Becoming a personal trainer can start a rewarding career in the fitness industry. The average personal trainer course takes between 2 and 6 months to complete. The specific amount of time it takes to pass your certification exam depends on many factors, including which certification you choose, how much time you spend studying per day, and other considerations.
Also, there are other factors that determine how long you will spend in your personal trainer certification course, the key ones are:
- Educational background
- Work experience
Depending on your educational background and work experience, it is suggested to view both entry-level and advanced-level CPT certifications.
Some of the top CPT certification programs include the following:
- ACE personal trainer certification: The American Council Exercise personal trainer certification
program provides you with up-to-date, easy-to-understand, high-quality fitness training education and continuing education career credits as well. After you enroll in ACE personal trainer course, you will have six months to attempt your exam. While ACE recommends you to dedicate at least three to four months of study before you takeACE CPT exam. Most students in the ACE personal trainer become certified within 6 months of time. To significantly reduce overall study time and better your chances to pass the ACE CPT exam in first attempt, you should make use of the premium study materials and preparatory classes from a genuine ACE education partner.
- NASM CPT certification: The NASM CPT certification typically takes around 4-12 weeks to complete depending on how much time you study per day, background knowledge and experience, and your ability to retain and recall information. Other factors include the quality of the study materials, taking practice tests, and consistency in your studies.While you are given 180 days to study and prepare, if you study adequately for your NASM-CPT exam full time, you can become a NASM Certified Personal Trainer in as little as four weeks.In fact, most students in this program take four to six weeks to study and get certified.
- NSCA CPT certification: Additionally, the National Strength and Conditioning Association
Certified Personal Trainer program (NSCA-CPT), is another NCCA accredited top-rated personal trainer certification. Students in the NSCA personal trainer certification program generally take three to nine months to prepare for their exam, most taking six months.
- ISSA personal training certification: From the moment you register with the International Sports Sciences Association (ISSA) personal trainer certification course, you will have approximately six months to prepare for and complete the official ISSA CPT exam. Most students take eight to ten weeks to study, or around 2 months, which is much shorter than most personal trainercertification programs.
- ACSM CPT certification: This self-paced personal trainer certification allows for a minimum of three to six months to prepare for your exam, but most ACSM CPT exam students take three to nine months to study. Though a bachelor degree is not a requirement, having a bachelor degree in a related field, such as human anatomy, exercise science, or kinesiology may allow you to take three months or less
Just note that to become Personal Trainers, you must meet the age, certification, and education requirements, as discussed briefly below:
- You must be at least 18 years of age at the time of final exam.
- You will need to have graduated high school and have your official high school diploma or the equivalent.
- You must have a current, valid Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) certification
If you are not already CPR/AED certified, please go, and get certified, as it is a requirement to enter the program and part of your personal trainer duties.Personal training sessions must be done safely, as well as effectively, therefore not having valid CPR certifications will result in an even longer time before you can enroll in a CPT program or even work as a Personal Trainer.Your objectives should be in line with the duration of the program.
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