The International Sports Science Association (ISSA) has been around for many years — 34 years to be exact — and is well-regarded in the non-public training community. The mission statement of the ISSA is to bring healthy living to everybody on the earth through education and community. Their personal trainer certification is a fantastic approach to start sharing your passion for fitness with others, so that you will help them be one of the best version of themselves, too. In our ISSA Personal Trainer certification review, we found that the curriculum covered a broad range of knowledge akin to anatomy, program constructing, and the way weight-reduction plan and exercise work together. We also liked that ISSA puts an emphasis on helping you learn the way to market yourself as an expert within the fitness industry with information on marketing, business development, and sales.
A private trainer certification allows you to work with most people with a give attention to improving fitness and health. You’ll learn the way to be a private trainer in all features, from exercise selection to motivation, and even business development. After you complete the course you’ll be able to practice as a licensed personal trainer and help members of the general public reach their fitness goals. Moreover, you’ll give you the chance to instruct your clients on how weight-reduction plan and exercise work together to enhance their fitness. With the host of resources available for you from the ISSA, you’ll be able to complete this certification in 10 weeks. For individuals who need to take their passion for fitness and switch it right into a profession as a private trainer, this certification is a worthwhile undertaking with all the pieces it’s good to start.
ISSA Certification
Turn your passion for fitness right into a profession with the ISSA Personal Trainer Certification. With just one hour per day, you’ll be able to finish in as little as 10 weeks and the ISSA guarantees you’ll discover a job. Included within the Personal Trainer Certification Bundle are audio lectures, assigned readings, quizzes, a private success coach, and more to aid you succeed.
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Fundamental Takeaways
- This certification is a superb approach to break into the fitness industry, especially for those and not using a formal education in exercise science.
- The resources are vast and it’s clear ISSA has your success in mind with so many alternative ways to support your learning journey and beyond. Getting the certification is just the beginning. They’ve a job placement tool, website builder, client intake forms, and a step-by-step business guide, as well — all of which come included together with your purchase of the course.
- Whatever your learning style, the courses can give you the results you want with each audio lectures and reading assignments for every week.
ISSA Personal Trainer Certification Highlights
Over the course of 10 weeks with just one hour per day, ISSA has all of the tools that you may need to finish this personal trainer certification. This comes because of the included comprehensive guided study program that features a textbook, audio lectures, and quizzes (one for every concept). Your whole hard studying culminates in a 200-question exam, but don’t sweat in the event you get test anxiety — the ultimate exam is open book. The exam is more about applying the concepts somewhat than simply memorizing stuff, so it’s more useful to real-world scenarios.
From the time you enroll in this system, the team, which incorporates enrollment specialists, a hit coach, and bootcamp instructors, who make every effort to see you succeed with their guidance and support. We loved that your entire program is at your individual pace, so you’ll be able to take your time or grind it out depending on how much time you have got and what your goals are. There’s rather a lot to love concerning the way this certification is run and the standard of information you’ll obtain through it. The one downside is that this system could also be a bit too expensive for some people, but there are payment options available in that case.
Who Should Get the ISSA Personal Trainer Certification
- Anyone with a passion for health and fitness who desires to turn that keenness right into a profession as a private trainer.
- Individuals who prefer to learn at their very own pace. The guided study portion of this certification lets you blast through the knowledge you’re comfortable with and take deep dives into recent material.
- Those that need to be their very own boss. ISSA includes quite a lot of lessons on marketing, sales, and business development for many who don’t need to work for a gym as a private trainer.
Who Shouldn’t Get the ISSA Personal Trainer Certification
- Anyone trying to train special populations — akin to those with diabetes, heart conditions, or other chronic diseases — will want to have a look at other, more specialized certifications.
- In the event you just need to learn more about figuring out and lifting but don’t expect to work as a private trainer, there are more cost effective and directed ways to achieve this.
- Those that want to offer weight-reduction plan and nutrition advice will need to get a nutritionist or one other dietician-related certification.
How Much Does The ISSA Personal Trainer Certification Cost?
The Certified Personal Trainer bundle from ISSA comes with a bunch of extras included, helping you get probably the most out of the certification process. Each bundle comes with the CPT online boot camp, which offers individualized guidance weekly and a study group, so you’ll be able to work with a community of your peers. You’ll also receive 18 practice quizzes and each audio and video lectures to set you up for achievement. With none discounts, the course costs $1,427 normally, but ISSA offers discounts often, which include other certifications or study materials, so remember to check before making a purchase order. The worth might be paid in full or broken down into five or 11 payments with as little as one dollar to start. In the event you don’t have already got a CPR/AED certification, you’ll need one, which is able to cost you one other $49 as a one-time charge.
Who’s the International Sports Sciences Association?
The ISSA was formed in 1988 by a team of fitness experts with the goal of stemming the tide of physical decline and specifically “to extend the fitness of the people on our planet by helping more fitness professionals enjoy a successful profession in fitness.” They provide a ton of certifications on top of the Personal Trainer Certification, like Nutritionist, Corrective Exercise Specialist, Online Coach, Kickboxing Instructor, and lots of more. Whatever aspect of fitness you’re concerned with, they’ve probably got a certification for it.
The certifications issued by the International Sports Science Association are accredited by the National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA) and the Distance Education and Teaching Council (DETC), each are nationally recognized accrediting organizations. They’re also affiliated with top-tier organizations just like the International Health, Racquet, and Sportsclub Association. The ISSA partners with quite a lot of fitness facilities that you most likely already work out at, which implies you realize that your certifications will hold value.
ISSA Certified Personal Trainer Study Materials
The ISSA has a wide range of study materials starting from audio lessons to guided readings to quizzes and boot camps. There are a ton of alternative ways to organize for the ultimate exam and all and sundry will need to utilize the resources available in another way. Irrespective of what variety of learner you might be, there’s study material for you.
Study Guides
Together with your purchase of the Personal Trainer Certification bundle, you receive the ISSA’s guided study online material. The guided study lays out reading material, audio lessons, and a quiz each week for 10 weeks. Upon completion of the guided study, you ought to be able to take and pass the ultimate exam. Each week you’ll be able to expect to dedicate between two to 4 hours to check, depending in your speed and familiarity with the week’s topic. You’ll need to read the assigned chapters of the textbook, take heed to the audio lectures, then complete the quiz for the week. After that, check back to any info you were unsure of and brush up on it.
Quizzes
There are 18 different quizzes available on subjects from the psychology of behavior change, to client assessments, and business and marketing. The quizzes encompass all the areas of study you’ll must master to develop into a fantastic personal trainer. They’re all multiple alternative and pertain to the reading and lecture information of that week. You receive easy feedback on the questions you answered accurately and people you missed, so you’ll be able to read up on the knowledge. Each quiz should only take about quarter-hour to finish.
Online Forum
ISSA includes their CPT Educational Bootcamp which runs a web based meeting once per week for five weeks to aid you study and get you acquainted with other aspiring personal trainers. Each week focuses on a unique topic and is designed to expand your knowledge on the topic, akin to exercise selection. As well as, the instructors have office hours weekly to assist in giving more individualized guidance.
Study Material Medium
Many of the material is online for the ISSA Personal Trainer Certification. That said, the choice to do all the pieces on paper and send it in for grading continues to be available — it just takes longer to get your results. ISSA doesn’t indicate how long the outcomes will take to receive, however it could easily be over every week. You’ll also need to front the associated fee for postage. Though the textbook is out there in paperback for purchase, this certification is supposed to be taken online and is designed as such. You’ll be missing out on a ton of helpful information like the net lectures and boot camp in the event you decide to do all the pieces on paper.
Guarantees
The ISSA guarantees that you just’ll discover a job inside six months of completing their personal trainer certification, or they’ll offer you a full refund. In the event you take and pass the certification exams and apply to no less than three gyms inside six months of completing your certification, but you aren’t hired, ISSA gives you your a reimbursement.
Final Exam for the ISSA Personal Trainer Certification
The ultimate exam for certification is long at 200 questions and meant to be difficult— they aren’t just giving these certs out to anyone. Despite the length and challenge, in the event you’ve prepared well and accomplished the prep material you ought to be well in your approach to passing the ultimate exam.
Exam Sections
The ultimate exam has six sections, which have a complete of 200 questions. The sections are: Basic and Applied Science, Client Assessment, Special Populations, Program Design, Nutrition, and Skilled Practice, Drawing-In Phase, and Fiscal Fitness. As you’ll be able to see, the sections are quite varied as your job as a private trainer will likely be too. The questions are all multiple alternative, and you’ll be able to expect the ultimate exam to take anywhere from an hour and a half to 2 hours or more depending in your test-taking speed. You possibly can break it up though. In the event you sign off you’ll be able to pick up where you left off if you sign back in.
Expected Study Time
ISSA says the certification might be accomplished in as little as ten weeks and the guided study is about up for exactly that. In the event you come into this program with absolutely no knowledge, it might take you a bit longer. However, in the event you have already got a solid base of information in exercise science you could possibly potentially complete the course in a number of weeks in the event you dedicated a number of hours per day to it.
Pass Rate
You would like a rating of 75 percent or higher to pass, and the pass rate for this certification is 90 percent — but don’t think the exam is a cakewalk due to that. The preparation and study materials are high-quality and prepare you to do well.
Retest Cost
Should you have got skipped a few of the preparation, or test anxiety got one of the best of you, don’t sweat. Luckily, ISSA knows that, and you’ll be able to retake the ultimate exam — without spending a dime — inside 30 days. You’ll only need to retest on the questions that you just missed too because you already know the opposite stuff.
Continuing Education Requirements
With the intention to renew your certification, it’s good to prove that you just’ve been maintaining with the most recent science related to private training and exercise. You possibly can do that by providing proof of no less than 20 continuing education units (CEUs) in the shape of workshops, other certifications, seminars, or other approved activities. As well as, the recertification cost is $99 which is among the many lowest prices within the industry. Other recertification costs range from $150 to $300, depending on the organization.
Possible Profession Paths
It could seem pretty straightforward that getting a private trainer certification opens up the profession path of being a private trainer, but there are more options available than simply that one. If you should explore other profession paths with a private trainer certification, there are numerous on the market. They include fitness center manager, group fitness instructor, health coach, fitness author, workout developer, and fitness model.
Expected Salary
This one is hard to nail down as salary varies wildly within the fitness industry and particularly amongst personal trainers. Celebrity personal trainers make easy six figures while the non-public trainers at your local gym are more likely closer to the national average of $50,872. (1)
Accreditation
ISSA certifications are accredited by a few of the biggest accreditation organizations within the U.S., which implies their certifications hold weight. ISSA certs are accredited by the National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA) and the Distance Education and Teaching Council (DETC). Each are highly regarded and nationally recognized. On top of this, there are many organizations just like the National Board of Fitness Examiners (NBFE) and the California Association of Private Postsecondary Schools (CAPPS) which might be partnered or affiliated with the ISSA.
Popularity
ISSA is one of the vital popular personal trainer certifications and positively amongst probably the most widely wanted personal trainers certifications that doesn’t require a bachelor’s degree. Having been around for thus long and being accredited by top national organizations, the ISSA Personal Trainer Certification is amongst probably the most desired and revered within the industry. This certification is extremely wanted not due to name alone, but due to top quality of coaching that comes together with it.
Final Word
In the event you’re trying to start your profession as a private trainer regardless of the circumstances, the ISSA Personal Trainer Certification is a fantastic place to look. They provide top-notch preparation materials for all sorts of learners and even offer you a week-by-week guide to maintain you on course. The ultimate exam is difficult, and that’s an excellent thing to know that this isn’t somewhere you’ll be able to go to only pay for a certification. That’s attested to by all the accreditations and affiliates that ISSA has racked up over their 34 years of being in business. With a certification just like the ISSA behind your name, you’re guaranteed to land a job, or they’ll offer you your a reimbursement. They could be somewhat pricey up front, but we predict it’s value it for the top quality of what you receive with this cert to your profession in the long term.
FAQs
What’s required to get my ISSA personal training certificate?
You need to meet the standards set forth by the ISSA which incorporates submitting all course quizzes, passing the ultimate exam with a rating of 75 percent or higher, and supply proof of a current adult CPR/AED certificate. All of those requirements are neatly laid out on the house screen for you, and the ultimate exam is locked until you complete all of the quizzes.
Can I get a printed copy of the textbook for the ISSA personal trainer certification?
In the event you’re the variety of one that prefers pen and paper or likes to read paper books, then ISSA has you covered. You should purchase a printed version of the textbook online and have it sent to you in addition to textbooks for any course they provide.
Once I pass the non-public trainer certification, what other programs does ISSA offer?
When you pass the non-public trainer certification, you can even take the nutritionist certification that ISSA offers. Those are the 2 primary certs available to which you’ll be able to add specialization certifications, akin to advanced personal training, strength coach, glute specialist, and more.
References:
- What’s the common personal trainer salary by state – ziprecruiter. (n.d.). Retrieved September 22, 2022, from https://www.ziprecruiter.com/Salaries/What-Is-the-Average-Personal-Trainer-Salary-by-State