The Issue With Personal Training Certificates

By performing a simple internet search, you can easily find hundreds of exercise programs by fitness professionals that are all claiming to be the best available. However, if you take a closer look, many of these programs are simply exercise lists without any background, education, or explanation for why each exercise was chosen.

The main reason you will not find any background or education is because the people who design these programs often do not have any background or education in any science relevant to exercise (anatomy, physiology, and biomechanics).

Perhaps they have a personal training certificate; however, most personal training certificates do not require a college degree in exercise science (or a similar, applicable degree). Instead, many personal training certificates can be attained by simply passing an examination—no education required!

Generally, the “profession” of personal training is quite literally a pay-to-play scenario that requires no pre-requisite education and/or experience. Granted, there are a few that have more robust pre-requisites.

Base-level certified personal trainer (CPT)

Below, you’ll find a list of eight nationally recognized personal training organizations. For each, only their base-level personal training certificate process is briefly outlined. Each of these organizations offer more than their base-level certificates; the point of this post is the shed light on the lack of education and experience required to become a “fitness professional.”

For each certifying organization below, you’ll find the basics of the testing procedures, education requirements, fees, and any other requirement listed on the organizations’ websites. This is not a comprehensive list of all the certificates by these organizations, and this list is not detailing the additional support and materials offered by some of the organizations. Instead, it’s simply providing the minimum price and requirements to earn a personal training certificate.

International Sports Sciences Association (ISSA)

According to their website, to become an ISSA certified personal trainer (CPT)—their base-level personal training certificate, there are three simple steps:

1. Submission of all course quizzes
2. A score of 70% for CPT, a score of 75% or better on all sections of the final examination
3. Proof of current Adult CPR/AED certificate

On their website for their version of certified personal trainer, there is no age requirement listed, and with no education requirement listed, it cannot be assumed the age limit is 18 years.

Additionally, ISSA allows you to take all your exams online: “your take-at-home final exam is an online open book with multiple-choice questions.” Thus, if you can use internet search engines, you can probably pass this exam quite easily regardless of your education, knowledge, and/or experience in exercise science.

National Council for Certified Personal Trainers (NCCPT)

NCCPT was formerly their own certifying organization; however, they were acquired by ISSA and are now part of their certification program. The major difference between ISSA CPT and NCCPT is accreditation. Directly from their website, “All NCCPT certifications are NCCA accredited […] Certifications through ISSA are nationally recognized but not nationally accredited.”

The NCCPT requires applicants to be at least 18 years of age to apply. The examination is graded on a scale, and their website does not specify a passing score.

Unlike any of the other base-level personal training certificates on this page, NCCPT is nationally accredited by the National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA).

National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM)

NASM is likely the most popular personal training certificate, so it must be great, right? Well, according to their website, to become a NASM CPT—their base-level certification, there are three requirements:

1. You must have a high school degree or GED
2. You are required to have current CPR/AED certification before you take the exam
3. Achieve a score of 70/100 in a non-proctored, online, open-book examination

Like ISSA, NASM’s website does not appear to have an age requirement, but the cutoff, if there is one, is likely 18 years considering a high school diploma (or GED) is the education requirement. And again, if you can use internet search engines, you can probably pass this exam quite easily regardless of your education, knowledge, and/or experience in exercise science.

American Council on Exercise (ACE)

The pre-requisites for ACE are similar to the previous two certifications. Their requirements are:

1. Be at least 18 years of age
2. Hold a current adult CPR and AED certificate with hands-on (in-person or virtual) skills check.* CPR/AED courses without skills check not accepted.
   • *AED only required in USA and Canada
3. Have completed high school or the equivalent
4. Score 500/800 (62.5%) on the examination

Unlike the previous two, ACE lists an age requirement and requires a proctored examination. However, the minimum passing score is just 62.5%

American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM)

For their base-level personal training certificate, the ACSM requires the following:

1. Minimum of a high school diploma or equivalent
2. Possess current adult CPR/AED certification that has a live/in-person practical
   skills examination component (i.e., American Heart Association or the American
   Red Cross)
3. First Aid (beginning 2027)

Refreshingly, the ACSM requires their examinations to be completed in-person, but a passing score was not listed on the website. They also do not specify an age limit, but a requirement to hold a high school diploma (or GED) indicates the age limit is likely 18 years, if there is one.

National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA)

For the base-level personal training certificate, the NSCA is similar to ACSM:

1. Be at least 18 years old
2. Have a high school diploma or equivalent
3. Have a current CPR/AED certification.
4. Score 70% on the examination

Also like the ACSM, the NSCA also requires their examinations to be completed in-person.

National Federation of Professional Trainers (NFPT)

The NFPT shares a couple of pre-requisites with the previous personal training certificates, but they omit one of the most common: CPR/AED certification does not appear to be required. They’re also the only certification on this page that lists a requirement to follow their Code of Conduct:

1. Be at least 18 years old
2. Have a high school diploma or equivalent
3. Agree to adhere to the NFPT Codes of Conduct
4. Score 75% on the exanimation

The NFPT, along with ACSM and NSCA, requires the examination to be performed in person.

CrossFit

Art of Anatomy does not support CrossFit, and the style of exercise taught by their brand goes against many of the teachings on this website. This certificate was included because it has one particularly egregious allowance.

Different than the previous personal training certificates, CrossFit actually requires participation in their eleven-hundred+ dollar educational course. There is a two-day schedule that spans eight hours each day. Within the final hours of the second day’s schedule, there is a test.

In order to receive a certificate, the only requirements are to be at least 17 years old (yes, seventeen), to complete the two-day course, to pass the test, and of course, to pay the fees. Therefore, a 17-year-old (not even of legal age in the United States) could theoretically be your personal trainer prior to graduating high school!

Personal Training Certificate Discussion

ISSA and NASM appear to be two of the most commonly held and accepted personal training certificates in the fitness industry, and this list sheds light on why.

Three of the eight base-level certifications on this page allow online testing, and ISSA and NASM specifically allow an open-book examination which likely means they are the easiest to pass. Unfortunately, the nature of their testing procedure diminishes the integrity of their certificates to nearly nothing.

ACE, the other online examination, at least mandates a proctored online test to slightly boost the integrity.

Only one of the eight, the NCCPT, is accredited. The NCCPT also requires an in-person examination. These two points certainly make theirs the highest quality base-level certificate on this page.

Only ISSA and CrossFit omit an educational requirement on their website/handbook. CrossFit’s age requirement is also just 17 years old.