How to Become a Personal Trainer in 5 Simple Steps

Posted by Kenneth Knudson September 02, 2019

How to Become a Personal Trainer in 5 Simple Steps

Let me know if this sounds familiar. Wake up early to beat traffic. Head to a job that you’re not in love with to pay bills. Talk to angry clients, attend meetings. Have a cold lunch. Go home. Repeat.

For the longest time, this was me.

I know, pretty depressing right (I promise I’m a cool guy in real life). I was stuck in a job that I didn’t love. Don’t get me wrong, my coworkers and bosses were fantastic. But I knew there was something missing. For me, that became personal training.

After graduating and working many odd jobs, I decided I wanted to pursue a career in personal training. Why? Because I love to work out, and I love to help people reach their goals. Maybe you can relate.

You don’t need an advanced degree. You don’t need fancy training. You just need a simple process that actually works. Trust me, if I can pass the ACSM CPT exam on the first attempt, so can you!

I made many mistakes along the way. It took me longer than it should have to certify. Let me share the 5 steps I took to get certified.

1. Decide on which certification you want to pursue

While there are hundreds of PT certifications, few are recognized by the NCCA (National Commission for Certifying Agencies). Accreditation means that companies offering certifications are legit. They have to pass a very strict external audit that ensures they do everything in their power to offer the best programs possible.

Among the accredited agencies, these certifications are recognized at almost every gym nationwide:

The key here is to decide which certification matches you: your goals, your interests, your future. Below is a quick comparison of the different CPT certification as of 2019:

	ACSM	ACE	NASM	NSCA
Exam cost	$349	$399	$599	$435
Material cost	$152.52 for books only (on ACSM website)	$199 for books plus online study materials	$624 for self-study option	$290.70 (non-member) for essential package includes practice questions
Population	Clinical	General	General, athletes	Athletes
Recertification	$45 every 3 years	$129 every 2 years	$99 every 2 years	$99 every 2 years
CEC	45 (every 3 years)	20 (every 2 years)	20 (every 2 years)	60 (every 3 years

2. Purchase training materials and study

Pro tip: search Amazon or eBay for discounted prices on books and materials. After purchasing materials, set aside sometime each day to study. Even if it’s only 20-30 minutes, small sessions add up.

Give yourself plenty of time to comprehend the material. While each certification offers plenty of unique content, each certification is sure to include some variation the following:

Initial client consultation
Exercise science (anatomy, physiology, kinesiology, biomechanics, nutrition)
Developing the exercise program
Behavior modification
Business of personal training

After reading your entire text through for the first time, download exam outlines for your specific certification. These give you a nice overview of the quiz and let you know what percentage of the questions will be covered for each specific topic.

Go through your text a second time. This time take notes on flashcards that cover each specific area that will be on the test. This will help you remember and recall the most important information when needed.

3. Take practice exams

Don’t wait until your actual exam to get real familiar with taking tests. At first, your scores on these practice tests are going to suck. But the scores really don’t matter until your actual exam, so who cares. The point here is to familiarize yourself with the material and uncover your weakest subjects. The app I used to pass my CPT exam was PocketPrep.

They currently offer the following exams:

ACSM CPT
NASM CPT
NSCA CPT

Most certifications also offer additional study packages that come with practice questions. After taking several practice quizzes it’s time to:

Improve weak areas, take notes
Take quizzes that cover your weakest areas
Improve weak areas by more study

4. Pick a test day and stick with it

After all the studying you still may never feel completely ready for exam day. That’s okay. I hesitate to tell you when you’ll be ready. For some, it takes 3 months, while for others it can take 6+ months to feel comfortable. Only you can know when you’re ready. Know that if you don’t have a background in exercise science it may take you more time to prepare and that’s ok.

After studying consistently it’s really important to just pick a day and stick with that day. Many exams make you pay in advance, which is a great way to make sure you will follow through with actually taking the exam.

5. The night before

Try to get plenty of rest the night before. Eat a regular breakfast and relax.

The months of preparation will stick with you more than a few hours of cramming to study for a test. Most exams will not let you take anything other than you ID into the test room, but many also have lockers for you to store food and water during breaks. Gather all your materials, do a small general overview of the exam content, and take your test.

SOURCES
https://www.acsm.org/get-stay-certified/get-certified/comparing-personal-trainer-certifications

https://www.acefitness.org/fitness-certifications/personal-trainer-certification/default.aspx?campaignid=1649232152&adgroupid=62643128349&adid=317195668249&gclid=Cj0KCQjwwIPrBRCJARIsAFlVT89w-bHK8VaII1AwC-kEiURR51IEpyECQazjDD8hlNvjhqzeyW_DgCUaAnY7EALw_wcB#chooseAProgram

https://trainer.nasm.org/become-a-cpt-ps/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=paidsearch&utm_content=&utm_campaign=nasm-google-leadgeneration-branded

https://www.nsca.com/certification/nsca-cpt/

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