ACSM CPT live course - Is it worth it? - Personal Trainer Community - Forum

[8dragonfly8]

I'm wondering if the ACSM CPT live exam prep course will be worth the $$$ for me... I recently passed the ACE exam, and got the NASM CPT cert about ten years ago, but I (stupidly) avoided the sciences in college, so I'm a bit insecure about some of the more detailed exercise phys stuff.

Has anyone taken the live course recently? Did it make a significant difference for you - enough to make it worth the $375? Would I be better off just to take the online courses on the topics I need?

Thanks!

[rbd]

I guess my first question is if you already have 2 personal training certifications why are you going for another? For the money you spend you would probably be better off investing in a live seminar or continuing ed course instead.

As for the CPT live course. I actually went to sit on the live course to see if I wanted to teach it, but to be honest turned it down because I found it to not really be worth it and really didnt agree with what they were teaching. I mean it might be a good review for someone but not sure it was really worth the money. To me it was a lot like there HFI cert, which I allowed to lapse and didnt renew years back cause didn't find it did me much good practicially anymore.

Just my two cents.

[8dragonfly8]

I currently just have ACE. I let NASM lapse a while back because I didn't work in fitness for several years and didn't know I would be coming back to it. I'm currently a telephonic wellness coach, and even if I wanted to just recertify, NASM's emphasis on correcting body alignment isn't so useful for me over the phone. ACSM will lend more credibility in the healthcare environment where I work. By the time I got done studying for ACE I realized it was weak in a lot of areas, like just a watered-down version of ACSM (which the manual constantly references), so I should have just done it in the first place.

With that said, I appreciate the feedback on the live course. When you say you didn't agree with what they were teaching, was it different from what you previously knew or did it actually differ from their manual? The latter would be pretty disturbing. I'm curious what you didn't like about their certs, just for the sake of going into this with my eyes open. Thanks much.

[rbd]

Ok that makes a lot more sense then.

As for the course I think it pretty much built upon the manual but I just think ACSM is outdated in what they are teaching in there certs. I got my HFI in 97 and to me they haven't changed much in the CPT course, pretty much the same. A lot has changed since 97 and I personally didn't agree with the material covered in the course, so can't teach something I don't really by into. I just don't think they do a good job of teaching you a lot of practical stuff that is needed to be a good personal trainer.

ACSM does do a better job on the clinical side so I think the HFI is good for anyone working in the medical area and may do you good as a wellness coach. I think the cert you go for depends a lot on where you will be working and your focus. I hope this helps and like I said its my opinion about ACSM from personal and pracical experience over the past 12 plus years in the industry.

[8dragonfly8]

I have also had the impression that ACSM would not be as practical in a gym environment, so that makes sense. Well, thanks for the feedback, rbf. I'm going to save my money and skip that live course.
:thanks:

[gafitchick]

I actually recommend it if you want to pass the test. I liked it and found it extremely instrumental in making things make more sense.

[aislinnanne]

I just took the class and thought it was fantastic. I sit for the exam on Friday and that class dropped my anxiety level significantly.