA offers a variety of study packages to help prep for the Personal Trainer Certification to best fit your needs. NETA’s study materials are some of the best in the industry and extensive time has been put into their creation.

Cost

Cost plays a factor into most decisions, and selecting what personal trainer certification is best for you and your personal training career probably isn’t any different. When considering your certifying agency, you might want to take into consideration not only the initial certification cost, but also what it will take to maintain and renew your certification. Here is a chart that compares initial certification costs as well as re-certifications costs for the top NCCA-accredited Personal Trainer Certifications.

Quick Fact: NETA is dedicated to offering accredited and cost effective certification programs and continuing education that teach concepts and theories of health and fitness.

Additional Certifications

One of the final criteria you may want to consider when looking at which personal trainer certification is best for you is to look at what other additional certifications they offer. Oftentimes as trainers progress through their careers, they find certain areas that they might want to specialize in such as Wellness Coaching or Corrective Exercise. Adding a specialty certification often attracts more clients, increases the demand for your services and adds a boost to your income.

Quick Fact: In addition to the NCCA-accredited Personal Trainer Certification (NETA-CPT) and Group Exercise Instructor (NETA-GEI) Certification programs, NETA offers nearly twenty Specialty Certifications.

When selecting the personal trainer certification that is best for you and your future career in personal training, we hope you find the above checklist helpful. Best of luck in your studies, and we hope to see you sitting at a NETA personal trainer certification testing exam soon!