Personal Trainers Licensure
May 6th, 2009
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by Mark Nutting · Filed Under: Personal Training Business
Several states are now in the process of seeking to create a mandatory licensure for Personal Trainers which may include requiring a 4 year degree. I believe this to be a huge mistake for the industry if we allow this to occur. (I did a mind map of my thoughts on this. Can be found here)
Let me see if I can organize my thoughts here for you.
Pros:
- Greater Respect
- Possible Greater Pay (mostly based on deminished supply)
- Insurance May Cover Personal Training
- Greater Safety and Effectiveness for Clients
Cons:
- Loss of 1/2 of Existing Personal Training Workforce by not meeting requirements. i.e. degree (OK, half is a guess, but I bet it’s not far off)
- Greater Limitations of What a Personal Trainers May Do – There will be a very clearly defined scope of practice that will eliminate many areas that we may currently be training in. i.e. special pops.
- Being Degreed or Licensed Does Not Mean Better – Still Only Setting Minimum Competency and Text Knowledge Does Not Mean Practical Knowledge
Questions:
- Who Will Be Determining the Standards?
- Who Will Be Writing the Exam? I’ve been on the NSCA-CPT Exam Development Committee for 6 years. Writing exam questions is a very specialized process that I’m still trying to get better at.
- What Will the Costs Be? Fees, Insurances, etc.
- What Ongoing Paperwork Will Be Required? “Patient” Documentation?
In My Opinion:
- There Will Not Be Enough Licensed Personal Trainers to Meet the Needs of Clubs or Potential Clients
- Prices Will Be Driven Up Making It More Difficult To Afford for Some
- Will Drive the Creation of a Professional Level Below the Personal Trainer. A Level That Would Be Cost Less With the Potential of Being Very Effective. i.e. Fitness Coach, Health/Fitness Facilitator, Fitness Guide, yada, yada.
- I Believe….. In My Opinion… that Licensure Would Hurt the Personal Training Industry.
The NSCA Just Released This Statement
NSCA statement on Licensure for Personal Trainers(.pdf file)
I’d love to hear your comments/thoughts on this topic.
Comments RSS
Mark,
I think that to be against licensure sends the message that it is not important for fitness trainers to be qualified. I do agree with you that a four-year degree should not be necessary, which jives with the NSCA-CPT education standard. So why would it be so bad to have a licensure that did not require a college degree? If we really want this to be a profession, we need some standards.
Ev
Hey Ev,
If the process were as simple as taking an exam (like the NSCA-CPT), I’d have less of a problem with it. I do believe that Personal Trainers need to be “qualified”. It’s how and by whom “qualified” is being judged. I am a believer that a degree is not necessary. It’s definately a plus, but not necessary.
I do also worry about the restrictions that may be placed on Personal Trainers. Just ask the ATCs and PTs when they were required to be licensed.
Thanks, Ev
Hi all,
I agree with almost all of what Mark is saying, and I do also agree with Ev’ sentiment about having “standards.” Some certifying agencies have taken proactive steps recently, (ACE, ACSM, amongst others) and have begun to abide by NCCA standards of certification. I believe that to be a step in the right direction. I currently live in NJ (moved from Brooklyn, NY 3 years ago) where the state is attempting to pass some of the most all encompassing and restrictive measures regarding personal training in the entire country. There have been petitions circulated to stop the measure from passing.
In summary, I do believe that standards of practice (scope of practice, credentials) need to be narrowly and clearly defined, as this will help our profession by weeding out some unscrupulous and unqualified individuals. However, the steps should be carefully chosen so as to not cripple the industry from the service side altogether.
Warmest Regards to all,
– JT
Mark, I do believe that some sort of standards of practice or licensure is necessary for personal trainers. I would suggest that a core of basic classes be mandatory before anyone can obtain a certification. These classes would include anatomy,physiology, study of movement, first aid/cpr and basic exercise techniques. These would not have to be upper level college courses but ones that could be taken at a technical college or 2 year college. I have recently talked with individuals who are personal trainers that have no knowledge of how the body works or even the proper technique in doing exercises but are certified trainers. I find this very alarming because it in my opinion hurts the entire strength and conditioning field. In closing licensure might be the one way to eliminate the many unqualified individuals who claim to be personal trainers.