Personal trainers looking to get their foot in the door at a gym or fitness center or even benefit from professional development may look at certifications as a way to raise their profiles. There are a few organizations that certify personal trainers that tend to be at the top of the list, and that includes the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM) and the International Sports Sciences Association (ISSA).
“NASM and ISSA are the two most popular programs that trainers need to choose between,” says Devin Kipp, a NASM-certified personal trainer at KS Fitness in Hudson, NY.
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Both organizations offer a base-level personal training certificate, along with many others. That certificate often serves as a way to find an initial training job at many gyms, or as a way to add credibility and weight to a trainer’s resume if they’re planning on starting a solo practice. While certification isn’t always absolutely necessary, it can help a trainer get a leg up on the competition—and in the United States, where there are roughly 330,000 personal trainers, prospective trainers may need all the help they can get.
And while the two programs have similarities, they also have some stark differences which may affect which program a prospective student or trainer decides to pursue.
ISSA vs. NASM
As noted, both ISSA and NASM offer certified personal trainer programs. Both are accredited by the National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA), and both programs can serve as a way for trainers to kickstart or further their careers. But it’s important to understand the differences between the two organizations as well.
We’ll dig in a bit deeper about each organization, their respective personal training certificate programs, and some of the pros and cons related to each.
What is ISSA?
The ISSA dates back to the late 1980s, and offers a host of fitness certifications, including the baseline diploma, the Personal Trainer Certificate (CPT). That specific certificate program is one of the largest and most popular in the country, too, having certified hundreds of thousands of trainers over the years.
How ISSA certification works
The ISSA’s CPT certification is a broad training credential and one that effectively shows that a trainer has studied and learned the basics related to exercise and fitness regimens. The program itself is grounded in a sense of practicality, which separates it from others.
“We built our program a little differently,” says John Bauer, Content Developer at ISSA. “We enter into the programming by figuring out a trainer’s purpose,” he says, and “a lot of questions are geared toward shaping the right experience for them.” As such, the certification process may vary a bit from person to person.
But generally, the process involves signing up, working through the course and training program (including an 18-chapter, 700-page textbook), and participating in live learning sessions. It all culminates in an exam to earn a certificate, of which there are two versions: An online exam to earn the certificate directly from ISSA, or an in-person, proctored exam, which awards a trainer, upon passing, an accredited certificate—which is what many will likely want if they hope to get a job at a gym, Bauer says.
It also has a focus on working directly with clients, which can help trainers build their personal repertoire and business. “A lot of success comes from people who are really good at taking care of their clients—it’s focused on the individual, and we want to make sure we equip trainers with the tools they actually need,” Bauer says.
Pros and cons of ISSA
The ISSA CPT program, like any other certificate program, has its pros and cons. While these may be subjective, trainers will want to take things like cost, time commitment, and the ISSA’s curriculum into consideration.
Pros
- Easily accessible
- Emphasis on practicality, which may be helpful to many trainers
- Client-focused curriculum
Cons
- Costs (~3 months, and $1,000+, in many cases)
- May not be a good program for trainers looking to get into specific niches, such as strength and conditioning coaching
- Requires recertification every two years
What is NASM?
ISSA’s counterpart, the NASM, similarly has a long history in the U.S. and was originally founded in 1987 in Arizona. It’s a widely recognized organization, too, having trained more than 1.5 million fitness professionals over the years. NASM’s curricula tend to lean into science-based learning and training strategies, perhaps more so than ISSA, which differentiates it a bit.
“NASM is tested and proven,” says Kipp, who considers its personal training certificate like “the gold standard of certification.”
How NASM certification works
Earning the NASM CPT certificate involves more or less the same process as earning the ISSA CPT certificate: Trainers sign up, work through the program, take an exam, and if they pass, walk away with the NASM certification.
But, as noted, the NASM program does have a slightly different focus. “NASM focuses on corrective exercise a lot,” says Kipp. “I have a bachelor’s degree in kinesiology, and [the program] is kind of a condensed version of what I learned in school,” he says. Given that, Kipp says that he thinks the NASM certification is likely more difficult to earn than the ISSA certificate—but your mileage may vary, depending on your background.
The curriculum itself covers many facets of training, including overviews of human anatomy and “movement science,” along with modules for nutrition, supplementation, and more. Then there’s the exam, which, like ISSA, can be taken to earn an accredited certificate, or a non-proffered, online option. Once they pass the exam, a trainer will be NASM certified.
Pros and cons of NASM
Like the ISSA certification, there are some pros and cons to NASM certification that trainers should keep in mind.
Pros
- Highly regarded and well-known in the industry
- Utilizes a more science-based approach, which may appeal to certain trainers
- Easy to sign up for and start studying
Cons
- Higher difficulty
- Financial and time costs may be higher (Kipp took four months to get certified, and he already had a background in exercise science)
- May be too broad for certain trainers hoping to specialize
How to choose between the two
If you’re looking to choose between earning a NASM or an ISSA CPT certificate, there’s no right answer—it’ll depend on a few specifics. Notably, it may come down to whether you favor practicality (ISSA) versus the nuts and bolts of exercise (NASM), and what you want to bring to clients. The costs may differ a bit, but can still be a point to consider, as can the difficulty of each program.
“It’s really hard to choose between the two,” Kipp says, considering how similar the programs and certificates are. So, it may be worth taking some time to really dig into the details between the two programs to see if there’s a sticking point—you could also go for both certifications, too, if resources allow.
No matter which program you choose, Kipp says that getting certified can give you a pump—both emotionally, and professionally—but it’s not necessarily easy. “It’s really up to you to stay on top of it, and do the work,” he says. “It feels rewarding to get it done.”
