Few questions about becoming a personal trainer? - Personal Trainer Community - Forum

[Kevin007]

Hi guys, my name is Kevin and I'm new to the board. I joined my local gym about a year and a half ago and after working out and starting to see results I decided that I wanted to help other people do the same by becoming a personal trainer.

I been doing some research on how to get started but I'm having a hard time deciding on whether I should get a degree or a certification.

I been looking into NPTI (National Personal Training Institute) and they seem like a good school. Also, I been looking at NASM, which also looks good. So my question basically is which way should I go?

[ajnov5]

i check out NPTI, i thought it sounded great, since they spend an equal amount of time in the gym and in the classroom, but from what i saw and heard, it is a complete waste (in my opinion) even though you go through and get a "degree" it is not recognized by bally's, xsport, or other gyms. again this is hearsay from personal trainers, but I think it would be a much better idea to get a certification, such as ACSM, NASM, ISSA, etc.

good luck w/ your endeavor. I just passed my ACSM cert. yesterday so i'm in the process of getting a job, looking @ several gyms.

[MACexpress]

I agree with the post above. Plus if you want a true degree, you would need to major in exercise physiology in college. Put that next to your certification and watch clients role in. People like the college backround plus truly it would put you in a high caliber of trainer bracket with a degreed backround to work off of.