Trainer Certifications: The Government May Soon Step In

While the debate rages on in the fitness industry about whether the government should step in to regulate/certify/license personal trainers, California may be one step closer to doing just that. In September, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a bill into law that creates a statewide certification system for massage therapists.

Now, I know that massage therapists and personal trainers are two different things. However, the reasons cited for this new law for massage therapists can also be applied to personal trainers.

Senator Jenny Oropeza, a Democrat from Long Beach, says that therapists currently are regulated by a patchwork of local regulations that vary between cities and counties. While trainer certifications don’t vary by where they live and work, they do vary by what type of industry certification they have — if they have one at all — where they were educated and how much experience they have.

Oropeza went on to say that the legislation “will help identify legitimate therapists and make sure they have proper training.” Isn’t this exactly why many people argue that personal trainers need standardized testing and/or certification? So fitness centers and clients can identify who is legit?

The time is approaching when states will step in to regulate personal trainers. The industry needs to respond by either self-regulating, which is happening already to some extent, or by getting involved in the process of state regulations so that at least we have a say in what the eventual law will entail.

A Fitness Fortune

A wise person once said, “Personal trainers are like surgeons. How they’re educated matters not as much as how they operate.”

Okay, it was me. I said that. I am, on occasion, wise, and I was speaking from experience when I uttered the above sentiment. Sure, it’s the kind of thing you’d read in a Fitness Fortune Cookie, if there were such a thing as Fitness Fortune Cookies. But it’s also true.

My wise thought occurred to me while reading an article about fitness trends in 2008. “Many people have had experiences with bad personal trainers," said Dr. Thompson. But Thompson says more and more gyms are demanding certified instructors, so this presents a win-win for both client and club.

I’d agree that certification is a win-win for all parties involved, but it’s not the only game worth playing. A personal trainer’s bedside manner, if you will, is just as big a factor in his or her professional success as the degrees on the wall.

Brow-beating, red-faced trainers make good television (see: Sgt. Harvey E. Walden IV of Celebrity Fit Club, and the Biggest Loser trainers), but in real life no one wants to pay someone to yell at them. Those people you see on the screen? The ones taking all that abuse? They’re getting money for that, not the other way around.

On the flipside, a lackadaisical, gum-chewing trainer more interested in his hangnail than the sorry state of my abs is not someone I want to pay, either. Nor is the trainer who smirks when I proffer my weekly food log, barely able to conceal her disbelief in my calorie intake estimates.

Certification is definitely the first step toward elevating the status of personal trainers in a fitness facility. But in an industry where technology has an ever-increasing presence, the small moments of interpersonal interaction members get in a club must be more meaningful. Personal trainers are the keys for clubs that want to go high tech with a human touch. Certification in important, but it’s not the only thing that matters.

What Fitness Professors Should Know

There’s a mess over at Mesa Community College, Mesa, Ariz., and it’s all about certification. Fifteen part-time fitness professors were fired because they lacked any sort of fitness certification, according to Mesa administration — though the professors claim it’s their age that’s the problem, not their education.

The article says Ann Stine, chairwoman of the school's exercise science department, said, “the department is improving exercise science instruction by making sure fitness teachers have kept up with medicine’s ever-changing body of knowledge. [We] also want them to be trained to help students with complex diseases, such as diabetes.” Sounds good to me. So, what’s the problem?

To bring about this change, a policy requiring professors to earn a personal training certification from one of three companies accredited by the National Commission for Certifying Agencies was implemented. None of the fired professors earned a certification, and were subsequently fired.

It seems cut-and-dry, but college officials aren’t exactly backing Stine. One of the fired professors, 80-year-old Theo Heap, claimed he didn’t pursue certification because Stine didn’t make clear which certifications they should obtain, and the college agreed with him.

But, in my opinion, a professor of fitness ought to know which certifications are accredited and widely respected — no matter how old he is. Heap shouldn’t need anyone to hold his hand and lead him to the best certifying bodies. He should have been doing that for his students. If he was so uncertain about the lay of the fitness certification land, he has no place teaching budding fitness professionals.

There is undoubtedly more to the story, and I’ll leave it to the Mesa officials (and, likely, more than a few lawyers) to sort out that mess. But, making high-quality education a priority is a step every school should take, and stand behind.

Are Your Trainers Harming Clients?

Several years ago, while riding an exercise cycle at my fitness center, I overheard a conversation between a trainer and his client. He told his client that people who work out in the morning burn more calories. What?! Studies have found that people who work out in the morning are more successful NOT because they expend more calories, but because they tend to stick with their programs. And, because most people have more energy in the morning for a workout. But, the trainer simply said that people “burn more calories.”

Misinformation from trainers isn’t uncommon. And, I’m sure this guy didn’t purposely lie to his client – he just didn’t know what he was talking about. Although this instance wasn’t risky to the member, there have been quite a few cases where misinformation from trainers has resulted in injuries and even death.

While fitness center members are becoming more savvy about fitness advice, trainers themselves are taking action, too. A group of California personal trainers filed a class action lawsuit alleging that the organization that certified them was negligent (Superior Court of California, Alameda County, Case #RG05249097). These trainers claim that the organization provided defective training materials and inadequate instruction. The suit alleges that these trainers pose a risk to the public when using the methods endorsed in the certification materials.

The personal trainers received their certification through an Internet distance learning program. Program participants received a 42-page study guide and had to pass a 25-question test to earn their certification. Jeremy Thompson, the spokesperson for the group, said in a press release, “[The] materials were riddled with errors that can lead to serious injury when put into practice.” The suit claims that, by certifying the trainers, the company exposed the public to unsafe exercise practices, and the trainers to personal liability.

While this case may not result in any major changes within the industry, we all know of certifying agencies that offer certifications in just one weekend, or, as in this case, provide a certification after the applicant can answer 25 questions. If change is to occur in the industry, fitness centers need to require that their trainers are educated, certified and competent.

Are your trainers certified? Do you require them to have college degrees? Why or why not?