Trainer Forum

Featured excerpt from volume 6 number 5

So you want to be a personal trainer – Part 3

How to find the best specialty certification

By Joey Atlas

In the last issue of OnFitness, I wrote about career development through specialty certifications, and choosing a niche target market to specialize in -- while still working with other trainees outside of your new specialty target market.

I mentioned a few specific groups of small projected markets that you may promote yourself to, following the addition of a new certification to your credentials. To review, some of those trainee groups highlighted were: male hypertensive professionals, seniors with orthopedic conditions, and postnatal women over 50.

The truth is, the number and type of subspecialty populations you could market yourself to, is limited only by your imagination. Granted, you want to go after a demographic in which there is a hopeful amount of prospects or the likelihood of demand.

Incidentally, certifications are not the only way to gain structured education in the fitness field. Many colleges and universities offer health and fitness related degrees; some even offer degrees specifically for personal training. For some of you reading this, a degree in the field may be worth pursuing.

Continued in OnFitness Magazine, subscribe now.

We thank you for your continued support.

Joseph Grassadonia – Editor-in-Chief

Recommended Certification Agencies

American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM)
401 West Michigan Street
Indianapolis, IN 46202
800-486-5643

C.H.E.K Institute
Sycamore Center
2105 Industrial Court
Vista, CA 92081
800-552-8789 

The Cooper Institute
12330 Preston Road
Dallas, Texas 75230
800-635-7050

National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM)
26632 Agoura Road
Calabasas, CA 91302
800-460-6276  

National Personal Training Institute (NPTI)
10524 Moss Park Road, Ste. 204, #301
Orlando, FL  32832
800-960-6294
407-228-1333 

World Instructor Training Schools
206 76th Street
Virginia Beach, VA 23451
888-330-9487

Youth Fit Learning Centers
10524 Moss Park Road, Ste. 204, #301
Orlando, FL  32832
877-454-3793