General personal trainer certifications versus specializations
General personal trainer certifications such as the NASM CPT or the ACE CPT are the most common type of personal trainer certification out there. In fact most specialization certifications require you to at least have one general personal training certification. General certifications go over basic anatomy, physiology, biomechanics and exercises to get you started as a personal trainer. In this article I will be talking about the differences between specializations and normal CPT's. I will only be talking about a few different specializations or at least the ones I think are the most valuable. I became a trainer about 5 years ago by getting my ACE certification. If you are not a personal trainer and are looking to get into personal training, check out the link I just highlighted. Now let's get into the bulk of the article.
I think the top 4 certifications for personal training are the NASM, ACE, ACSM and NSCA. The general certifications all follow a similar guideline and much of the information overlaps one another. But to break down the certifications a little bit more, here's how I would do it. NASM focuses more on corrective exercises and fixing muscular and balances. They follow the optimum training model that starts with the stabilization level in works all the way up to the power level for athletes. In between these 1st and last levels there are 3 strength levels as well. They do a great job of progressing in regressing exercise routines for people depending on their needs and abilities. ACE is a very general certification and goes over all the essential information that is needed to become a personal trainer. ACSM takes a very scientific and medical standpoint. It would be great for med students or people that do great studying out of the textbook. NSCA is highly recognized for their specialization certification called the CSCS. You need a college degree to be able to take the CSCS.Â
Now let's jump right into some of the specialization certifications out there. Most specialization certifications require a general personal training certification as a prerequisite. There are tons of specialization certifications out there. Some popular ones include prenatal and postnatal exercise, use exercise, elderly populations, weight loss specialists in sports specialists. One of the most highly regarded specialization certifications besides the CSCS is NASM's CES certification. The CES stands for corrective exercise specialist Andy goes very well with NASM's optimum training model. This it would be one of the 1st specialization certifications I would recommend to anyone because most of the population has some sort of muscular and balance the needs to be corrected through training. Specialization certifications really help you take your personal training skills to the next level. They focus like a laser beam on one specific area so that you can appeal to that target market. I hope you like my article on regular certifications versus specializations. Leave me a comment below if you have any experience with any of the certifications that I have talked about!