Creating Connections and Credibility
Tue, January 31, 2012 at 12:53 | IHRSA By Julie King
Not all that long ago, an attractive physique and a desire to spend time in the gym seemed enough to warrant calling oneself a personal trainer, and there was no formal way to differentiate the posers from the pros.
Today, however, with countless opportunities to obtain fitness trainings, certifications, and ongoing continuing-education credits, the bar has been raised significantly. To date, the National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA), the accrediting body of the Institute for Credentialing Excellence (formerly the National Organization for Competency Assurance), has conferred its blessing on 13 fitness training/certifying organizations. In addition, at least three other groups have obtained accreditation from the Distance Education Training Council.
Because the NCCA requires that certification programs maintain a list, and provide verification, of certified individuals, accredited groups such as the American Council on Exercise (ACE), National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA), National Exercise Trainers Association (NETA), and others, now offer free online directories.
Outside of the U.S., the International Confederation of Registers for Exercise Professionals (ICREPs), based in Brussels, Belgium, supports independent, national registries throughout the world, including ones in the U.K., Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. ICREPS is recognized by IHRSA as the leading global authority on such registries.
While the functions, capabilities, and sophistication of the various directories differ, all are designed to raise the industry bar by: (1) accurately validating individual certifications; and (2) connecting health clubs and consumers with qualified local personal trainers, group exercise instructors, and other fitness professionals. “We’re working hard to elevate industry standards, and the directory is key,” attests Todd Galati, the director of credentialing for ACE. “Fitness is becoming a part of healthcare, and the registry helps employers and consumers, alike, find qualified professionals.”
Just the facts
Basic registry databases, such as those of NETA, the National Council on Strength and Fitness (NCSF), and the National Exercise and Sports Trainers Association (NESTA), verify current credentials through a search by individual name or certification number. The directories of the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) and NSCA go a step further by also providing contact information.
ACSM’s ProFinder requires that the organization’s currently certified professionals grant their permission to be included, and facilitates searches on the basis of certification type, name, city, state, ZIP code, or country. ACSM plans to expand ProFinder’s capabilities this year by allowing trainers to provide additional professional details. The 15-year-old search resource is promoted on the ACSM Website and in consumer newsletters.
According to Richard Cotton, the national director of certification for ACSM, the service is viewed positively by ACSM-certified professionals and has produced new jobs or clients for many of them. “We track traffic very thoroughly, and the ProFinder is used extensively by both consumers and health clubs,” he says. “Many employers call us for referrals, and we point them to the ProFinder.”
Promotional profiles
The National Federation of Professional Trainers (NFPT), the International Fitness Professionals Association (IFPA), the Training and Wellness Certification Commission (TWCC), and ACE all invite their currently certified members to enhance their directory listing with professional information on topics such as education and areas of expertise.
"Trainers often employ our site’s advanced features to provide as much information as possible about their services," notes Angie Pattengale, the director of certification for the NFPT. “That pays off for them because the listing is a way for potential clients and employers to search, locally, for fitness professionals.”
Describing the directory as a “vital tool,” Pattengale reports that it’s one of the most utilized features of the NFPT Website.
Also generating heavy online traffic is Find an ACE Pro, which encompasses all 50,000 ACE-certified professionals and allows them to supplement their personal profiles. “We have strong privacy measures, and don’t publish anyone’s contact information,” points out Galati. “ACE fields all inquiries and forwards them directly to our professionals.” Health clubs and other employers regularly consult the database to verify a person’s certification status before hiring, says Galati. Between January and October of 2011, more than 6,000 consumer inquiries were passed along to ACE-certified professionals via the online directory.
"I consistently receive inquiries from individuals searching for fitness professionals," says Lawrence Biscontini, a fitness presenter and ACE consultant, "and it’s really helped my business."
Bobby Morrow, a certified personal trainer and national spokesman for ACE, points out another valuable function facilitated by the search engine. "Nearly two dozen people have contacted me via Find an ACE Pro to ask my advice on how they can become personal trainers," he explains. "This is a great inroad, a viable point of access, for those who are considering a career in fitness."
Comprehensive platforms
Launched in 2010, IDEA FitnessConnect, the directory created by the IDEA Health and Fitness Association (IDEA), is a resource that hosts listings for more than 100,000 fitness professionals in the U.S. and Canada, as well as 15,000 classes and events. The service is free to everyone, including individuals and companies that don’t belong to IDEA.
FitnessConnect lets professionals create a profile, including all of their certifications, but each certification listed must be independently confirmed by the certifying body. IDEA currently has 63 partners who validate their certifications on FitnessConnect, including all 13 NCCA-accredited fitness organizations; it hopes to have a total of some 150 such partners by the end of 2012.
IDEA has also extended its reach through partnerships with fitnessmagazine.com, sparkpeople.com, and fitstudio.com, which provide consumers with access to IDEA FitnessConnect from their respective sites.
“We feel that one of the most important criteria for choosing a fitness professional is whether or not they’re currently certified,” explains Kathie Davis, the executive director of IDEA. “IDEA FitnessConnect is the only directory that independently verifies certifications from the various providers to make sure they’re accurate and up-to-date— important indicators of a person’s qualifications and expertise. Moreover, the listing encourages fitness professionals to stay current and better themselves.”
FitnessConnect also allows trainers and instructors to make use of numerous free resources that are designed to engage and retain clients, including an e-newsletter, blogs, and videos. More than 50,000 consumers receive the e-newsletter, which individual fitness professionals can customize.
Also providing the public with a wealth of valuable information is IHRSA’s consumer Website, healthclubs.com, which provides detailed information on more than 10,000 health and fitness clubs worldwide that employ tens of thousands of qualified trainers.
In the final analysis, the emergence, proliferation, and growing impact of online registries will serve to increase the credibility, accountability, accessibility, and public and industry acknowledgement of highly qualified fitness professionals worldwide
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