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tholberg
04-25-2002, 08:05 PM
damn its been a long time since i ahve been here...luckily school is almost out and ill hit this up more. i have a question for all here...
anybody ever hear of the national academy for health and fitness http://www.nationalacademyhealth.com/ ?i looked at issa and its about the same sorta thing imo just a bit cheaper. i want to know if it would be recognized by gyms as well. im wanting to get certified soon so any input would work well. yak has already called around for me to the people he knows around here and nobody has heard of it. they all say ifta...which is this seminar then test to get certified which i think is kinda weak, plus you arent a med-exer-therapist or cardio instructor and issa is more expensive and again you are just getting the personal trainer cert. and nothing else...unless you wanna pay for the other certifications separately

tholberg
04-25-2002, 09:16 PM
hey presser, whats up bro. ok, i keep getting ISSA or ACE which is fine but thats just personal trainer certifications and not the medical exercise specialist or cardio instructor (which i really care less about) but the deal is its about 100 cheaper than ISSA and u get this too. More expensive than ACE though atleast for the testing.

NAPALM1
04-27-2002, 12:09 AM
Personally, I would get the ISSA cert, as a matter of fact I did.  The ISSA is one of the most recognized and respected names in the buisness, and the instructors are second to none.  Dr. Fred Hatfield, (Dr Squat), Bill pearl, etc.  Later

steeljay
04-27-2002, 09:35 AM
It all depends on what your goal is with personal training? There are two types of personal training certifications. Those that require a college degree and those that do not. Sure there are over 300 different organizations that certify people for personal training. Do some research unless you just want a basic PT cert. Look at where the research is being done and what articles are being published. Personally, the NSCA or ACSM certification is about the highest you can get. One because you need a degree and two there isn't a college or university in the country that will hire you as a strength coach or personal trainer unless you have one of these or ACE. ISSA is finally starting to come around. Of couse i'm not flaming anyone, if you like working for a health club or have a studio then any cert will do but if you want to work with the pro's you have to get a higher cert. If you want some info let me know. Just look in muscular development or muscle and fitness if you don't have access to acedemic journals and count how msny articles are from the NSCA or ACSM journals you'll be surprised.

JaTruTheGreat
04-27-2002, 04:50 PM
I have to agree there are 2 types of trainers, educated and uneducated. It is one thing to know the exercises but anybody can pick up the book and learn them. I am currently about to take a college exam to get a certificaion comming out of Tampa Florida pretty soon. We have to know how to give fitness evaluations which includes taking a health history questionaire, flexiblity tests, blood pressure etc. then from there we can begin to put a training program together. Now this does not mean we can design a diet for the individual u must leave that to a certified Dietican or u can be sued. There is a lot to it  just dot think those uneducated trainers know what the hell they are doing. ~LATE~

NAPALM1
04-27-2002, 05:17 PM
The ISSA is coming around?  I do not understand what that means, but the ISSA is one of the best certs you can get without a college degree.  Not to mention all the other cert programs they offer like performance nutrition, sports therapist, adolescent fitness, etc.. Around here the ISSA is held in very high asteem by every gym in the area, a few of the gym's here do not even except ACE, and a few other certs at all.  I agree, that a college degree is a great way to go, but that doesn't guarantee the trainer is going to be worth a shit, or a better trainer than someone without a degree.  It just means they went to school longer to make the same amount of money.  There are ISSA trainers out there making $100-$150 an hour, without a college degree. hell, I charge $65 an hour, and I don't have a degree, and I do it part time.   Later

tholberg
04-28-2002, 01:29 AM
well i have a strong background in bio, anat, and phys so i think this will help me. i like to understand what is going on inside and out. plus im about to hopefully get into an occupational therapist program and get my degree in that. i feel that if i pursue that field, the personal trainer cert. definately wont hurt, and vice versa. first i will be the trainer and if i am making it well enough in that, ill just use the degree to help me out some

steeljay
04-28-2002, 07:23 PM
I didn't mean to flame the ISSA cert. Your right Napalm, that you can have a college degree and still not be worth a shit as a trainer. You can have all the knowledge in the world concerning the human body and it's reactions to exercise but if you don't have any social skills or the ability to sell yourself then your in the wrong line of work. What I meant about the ISSA is that it's coming around in comparision to the degree required certs. It's gaining more respect among colleges and professional sports. Which means if you have the ISSA cert you don't have to be limited to just the commercial and private health club industry. That's really the only other difference between the two certs is education and opportunity. hell, if you can make a 100 to 150 dollars an hour wouldn't you like to have the chance to make over a $100,000 a year training professional athletes.

tholberg
05-01-2002, 01:13 PM
ok check this out. http://www.nsca-lift.org i went to my physical therapist and he said if i want ot do it professionally, get this company. they offer personal training cert and when i finish my therapy degree, (saying that i do get into the school) i can test for the certified strength and conditioning specialist. with this i can work for any professional team, in the hospital, re-hab places, ect....how does it look

BStrongBwell*
05-01-2002, 01:42 PM
I've considered getting certifications as well to do personal training on the side.  Here's some contact info if you want to do some more research:
(ACSM) American College of Sports Medicine 317-639-9200
(ACE) American Council on Exercise 800-825-3636
(NSCA) National Strength and Conditioning Association 800-815-6826
(ISSA) International Sports Sciences Association 800-892-4772

Like steeljay said, if you want to coach or train pros, you'll be needing a degree plus a cert.  In my case, I'm looking at going for the ISSA so I can train on the side to my regular job.

getripped
05-01-2002, 01:57 PM
I'm taking my CSCS from NCSA next month. I was told I need that to go with my Master degree to coach professional athletes.

I think all certifications are great. Just a matter of what they want when you apply for a job. Like Napalm was saying, ISSA is a great certification and you can definitely make a lot of money becoming a part-time trainer. All the gyms here require only ACE but with ISSA I bet you can make $$$$$.

steeljay
05-01-2002, 02:21 PM
I couldn't of said it better. Just wondering for those of you that are certified by the NSCA if your going to the national conference this year. It's in las vegas!! on july 10 thru the 13th. For those of you wanting to get certified you can save some money by taking the exam that is offered right before the conference starts. They give you two days of workshops and then the test. after that you  can go to the conference and after that hit the town.

tholberg
05-01-2002, 03:24 PM
steeljay, that sounds fun...but i dont think i wanna wait that long...they are sending me some stuff in the mail and ill decide what im gonna do after i look that over.