3 replies to this topic

[Bob]

I am curious as to what certifications agency did you use to get your Personal Training certification?

When I first started training, I was a big fan of Dr. Fred Hatfield AKA Dr. Squat. This was many yeas before he founded the ISSA. After he founded the ISSA, I immediately signed up for their training certification and attended a few seminars hosted by Tom Platz, a professional bodybuilder. The seminars were very interesting and informative, so I stuck with the ISSA for many years. I found the ISSA training materials to be adequate, but I lost a lot of respect for Fred Hatfield when he tried to publicly bash Dr. Mel Siff on his forum. Although Dr. Fred Hatfield apologized to Mel Siff after Mel Siff joined the forums and confronted him, I felt Dr. Hatfield wasn't acting very professional. Anyway, when it came time to renew a second time though, their prices had gone through the roof compared to the other certifying agencies, so I decided to go with a different company, the APFA.

The saying that you get what you paid for is definitely true in the certification world! Although the APFA sent a nice text book, I have to say it was very hard to get through, and not because the material was difficult, but due to the fact it was extremely boring and the author repeats himself over and over again in the manual. In addition, very, very little time is spent on anatomy, physiology, kinesiology, etc. Anyway, just a very poorly written book, and the times I had to call the company led me to believe the company wasn't very professional as those who answer the phones are extremely rude.

Anyway, not sure why I am sharing all this, but I hope some will find it useful.

[Trainer]

ace

[Bob]

How did you like the ace certification materials? Did it focus mainly on aerobics or did they change that?

[Trainer]

It was okay nothing special.