Personal trainers may be in greater demand than ever, but there has been, unfortunately, little demand for certification of their training. The San Francisco Chronicle reports that virtually anyone can become a certified trainer because
there are no national educational standards for the field, and that numerous Web
sites offer personal trainer certification after just a few hours of
online training  and a few hundred dollars. The paper report that out of roughly 275 certification programs in the fitness world, only four are certified by a third-party accreditation
organization. What’s a consumer looking for a reliable trainer to do? Get demanding, the piece suggests, and starting asking about a personal trainer’s qualifications before they join a health club.
Or, they can check out Outside magazine’s guide to online personal trainers.
Health, fitness and lifestyle tips for people over 50 who still like to play hard
Saturday, May 31, 2025
I’m in total agreement. I have often seen persons “certified” as personal trainers teaching bad and/or dangerous form/techinque to their clients which almost guaranteed that the person being trained was on the road to personal injury. IN many cases, the gym owner/manager was ultimately to blame for allowing the unqualified trainer to work at that gym. One thing everyone should look for in a personal trainer is past experience. Has the trainer been a former or present competitor in bodybuilding, powerlifting, olympic lifiting, fitness competition, other specific sports, etc.? Is the trainer simply following the latest “fad” exercises? Can he or she really explain the exercises, body function and movement without trying to “dazzle” the client with techincal jargon? Do they practice what they preach and can they really teach it? Also, look to see if their other clients are or have been making progress while working with them. I have seen many clients work with the same “trainer” for several years and never make any progress, even though the trainer had them doing the latest “hot” exercises. Get recommendations from satisfied clients and never, never sign a long term contract! Of course the best advice is “let the buyer beware!”, and to educate one’s self (i.e., read everyting you can get your hands on regarding whatever aspect of exercise you are interested in, experiement with the same keeping what works for you and shelving the rest until you find that you need it later.) Oh, one more thing, good luck!
William, I can say no more! You hit the nail on the head! I was a memeber of a Gold’s Gym and saw some real swindles going on by these so called “personal trainers”. They were in many cases just yack partners while the “client” went through a pathetic training routine that was seriously ineffective and non productive.
By the way, I left this particular Gold’s because the “presonal trainers” want it to be more like Planet Fitness, pushing the serious people out, so its more like a social club rather than a gym
I think this article is talking about PTs in the States? in the UK genuine PTs will be registered with REPS the Register of Exercise Professionals and will have had to take recognised & regulated courses & exams, and maintain their registration with continued professional development.
& frankly (IMO)bodybuilding is not a particularly appropriate background to become a PT from. bodybuilders are often demonstrating bad practices in their approach to exercise, health & nutrition the whole time.
A few years ago I looked into getting certified. You can either do the quickie thing for a few hundred bucks or take somebody’s full course for several thousand. Frankly, the one person I trust to train myself is me. I do the homework, ignore jargon, and pay attention to what my body is doing. I want to scream when I see what other people are doing, and sometimes I feel like butting in when I see a trainer training. Or rather, when I hear them talking.