Why is being a “certified” personal trainer so important? Why should my program be accredited?

There are a number of reasons why a prospective fitness professional should seek out an accredited certified personal trainer program before embarking on their career journey. Here are our top three reasons why certification is important:

First, legitimacy.

Whatever you do, especially if it involves your livelihood, should be done legitimately, or else you won’t be taken seriously and your efforts may be thwarted. At the base of it, make sure to research certification organizations who are third-party accredited.

Specifically, in our industry, this means that the company you choose should have a Personal Trainer Certification that is accredited by the National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA). Having your Certified Personal Trainer (CPT) certification through an NCCA-accredited program means that you have proven industry-accepted competency levels that have been established via specific accreditation standards that the program must adhere to.

For example, for NFPT, test development is a strictly executed, legally defensible process that assures that the NFPT–CPT has been assessed appropriately and certified in accordance with industry-wide standards.

Second, rigor.

If you opt for an accredited personal training program, you know that you are being presented with the most comprehensive material that will set you up for success in the real world. Sure, you could pay $99 for a certification done in a weekend online and claim to be “certified”, but have you received the breadth of information that is truly necessary to serve your fitness clients well and earn their trust?

There can be no true short cuts when it comes to obtaining a quality education. Rest assured that the materials provided by the NFPT will properly prepare you for the challenges that you will most likely encounter in your burgeoning career.

Third, opportunity.

Most gyms and insurance companies will insist that trainers be certified by an organization that has had their CPT program recognized by this distinction. Not only that, but the general public is now catching onto this idea of having a “certified personal trainer”. It shows your clients and your potential clients that you are serious about what you do and that you want to adhere to industry best practice standards.