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Are All Personal Trainer Certifications Created Equal? – Part 2

Interview Series with Fitness Industry Professionals

Eric Lichtfuss interviews Valerie Ness, CPT Personal Trainer of the Year and CEO of Catalyst Fitness

Valorie Ness demonstrating the ViPR during a Catalyst Fitness Field Trip

EL: What sets the Atlanta Personal Trainer Program apart from other certification programs?

VN: The 3 main ways I see are:

• the classroom setting
• the extensive hands on and exposure to the various career paths a Personal Trainer can take a.k.a Field Trips
• the extensive time spent on nutrition

EL: Our students get supervised, hands-on experience working with for 18 weeks before completing the program.  Can you describe what you feel makes this uniquely valuable to them, as compared to “on-the-job” experience?

VN: The “safety” of being in a class setting allows mistakes to be made that turn into life impacting lessons learned, instead of job termination.

EL: Are all personal trainer certifications created equal?

VN: The Short answer is No.

Let me explain it this way; the range of certifications, from not great to exceptional, are just as varied as varieties of grass.

There is a relative small list of those certifications that are properly accredited and nationally recognized, and NASM is one of them.

EL: What sets NASM apart from other certifications?

VN: NASM has done a wonderful job of making their textbook very logical in progression, and its application is adaptable/programable for all populations.  It is the only certification to break training down into the Optimum Performance Training (OPT) Model of Stabilization Endurance, Strength (including strength endurance, hypertrophy, maximal strength) and Power.

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