[mom2boys]

Hey,
I am a new member to this forum (actually, 1st on any forum). I am in the early stages of looking into getting my PT certification. I actually take my CPR/AED test tomorrow. I had been looking at NASM and had pretty much decided to go with them until I started reading some of your posts. Now I'm really confused. NASM just seems so easy, one price, includes materials and test. Test can be done whenever I want (within the 120 days). Also it seemed to have a good reputation with personal trainers that I had spoken to. The website for NSCA was a little confusing between online test, paper/pencil test, etc. with membership/non-membership prices and I didn't see the cost of becoming a member.

I am a stay at home mom, who use to teach aerobics until my children were born. I feel like I have the time to study, but it's been a while since I've had to buckle down to study.. Any advice anyone could offer as to which certification I should choose before spending the money would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

[Christina]

Hi Jan! Welcome to the forum. The NASM personal trainer certification is well respected. I know that NASM's approach to fitness is a little different than NSCA's for example, but that does not mean it is wrong. Everyone thinks their personal trainer certification is the best so sometimes you will hear conflicting things. If the NASM trainers you have talked to are satisfied with the organization, and if you think the NASM personal trainer certification is right for you, then go for it.

Christina

[rbd]

All certs have their pluses and minuses and you will get different things from each. You can always pick up some things from different certs. I have been through ACSM, NSCA and NASM.

NASM will teach you more about human movement, kinetic chain assessments (posture, rom and movement) and their model of periodization and program design. They do a decent job of teaching you how to write exercise programs. They do a decent job of getting into things that other certs don't, which is good and bad. I think they are starting to cross over into the physical therpay realm a little too much which can be a big problem, especially from trainers who do not have solid educational background at first. They try to tell you if you see this in an assement, then you need to stretch this and strengthen that - but it is not that easy. As for their programs, they are very time inefficient and take way to long the way they are written. I found their process to be to easy compared to NSCA and ACSM, so in my opinion that is why so many can pass their exam and not some of the others. Don't get me wrong you will learn some good things, just don't take their info and model to literally. They will open your eyes to some info that other certs do not, which is a good thing.

NSCA is a great cert, but has also got watered down a little over the years. I am CSCS, so not sure about their CPT. NSCA does a good job of teaching you more about what to consider in writing an exercise program, which ACSM does not. They also touch more upon athletic development with their CSCS exam. They have two parts to the exam (written and a practical written,where you watch a video and anwer questions about the video) and it is not online - most online are too easy and lets too many get certified, which waters down our industry and will continue to give it a bad name and lack of respect.

You can't go wrong with NSCA and ACSM, since they are both very respected, though ACSM is very outdated in my opinion on what they are testing people on. I just recently allowed my HFI to lapse, because I just didn't think I needed it any longer and it doesn't hold the weight that it once did. I do not know much about ACSM PT cert.

Let me know if you have any more questions about any of these certs. Like I said you can never go wrong expanding your education, just make sure you tend to do so after your cert - to many take a cert and don't continue. You have to remember that any book you read, by the time it goes to print is probably outdated on some of the info and the authors have probably changed their opinons on things.

Good luck

Jeff