The Issue
How do you know if a trainer's certification has adequately prepared him or her for the job? And, how do you know if their certification comes from a reputable company?
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How do you know if a trainer's certification has adequately prepared him or her for the job? And, how do you know if their certification comes from a reputable company?
In 2005, the IHRSA Board set a goal to help health club businesses hire qualified personal trainers and ensure consumers felt safe working with these trainers in a health club setting.
After working with many of the fitness industry's leading personal training certification organizations, the board decided that an independent and nationally recognized accreditation for personal training certification programs would be extremely valuable for the industry and the people it employs.
Therefore, the The IHRSA Board of Directors recommends that IHRSA member clubs hire personal trainers holding at least one current certification from a certifying organization/agency that has third-party accreditation of its certification procedures and protocols from an independent, experienced, and nationally recognized accrediting body.
In 2017, the IHRSA Standards and Membership Review Committee of the IHRSA Board of Directors added ANSI / ISO Standard 17024 to the list of accepted accreditations. Therefore, the Board currently recognizes the National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA), the Distance Education Accrediting Commission (DEAC), and ANSI / ISO Standard 17024 as acceptable accrediting organizations.
As of this moment, the following personal training organizations have achieved accreditation from an IHRSA-recognized accrediting body:
To be added to the above list, please provide IHRSA with proof that your organization has "third-party accreditation of your certification procedures and protocols. Third party certification must be from the National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA), ANSI / ISO Standard 17024, or another, equivalent accrediting organization contingent upon its status as an established accreditation body recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation and/or the United States Department of Education for the purposes of providing independent, third-party accreditation."