[BrianB]

Just a quick note to say that today I received the NASM CPT text and study guide. After a quick, brief perusal of the text I have to say that it looks very well done. The level of detail of the topics covered is excellent. The amount of detail given to the exercises themselves, the muscular anatomy, etc., is also excellent. Right now my only basis for comparison is the ACSM text, and I have to admit that if I were to make my decision as to which CPT cert to get (ACSM or NASM) based on nothing but the text, I'd go for the NASM. I'm also ordering the NSCA CPT materials so I can have a look at them. Whether or not any of this review of other materials will make me want to do another CPT cert or not (vs. just using the other materials to "fill in the gaps" from ACSM) I can't say at this point. I just wanted to be sure to post a "credit where credit is due" note and say that NASM appears to have done a great job with their text.

[standAPART]

What is your goal with obtaining all these texts and certifications? If you are looking to get an alphabet after your name (as my friend Alywn Cosgrove would say), it doesn't prove you are a good trainer.

A little advice from a guy who has trained 391 clients since 1999, has been a fitness manager for 3 different facilties, and teaches other trainers for a living......start focusing your efforts on EXPERIENCE.

Now that you got your "driver's license", get in the car and drive. Enough talk.

[BrianB]

My goal in getting all the texts is to see what's out there and learn as much as I can, as well as compare and contrast philosophies and methodologies among the "big names". I'm leaning toward not getting any other certifications unless something comes up that demands it. Paraphrasing you, it's not the certification that makes the trainer, it's the knowledge and experience. I wouldn't be any better of a trainer if I get a NASM or NSCA CPT at this point, vs. just studying the NASM and/or NSCA texts and adding to my repository of knowledge.

As far as getting in the car and driving, I'm going to keep doing a little "book learning" and self-programming while I at least wait for my ACSM certification to show up in the mail. I'm in no big rush. I'm not going to be doing this for a living -- I may do nothing but be a volunteer trainer in fitness centers who's clientele can't afford a trainer.

My passion is really in weight management. I have some entrepreneurial endeavors in mind along those lines that I might do part time. We'll see.

Heck, I figured you'd be happy that I gave NASM some "props". It really does look like a good cert.

[C Lenart]

Brian:

With regard to experience, the best thing for you to do at this point is to start focusing on the clientele you would like to start working with. After reading through some of your posts, it appears that you would like to work with clients who are in need of weight management.

This is sort of the business side of the fitness biz, namely focusing your efforts on marketing your services to a segment of the population you are interested in working with. (Marketing 101)

You should develop a business plan that shows what makes you unique in marketing to your target market group and exactly how you intend to market to that market segment.

Speaking for myself, I market my services to clients with existing cardiovascular conditions such as high blood pressure and impaired heart function as well as clients with existing spinal conditions. I have a whole set of promotional materials and letters that I market to physicians such as cardiologists and orthopedic doctors. My ACSM certification is the Health and Fitness Instructor which allows me to deal with clients with controlled levels of disease as well as normal healthy clients. I got the advanced Health/Fitness Instructor cert because I wanted to deal with clients with cardiovascular issues in particular.

Since I'm relatively new to the Fitness Biz, I also started working part-time with a company that does Health Screenings for companies all over the country. I do simple things like blood pressure checks and height weight measurements and I also do health consultations for clients regarding their blood lipids and blood glucose levels. To sharpen my skills further, I like taking on the real tough cases for clients who have extremely high levels of triglycerides, LDL, and fasting blood glucose.

I know who I like to work with and my experience, ACSM certification, and education all move in concert to help me work with the segment of the population that I wish to market to.

Curt L

[BrianB]

Thanks Curt. Great advice and tips.

Being a business major, and having run a sole proprietorship and a Subchapter S corporation for some time (the latter of which involved creating a business plan, raising investment capital, etc.), I'm pretty comfortable with the business side of things -- once I decide exactly what the business will be. Since I presently work full time and am happy with that job, and hence want to do this part time to fulfill my passion for it, I especially like the approach you took and thank you for sharing it.

I have some relatively unique ideas that I think I may be able to do part time, that will be focused in my area of particular interest (weight management). Right now I'm still getting together a few more pieces of the puzzle before I really get the ball rolling. One of the manufacturers of one of the products I plan to incorporate into my services requires trainers to be certified with their product. That's up to bat first. Once I have my actual ACSM cert in hand (remember, I just passed it, so I won't actually have any credentials in my possession for 4 to 6 weeks according to ACSM), and have my certification for this other product taken care of, then I plan to take on 3 to 5 clients who want to give me a chance to help them. Assuming I am as successful with them as I know I can be, then I'd expect word of mouth from them would get me another 3 to 5 clients, and so on. Due to restrictions on my free time, I'll have to limit the number of people I can work with at once to be certain that I'm able to give them all of the attention they require to be successful.

There's also the potential on the horizon for a big opportunity with a weight control physician who I've gotten to know very well. If that pans out, then the picture could be quite a bit different than any of the above.

So basically, I'm just taking it easy, putting together pieces and seeing where it leads me right now. I'm not in any urgent hurry to get from point A to point B. If anything I need to back the intensity down a bit and really think about what makes sense to do with all this energy instead of just trying to do it all at once.