If you are trying to decide betwwen the two, Read this!! - Personal Trainer Community - Forum

[Khiva Jo]

Hi everyone, I just wanted to post my experiences with these two tests. I studied for 4 months for the NSCA cpt test, and missed passing last week by 3 questions, and ran out of time. They make you wait 3 months before you can retake the exam, so I took the ACSM exam today, and passed and still had an hour to spare. These test are sooooo different! I would choose ACSM over NSCA, just becase I thought the test was more straight forward instead of tricky questions. Anyway let me know if you have any questions about the two, thanks! Yay, finally cerified!!

[Joe Cannon MS CSCS]

Congratulations on passing the ACSM test and yes you are very correct they are both very different. They are both highly regarded. It really depends on what populations you want to work with. The NSCA does draw from the ACSM when it comes to basic exercise and health guidelines
Joe