How did you cut the cost of your personal training cert?

**Muscle_4_Hire** · 10-09-2006, 09:21 PM

Damn, these companies must make bank on this sh--. Some charge 500 for you to study and them to feed a scantron into a computer... that's pretty ballsy.

Anyway, I'm gonna go with ACE certification just to get my foot in the door at my Gold's gym. I found all the materials I need on ebay for $30 versus $150 they want on the website. So, I gotta take this CPR course first to even be eligable to take the ACE exam.

As far as my own personal knowledge, I've read Schwarzennegar's Encyclopedia of BB, Mauro D Pasquals Serious Strength Training, Powerlifting by Groves, and a crap load of material free on the internet. I am no newbie. I'm 200lbs at 15% BF.

How long did it take you guys to study for your certification? How hard was it?

Thanks, just looking for the fastest route in here.

**svarturer** · 10-10-2006, 07:12 AM

1234

**svarturer** · 10-10-2006, 01:14 PM

1234

**Muscle_4_Hire** · 10-12-2006, 07:44 PM

Cut down the cost... hmmn, ebay or get a shitty cert until you're rich.

**ascendant** · 10-12-2006, 10:46 PM

as far as the prices for cert's, $500 isn't bad. i have the best of the best (NASM), and it costs like $800 or somewhere around there. i'm not sure cause my job paid for it, but it is pretty costly. however, consider how much you get paid as a trainer, let alone that you don't need to go to college for the pt, and you'll soon realize it's well worth it. just think, some people spend tens of thousands of dollars at colleges and don't get the kind of pay us trainers do afterwards. for us, it's merely a few hundred dollars initially and you're good to go, let alone not having to spend years in school for a cert either.

also, you're not just paying them to scan a test for you. you're paying them for an entire foundation for designing training programs, learning to do assessments, proper safety precautions for clients when training, etc. i don't care what books you've read about bodybuilding, pt is a whole different world. you get clients with injuries, elderly people who primarily need stabilization training initially to minimize injury, and all other levels of development. now, i know very well that not arnold or any of those other books you mentioned would have any safe training principles to start an elderly person in their 70's who's very deconditioned with, as they don't even mention anything about stabilization or joint stabilization exercises in those kinds of books. there seems to be a very vast aspect of training that you're overlooking here. you need to realize the majority of your clients won't be bb's. they'll be seroiusly out of shape and looking for guidance.

now, as far as you not being a newbie, no offense, but 200 at 15%bf is nothing to brag about. our gym is very much about the appearance of our trainers. if one of our trainers got up to 15%bf, they'd most likely be fired for not having the look of a trainer. i think the most any of our trainers have is like 11% right now. now, not sure how the gym your applying to is about trainers appearances, but 15% is a bit high for someone who's supposed to exude the potential for results in a training program. again, i'm not trying to offend, i'm just trying to prepare you for the profession and the roadblocks you could potentially run into. the more reputable gyms (aka the ones that have the most potential to bank in) are very selective about who they'll hire on as trainers. it's not only about your level of knowledge as far as experience and what kind of cert you have, but also your overall physique. i wish you luck, but i'd consider dropping down my bf% to a more reasonable 8-12% if i were you.

**DNoMac** · 10-13-2006, 07:58 AM

Good advice Ascendant.

**ascendant** · 10-14-2006, 11:24 AM

Originally Posted by DNoMac

Good advice Ascendant.

thanks bro. i just don't understand how so many people complain about paying a few hundred dollars for a cert that will get them making $25-50/hr? meanwhile, other people pay $30,000-60,000 on a college degree with a communications major and end up working retail afterwards for $8/hr?

also, when jumping back to this thread, i noticed muscle4hire that you said you're just looking for the fastest route here. now, though i mentioned many of the things you need to learn about in my last post, i'm gonna tell you now if you're just looking to get a quick and cheap cert and cut corners, you're going to be one of those trainers out there who gives us a bad name. you're going to get someone injured, get your clients minimal results, and are not going to have the level of experience to consider yourself a professional in the personal training industry. you have a lot to learn and seem to have no idea or simply don't care to. i seriously hope you take my advice into consideration when pursuing your career as a pt.