NASM vs ISSA – Who Leads The Way In 2024? | Let’s Compare!

The NASM certification leans toward corrective exercise with its Optimum Performance Training (OPT) model, while the ISSA certification focuses more on improving athletic performance and exercise programming. The National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA) accredits both personal trainer certifications. Both certifications are accepted by most employers looking to hire personal trainers.

Let’s see which one is best for you and your personal needs.

NASM, ISSA, or Other?

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In this review article, we will cover NASM vs ISSA personal trainer certifications.

Both certifications are very popular and commonly accepted by most fitness facilities.

This article will cover the following information about the NASM and ISSA personal trainer certification programs:

• General information
• CPT exam and study material costs
• CPT course content and quality 
• Certification popularity

After reading through this article, you will understand the pros and cons of both personal trainer certifications. You will also be able to identify which of the certifications is a better fit for your own personal needs and professional goals.

We highly recommend that you take our helpful quiz to find the best personal trainer certification for you.

So, let’s jump right into it!

CPT	ACSM vs ACE Quick Breakdown	Features	Price
	NASM CPT	Focus on corrective exercise Groundbreaking OPT Model More expensive No easy Difficult exam option	View on NASM Website
	ISSA CPT	Solid technique and exercise programming Excellent business skills Comprehensive skill set Internationally recognized Highly cost effective certification bundles	$828.00 for ISSA

NASM CPT

• Exam cost: $899
• Study Material Cost: $899-3,259+
• Prerequisites: High School Diploma, CPR/AED Certified
• Exam Passing Score: 70%
• Exam Pass Rate: 74%
• Average Completion Time: 3 to 6 months

View on NASM Website

ISSA CPT

• Exam cost: $599
• Study Material Cost: $1,199.64-$2,099.76
• Prerequisites: High School Diploma, CPR/AED Certified
• Exam Passing Score: 75%
• Exam Pass Rate: 93%, 70% (NCCA Proctored version)
• Average Completion Time: 2-4 months

$828.00 for ISSA

Trainer Academy Guides

• Complete, efficient study system
• Audio guide, flashcards, and mnemonics
• 850+ practice questions
• 99% pass rate
• Exam pass guarantee
• Affordable

ISSA CPT Study GuideNASM CPT Study Guide

Provider Materials

• Curriculum study preparation
• Includes text, graphics, and videos
• 200+ practice questions
• No exam pass refund guarantee
• $828-950 for ISSA starter package
• $699-999 for NASM starter package

$828.00 for ISSACheck NASM Price

Free Study Guides

• Curriculum material overview
• Complete chapter breakdowns
• 60 practice questions
• 130 flashcards
• Exam cheat sheet
• Free from PTPioneer and International Personal Trainer Academy 

Free ISSA Study GuideFree NASM Study Guide

As a personal trainer, it’s important to be able to effectively support your client’s health and fitness goals. The more educated you are, the better you will be able to support those goals in a time efficient manner. This is why it’s helpful to take action to further your knowledge base and skill set as a personal trainer.

One of the most straightforward ways to do this is to invest in yourself and pursue additional certifications and specializations beyond your initial personal trainer certification.

Most Personal trainer certifications provide you with the knowledge and skills necessary to perform the duties of a personal trainer at a minimum level. This means that they provide you with an introductory amount of information on a range of different topics, without comprehensively covering them. Specialty certifications provide you with an opportunity to work on a specific topic area at a level that’s a bit above introductory, which ultimately allows you to better serve your future clients. Some, such as a nutrition certification, even allow you to slightly expand your professional scope of practice. Though, your scope of practice when it comes to nutrition will still be pretty limited unless you also become a registered and licensed dietitian.

This is why we highly recommend getting both a personal trainer certification and at least one specialty certification when you start out.

Earning multiple certifications can also help you land your first personal training job. This can compensate for a lack of work experience if you haven’t worked in the industry before. Some, but not all, gyms also pay a slightly higher rate per session if you have more than one certification. Although, even in cases where gyms do this, it usually doesn’t make very much of a difference in terms of the % increase in overall pay.

If you go the route of supporting clients in maintaining healthy diets and decide to work as a nutrition coach, nutrition coach salary is somewhat similar to the annual pay you could expect working as a personal trainer. Although, many nutrition coaches are licensed and registered dietitians, which allows them to make much more than the average unlicensed nutrition coach.

Both NASM and ISSA have excellent packages which allow you to purchase multiple certifications at once. Purchasing certifications in a bundle is generally cheaper than purchasing them individually. Both organizations offer bundles with different numbers of certifications that you can earn at once.  But their offerings for a two certification bundle are roughly similar in price.

The ISSA option is a bit more expensive at $1,199.64 828, or $99.97 per month for 12 months.

NASM’s Nutrition and Fitness bundle is $1,124 or $93.66 per month for 12 months 999, which is slightly cheaper, but roughly the same price as ISSA’s package.

Double-check that these deals are still running on the ISSA website or NASM page, because both ISSA and NASM are known to change their offerings somewhat regularly.

We also have an excellent ISSA Nutritionist vs NASM CNC article that may be of interest to you if you are deciding between these deals.

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NASM and ISSA are two of the most popular personal trainer certifications on the market, and both are considered to be of a quality acceptable to most employers. This is largely because both are fully accredited by the NCCA. NCCA stands for the National Commission for Certifying Agencies.

Accreditation basically means that a third party organization certifies that the certification exam is administered and developed in a fair way, and that holders of the certification are qualified to meet the minimum standards necessary to safely and effectively work in the capacity of a personal trainer. It is in effect a certification for a certification.

You should only consider pursuing accredited certifications when working toward becoming a certified personal trainer. In most, but not all, cases employers only consider candidates with fully accredited certifications.

A personal trainer certification accreditation shows employers that the certification you hold accurately represents your ability to work as a personal trainer.

Both NASM and ISSA have NCCA accredited personal trainer certification courses. Although, ISSA also offers a non NCCA accredited test version of the certification exam, with a much higher pass rate.

NASM stands for National Academy of Sports Medicine.

What Does ISSA Stand For?

ISSA stands for International Sports Sciences Association.

ISSA was previously once exclusively accredited by DEAC, which is the Distance Education Accrediting Commission.

That’s because ISSA is the leader in distance learning when it comes to personal training certifications.

ISSA has since acquired the NCCPT and has begun offering certifications that are accredited by the NCCA. It’s important to keep in mind that organizations are not accredited, their certifications are. Most fitness trainer organizations have a mix of certifications that are fully accredited and ones that are not.

Whatever the case may be, you want to make sure your personal trainer certification is fully accredited. Fortunately, fitness certifications  offered by major organizations like NASM and ISSA are transparent in terms of the accreditation status of the programs they offer.

The personal training certification program you pursue, and the specific study package you opt for may depend on how much they cost. Although investing in higher quality certifications and more study resources can provide a meaningful return on investment, you may only be able or willing to spend a certain amount of money upfront.

What does the NASM CPT cost?

And, what does the ISSA CPT cost?

Sometimes the cheapest personal training certification is what you have to go with when becoming a personal trainer.

When it comes to price, you’ll find that NASM and ISSA offer roughly similar options, when factoring in differences that are attributed to the number of bonus certifications that their different certification bundles offer.

ISSA offers just one base study package for the personal trainer exam that includes a, practice exam, and practice ISSA CPT exam answers. This study package is expanded upon in each of iSSA’s bundles so that materials that relate to and support the bonus certifications bundled together are supported in the study package. Naturally, bonus study materials cover information that overlaps with that of the base personal trainer certification and can therefore help improve your odds of passing the personal trainer certification exam.

ISSA’s most basic package includes everything needed to pass the personal trainer exam without requiring any prior education or background in fitness for $1,199.64.

NASM, on the other hand, offers 3 base 4 study packages for their NASM CPT certification, all with varying amounts of physical and online study materials.

The NASM CPT textbook, other NASM CPT books, the NASM CPT practice exam, and the cost of the NASM CPT exam are included in each study package. The costs of each study package also increase when factoring in NASM’s certification bundle offerings.

Get updated with the latest discounts on both certifications here.

NASM and ISSA differ in that NASM offers a wide range of study packages for the personal trainer exam specifically, while NASM offers a similar range of study packages for a range of different certifications. Despite appearing very different on the surface, their study packages aren’t very dissimilar because each provides a similar quantity of study resources. It’s just that some of the resources provided by ISSA are labeled as being more associated with a specialty certification than the personal training one itself. 

NASM and ISSA have similar package offerings when looking at study packages that are cost-matched, but NASM allows you to purchase a less comprehensive study package than is the norm. This can help you out if you find money is tight and you do not believe you’d need the extra study support in order to pass the CPT exam.

Let’s take a look at the cost for each certification tier and see how the cost breaks down, keeping in mind that this chart excludes bundled packages, with the exception of ISSA’s tier 1 package because their base package at this time is a bundle:

ISSA’s tier 1 certification package is similarly as expensive as NASM’s tier 2 package, despite ISSa’s package also coming with a bonus certification. This does make ISSA far more cost effective in terms of the tangible return you receive on the money you spend. Although NASM also offers bundles, they tend to be a bit more expensive than their counterparts at ISSA. Part of the reason for this is that NASM is generally considered to offer a higher quality education overall than ISSA, which leads to their materials being priced a bit higher overall.

Although this suggests that NASM can help you become a more effective overall trainer, ISSA may help you land a job at a conventional gym more easily because it allows you to apply for jobs holding multiple certifications more easily.

The ISSA Elite Trainer package is a great way to earn multiple certifications at a low per certification rate.

NASM also has a very attractive 6-in-1 offer for up to six different certifications at a high overall price but low price per certification in their, NASM Elite Trainer bundle, which may also be worth considering. So if you’re interested in how to become a group exercise instructor or how to become a strength and conditioning coach, you can accomplish both at once with a certification bundle. Bundles also sometimes include specialty certifications designed to provide you with a slightly higher level of information than you’d find in a standard personal trainer course, such as what you’d learn through earning a “master trainer specialization

Overall, ISSA will be cheaper on a per certification basis, but NASM will provide you with a higher quality education on a per certification basis.

So let’s take a deeper look at the specific study materials each certification course offers.

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NASM offers robust study packages that can help you understand the nuance of exercise science more easily than other organization’s study packages.

Taking a NASM CPT practice exam as part of your study materials is key to making sure you are prepared.

The top tier package from NASM, the All-inclusive, includes 17 different study and trainer support materials.

NASM offers plenty of different study materials that allow you to study using your preferred method. The information is the same, regardless of the way in which you choose to learn it. NASM just provides you with plenty of options to do so, and you will have the flexibility to use and not use materials based on your own personal preferences.

NASM study materials are an excellent option, although we might urge you to get your hands on something a bit more streamlined, which you can find here at International Personal Trainer Academy.

The premium study package will save you the stress of sweating through all its study materials because the whole materials have been compressed into an easy to comprehend format.

Thus, your study time will be reduced by 50% as our study package offerings were developed using best practices when it comes to study material design, which will significantly increase your odds of passing the personal trainer certification exam on your first attempt.

If you don’t pass the exam on your first attempt, you will be able to take advantage of our money back guarantee offer.

So, what are you waiting for?

Click on the link here to access the NASM MVP study package.

Let’s have a look at NASM’s study suites for a clearer idea:

Pretty dense with features, resources, and materials as you can see, but is it worth the price?

The only way to tell is by comparing it to what ISSA has to offer.

As you can see, what ISSA offers is significantly less than what NASM generally offers when considering basic package offerings. This makes sense given much of ISSA’s bonus materials are directly tied to their bonus certifications.

So what does this mean in terms of quality? It doesn’t necessarily reflect quality since quantity is independent of the quality of each study item. Having more options available to you can make things easier, but the value of each individual option is completely unrelated. NASM’s materials are known to go more in depth than ISSA’s, which can help you develop a more nuanced understanding of the material. This can set you up to be a more effective trainer in the long run. 

However, ISSA’s materials are focused on the most practical aspects of training. This means that it’s easier to pick up the information from ISSA if your goal is to become a generally proficient personal trainer rather than one with a stronger knowledge base. 

Neither route is inherently better or worse than the other, but if you prefer study materials that help you understand practical applications of exercise science more easily, ISSA may be the better fit. If you want a more nuanced understanding of underlying mechanisms of exercise science that allow you to make more independent decisions when applying exercise science to a real world situation, NASM may be a better fit for you.

ISSA comes through with easier to understand practical information, while NASM excels in developing a more nuanced and deep understanding of the information.

It’s also worth noting that ISSA is generally focused on supporting personal trainers in developing their own personal trainer businesses and working as independent personal trainers. This isn’t the preferred career trajectory for many aspiring personal trainers, but if you’re interested in eventually working for yourself, ISSA may be able to provide you with a bit more help in navigating that process.

While NASM does boast some career advancement resources, ISSA has a more focused approach, even including a business-specific textbook called Fiscal Fitness. Knowing basic business structure is one of the secret skills needed in the personal trainer job description.

For all that, we give ISSA the edge with an 8/10 rating, while NASM receives a 7/10 rating.

Of course, if you want to go all the way to the top and guarantee success, just check out one of our structured study packages for ISSA.

• ISSA MVP Study Package

We also have study resources for other certifications:

If you decide you want to pick the ACE CPT, there’s an ACE study guide and an ACE practice exam to help you pass the test.

For those interested in the much harder NSCA CSCS, we’ve created a free CSCS practice test and CSCS study guide, which will be essential tools for you.

Of course there’s a NASM study guide as well.

The layout of both certification exams is fundamentally the same, although that wasn’t always the case.

ISSA used to have quite an interesting exam layout that included long essay-style case-study questions.

This is no longer the case, and the ISSA exam has since adopted a more traditional multiple-choice-only format.

But that, ladies and gentlemen, are where the similarities end.

NASM and ISSA have 120 and 160 exam questions, respectively, but 40 questions aren’t really what separates the two.

NASM requires a 70% minimum to pass, while ISSA needs you to score at least 75%.

The way the exams are administered is way different.

NASM is a proctored exam. It is conducted through select PSI testing facilities dotted across the North American region. 

In recent times, however, NASM has taken up the mantle for remote live testing by using your computer’s webcam as a monitoring device.

This had also opened NASM up to international candidature, whereas before, the cert’s reach and relevance were confined to the US and Canada. This is similar to what ACE has done as well, so if you compare NASM vs ACE, they both can be taken online now.

ISSA, on the other hand, has always maintained a distance-based, online-only approach with no physical testing locations.

This is what has allowed them to grow into the international force they are recognized as.

Now let’s look at the structure of the individual tests.

NASM is broken down into 6 sections.

These are:

• Professional Development and Responsibility
• Client Relations and Behavioral Coaching
• Basic and Applied Sciences and Nutritional Concepts
• Assessment
• Program Design
• Exercise Technique and Training Instruction

These sections are all weighted differently meaning that the number of questions on the exam that fall into each section will differ. You’ll find more questions related to content areas that have higher percentage values attached to them.

Looking at this, you get a pretty good impression of where to focus when doing exam prep for the NASM exam.

As you can tell, the focus is on the more practical applications of personal training, whereas the actual online course material introduces candidates to a lot of the scientific and theoretical principles of health and fitness, such as anatomy and kinesiology.

This makes sense since the purpose of an NCCA accredited exam is to prove minimum competence at professional practice. So, a lot of questions will be based on practical decisions that trainers make in real life scenarios. However, these decisions will often be informed by the trainer’s understanding of the foundational science that relates to that decision.

ISSA has a similar approach given that it is also NCCA accredited and its personal trainer certification has a similar overall goal to that of NASM, in that it certifies that an individual is considered to have met the minimum level of competence necessary to act in the role of a professional fitness trainer.

The main difference is that ISSA focuses a bit more on the business and nutrition aspects of personal training in its exam than NASM.

This is the case because ISSA’s definition of competence is a bit broader than NASM’s. NASM focuses more on the skills and knowledge most directly relevant to the practice of personal training, while ISSA focuses more on tangential aspects instead. Both are valid, but whichever is the better fit for you depends on your personal preference and personal objectives. 

The NASM CPT exam is traditional. As we mentioned, the exam is conducted with a live proctor, either in a real-world setting at a PSI testing facility or remotely via webcam monitoring.

ISSA also offers a traditional exam, which has a 70% pass rate. But it also offers an online exam in an open book and open note format that is self paced with a 93% exam pass rate.

When taking their easier exam option, you can take as long as you want from the moment you start the exam to the time you finish, even allowing you to save, log out, and log back in to resume the test.

Next, we’ll take a look at the difficulty and pass rates, which will give you an idea of what this actually means.

So when looking at the two organizations, ISSA is more flexible overall. It offers you the ability to take a fully accredited traditional test and an online test. This flexibility allows you to better tailor your exam taking approach to your own needs. If you find you have test anxiety and a stressful environment of that sort can make it hard for you to pass the exam, even if you know the information, it may be worth considering ISSA’s open ended test. What matters most is that you actually know and understand the information – not that you take tests well.

The NASM exam is comprised of 120 multiple-choice questions.

The exam difficulty is another factor that differs between these two certifications.

Our NASM review describes how the NASM CPT has been known to be only slightly challenging given it has a 74% pass rate. This means that a majority of candidates pass. This pass rate is on the slightly high side as far as personal training certifications go. However, the type of candidate that usually opts for NASM may be more likely to perform well on a personal training test than the average ISSA candidate, which can artificially skew NASM’s exam pass rate upwards.

Although, it is significantly easier than the National Strength and Conditioning Association, NSCA-CSCS which is known for being exceptionally difficult.

As for ISSA, the pass rate is 93% for its open book exam and 70% for the traditional exam version.

That makes the open book version the easiest exam to pass out of all the major certs we traditionally cover at International Personal Trainer Academy. Though it’s important to keep in mind that although 93% of candidates pass, 7% don’t. So it is still possible to fail if you are inadequately prepared for the exam.

To avoid being among the candidates who do not pass their personal trainer certification exam on their first attempt, try to make use of our the free study guide and practice test for both NASM and ISSA.

Click on the links below to get started.

• NASM Study Guide and NASM Practice Test
• ISSA Study Guide and Practice Test

Now we get to that dreaded scenario… what happens if you fail.

Well, like most personal trainer certification programs, you can retake the exam shortly after your first attempt if you find yourself failing.

In most cases, you will need to pay a retest fee in order to retake the exam. The cost of retaking the exam is less than the original price of registering for the exam on your first attempt.

You are allowed to retake the NASM CPT test upon a failed attempt at the added cost of $199.

ISSA, on the other hand, allows you one free second chance. What’s more, you get to focus on just the questions you failed, allowing you to maintain previously correct answers. This significantly increases the pass rate of candidates who attempt to take the ISSA certified personal trainer exam for a second time, compared to the NASM certified personal trainer exam. 

If you happen to fail ISSA’s exam a second time, then you will need to pay, but even then, the re-examination fee is only $50, which is far below industry norms.

For that reason, ISSA’s training program wins out when it comes to recertification fees.

To avoid any form of failure, your best bet is to use the premium MVP study packages from International Personal Trainer Academy. Check them below.

• NASM MVP Study Package
• ISSA MVP Study Package

Both of these certifying agencies are pretty well known in the fitness industry, with both of their personal trainer certification exams enrolling many candidates yearly.

That being said, NASM generally enrolls many more candidates into their CPT program than ISSA. Similarly, google search frequency is much greater for NASM than ISSA.

Although search frequency isn’t the most direct measure of brand awareness for a variety of reasons, given there are a ton of confounding variables and there isn’t much that can be accurately inferred from it, it loosely correlates with brand awareness.

When considering both personal trainer certification program enrollment data as a direct measure and search data as a loosely correlated proxy measure, it is supported that NASM may be generally more well known than ISSA.

Although, it is worth noting that enrollment reflects personal trainer certification program enrollment – and both organizations offer multiple programs. It is plausible that enrollment for non-personal training programs in ISSA are greater than that for NASM. It is also plausible that individuals who are searching for the terms NASM or ISSA may not be searching for their personal training program specifically.

Read more about what makes each certification tick by clicking the links below:

• NASM-CPT
• ISSA-CPT

The amount of time you will need to study and take each respective exam is dependent on the enrollment period.

This is the amount of time from purchasing/registering for the cert to the deadline for the final exam sitting.

In this regard, both NASM and ISSA have a 6-month window in which enrollment runs and allows you to complete the course.

If you fail to meet your objectives within that time, you will need to re-enroll.

ISSA allows you to do this free of charge by extending your enrollment period by a further two months.

NASM will allow an enrollment extension of 90 days which you will have to purchase.

You will need to check out their website to determine the current re-enrollment fees since this often changes.

Now, the enrollment period is one thing, but how much time do you actually need to prep and pass the final exam?

How long does it take to become a personal trainer with NASM or ISSA?

We say 3 months should be adequate for the average candidate without prior industry experience or previous subject matter relevant education. That means halfway into your enrollment period for either certification; you should be test-ready.

The number of months you need to study will naturally depend on how much time you have available to devote to studying weekly, the quality of that study time, and your ability to learn new information.

Another thing that matters is the complexity and depth of the certification program and the knowledge level you need to pass the exam. For example, you don’t need to be as proficient with the material to pass ISSA’s open book exam as you need to be to pass NASM’s standard exam or ISSA’s standard exam. This means you won’t need to study as long for ISSA’s open book exam as you would for a traditional one.

ISSA makes studying easier by including a 10-week guided study plan that will have you writing your final by week 10.

This is a great way to structure your studying in a way that requires less input and stress from you.

However, if you really, really want to get an edge on your study time management, why not grab one of Trainer Academy’s MVP packages for either NASM or ISSA.

These packages include a study blueprint that will help you divvy up your time management through various time scales depending on how much you can realistically commit.

Making use of either the NASM MVP Study package or the ISSA MVP Study package will be a win-win for you in the long run. You should trust the process.

Since both have the same enrollment window, we can chalk it up to a tie in this category.

As a certified personal trainer, you will be able to make income working at a range of different types of fitness facilities. Different facilities naturally tend to have different norms when it comes to trainer pay and can really influence how much money you make. Although personal training certifications themselves don’t often strongly influence pay, we wanted to take a moment to compare the average salary of ISSA and NASM certified trainers. 

The below chart breaks down average personal trainer salary by certification.

Although the expected salary for an ISSA trainer is over 10% lower than that of a NASM trainer, this is largely due to differences in where NASM and ISSA trainers usually apply to work, rather than gyms paying more money for one certification over the other. ISSA trainers are more often targeting conventional commercial gyms.

It’s also worth noting that NASM provides a job guarantee, and when you’re first figuring out how to make money as a personal trainer, that may be very valuable.

Each certification has its own unique strengths and weaknesses, making it a better fit for certain niches than others. Ultimately they all teach you to be a good personal trainer, able to work in the industry at a level deemed adequate by the certifying body and the NCCA.

For ISSA, they focus more on business and applied exercise programming. This allows trainers who are certified through ISSA to more easily succeed at becoming an independent trainer on the business side of things. It also allows ISSA trainers to get used to making programming decisions somewhat quickly, which can help in the fast paced environment of a busy conventional gym.

The art of designing well-thought-out and comprehensive programs is the hallmark of ISSA training.

NASM is more geared towards corrective exercise, exercise mechanics, and the nuances of underlying exercise science.

This focus allows NASM trainers to problem solve more complex training issues and support clients who have more advanced needs. It also allows NASM trainers to develop more comprehensive programming solutions that take into account mechanical factors that other trainers may not consider as readily.

NASM carries this approach through their OPT model or Optimum Performance Training.

This model inherently requires a more complete understanding of programming principles so for that reason we’d say NASM is the better option.

Are you interested in other offerings by both certifications? Click on the links below to learn about these specializations.

Also, take a look at the group instructor, senior fitness, or exercise specialist certifications.

• ISSA SAC
• ISSA GROUP
• ISSA CPT NUTRITION
• ISSA and PN
• NASM PES
• NASM CNC

Both NASM and ISSA require you to renew your certification every two years.

This may be done by obtaining CEUs, or continuing education units.

Fitness professionals must keep their skills sharp and with the current scientific and industry trends.

To qualify for recertification, you will have to submit CEUs as well as pay the required recertification fee.

Both ISSA and NASM certifications require 2.0 CEUs for recertification, which amounts to 20 hours of continued education.

Use this link to access the study materials and get started to become a personal trainer.

NASM vs. ISSA Roundup

ISSA vs NASM?

Picking the best personal training certification can be tough!

Both NASM and ISSA are great options. Each has its strengths as well as its weak points. It ultimately depends on what you want to get out of your personal trainer certification, and the specific way that you want to invest in yourself and your future career.

Overall, we rate NASM just a bit higher than ISSA. It’s a higher quality certification that will set you up to become more skilled as a personal trainer long-term. It will therefore provide the greatest return on investment for more aspiring trainers, when compared to ISSA.

But at the end of the day, it’s the certified personal trainer certificate that will get you through most doors and earn you the most money.

That being said, it’s always good to look at your options. In order to help you with that we also have articles comparing ISSA vs ACE, NASM vs ACSM, and NASM vs NSCA. Each of these organizations have their own pros and cons and we want to help you make an informed choice so you can have a good personal trainer career outlook and a wealth of knowledge for the future.

References

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2. ‌Ahmed S, Rashid M, Sarkar A, et al. Fitness Trainers’ Educational Qualification and Experience and Its Association with Their Trainees’ Musculoskeletal Pain: A Cross-Sectional Study. Sports. 2022;10(9):129. doi: https://doi.org/10.3390/sports10090129
3. ‌McClaran SR. The effectiveness of personal training on changing attitudes towards physical activity. Journal of sports science & medicine. 2003;2(1):10-14. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3937569/
4. Akerson M. Investigating Personal Fitness Trainers’ Qualifications. Published online January 1, 2014.
5. Waryasz GR, Daniels AH, Gil JA, Suric V, Eberson CP. Personal trainer demographics, current practice trends and common trainee injuries. Orthopedic Reviews. 2016;8(3). doi:https://doi.org/10.4081/or.2016.6600
6. Brust S. Nutrition Content of NCCA Personal Fitness Trainer Certification Curriculums. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. 2014;114(9):A93. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jand.2014.06.317
7. Cieslinski Q. Comparing Personal Training and Strength and Conditioning Certifications Across Multiple Organizations. Published online January 1, 2016.
8. Craig AC, Eickhoff-Shemek JM. EDUCATING AND TRAINING THE PERSONAL FITNESS TRAINER. ACSM’s Health & Fitness Journal. 2009;13(2):8-15. doi:https://doi.org/10.1249/fit.0b013e318198e4cc
9. Melton, B. F., Romanchik-Cerpovicz, J. E., Ryan, G. A., & Gallagher, C. G. (2021). The Influence of Education on the Nutritional Knowledge of Certified Fitness Professionals. International journal of exercise science, 14(4), 239.
10. Zenko Z, Ekkekakis P. Knowledge of Exercise Prescription Guidelines Among Certified Exercise Professionals. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. 2015;29(5):1422-1432. doi:https://doi.org/10.1519/jsc.0000000000000771
11. ‌Thompson, W. R. (2022). Worldwide survey of fitness trends for 2022. Acsm’s Health Fit. J, 26(1), 11-20.