How can I get certified in just 2 days?
This is not possible with an IFPA Certification. IFPA workshops are for a review of all the material you studied in preparation for IFPA Certification exams. There are Certification organizations that will conduct workshops that “teach-the-test!” But the IFPA will not forsake our ethical guidelines or relinquish our responsibility to ensure the competency of our Certified Fitness Professionals for the safety of the public. The IFPA 2 day certification workshop is an additional benefit to all our students. However, the workshop is only a review. In order to pass the IFPA Certification test (multiple choice), you must read, study and learn the IFPA study guide and the IFPA manual(s) {depending on the course more than 1 manual maybe applicable} before coming to the review workshop. If you do not study you will not pass! We have had PhDs in Exercise Physiology fail the test because they felt they “knew it all” and did not bother to study. We have also had world-class athletes, bodybuilders, power lifters and experienced (non-certified) fitness professionals fail the test because they thought they knew it all and did not bother to study.
You are under no obligation to purchase any IFPA Personal Fitness Training courses before attempting the IFPA Personal Fitness Trainer Exam. Our NOCA/NCCA accreditation requires that we cannot make the purchase of courses, text, study guides or study materials of any kind a pre-requisite of the Certification Examination. NOCA/NCCA Standards allow you to gain the necessary knowledge, skills and abilities through any means possible to prepare for the exam: college, additional reading, workshops, life experience, etc.
IFPA courses are not the only way to prepare to pass the exam; however, in all fairness to you, the IFPA courses are the most concise, practical and best way to prepare. IFPA courses provide the greatest value, not only in passing the exam, but for success in your career. You will find that the precise knowledge, skills and abilities you need to pass the IFPA Exam are the precise knowledge, skills and abilities you will learn in the IFPA courses. Later, as your career progresses, you will find that the knowledge, skills and abilities you have acquired in your studies will prepare you for the highest levels of achievement. You will be head and shoulders above your competition!
To pass an IFPA Certification is going to require you to understand necessary scientific principles as well as the essential practical application of those principles to the real world-training scenario. This is the only way to protect the public from incompetence and the only way to ensure your success.
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Why should I bother to take an IFPA Certification? My friends tell me there are much easier certification companies around that will not require me to study so hard!
Please review the above answer first before continuing to READ HERE! The first rule you must learn as an IFPA Certified Instructor is:
DO NO HARM!
We are familiar with the certifications that have tests so easy a first grader can pass them, but what does that get you? Your certification will not be worth the paper it is printed on. Many club owners and managers will not accept any other certification other than IFPA because they know that an IFPA Certified Fitness Professional has a much higher chance of success than any other certification.
Club owners and managers also know that if you violate IFPA rule #1, the liability of the harm you cause always falls on them, their insurance, their business, their reputation and their income. You should also consider you, your insurance, your business, your reputation and your income before you take the easy way out.
One of the primary reasons that IHRSA, the IFPA, ACSM, NSCA, major fitness club chains, and other leaders of the fitness industry decided that NOCA/NCCA accredited certifications would be the only acceptable certifications to qualify fitness professionals, was to require the appropriate level of competence to ensure the safety to the public. The IFPA went even further than all other certifications by not only meeting all NOCA/NCCA Standards and achieving NOCA/NCCA accreditation, but by meeting all IACET Standards for continuing education and training and become an esteemed IACET provider!
The IFPA is the only IACET/NOCA/NCCA accredited certification in the fitness industry. Do not be fooled by other certifications that list themselves as IACET/NOCA/NCCA members! This is meaningless! Membership can be bought by anyone willing to pay the membership fee! IACET providership and NOCA/NCCA accreditation must be earned by a long, involved, tedious, professional and laborious process to prove you have met or surpassed all the demanding Standards required by these organizations. Meeting the NOCA/NCCA Standards is proof the IFPA has a valid and reliable examination process. The intent of the NOCA/NCCA Standards is to promote the sound and ethical use of exams and to provide a reliable foundation for evaluating the quality of the IFPA’s examination practices. You will pay a price in money, time, effort, energy and other resources to earn your Personal Fitness Trainer Certification. Should you not DEMAND that the certification organization you decide to join performs “due diligence” to ensure you will be taking a fair, non-biased, reliable and valid exam? The IFPA’s NOCA/NCCA accreditation is your proof that you will be treated fairly and equitably throughout the process.
The IFPA Job Analysis Survey discovered the precise knowledge, skills and abilities needed in personal fitness training for the safest and most effective modalities. Unfortunately, there was no educational or training programs available in the early 1990’s to teach these skills to personal fitness trainers. This meant that exercise myths, falsehoods, improper and unsafe techniques were being passed down from ineffective trainers, making the next generation of trainers equally ineffective.
The IFPA developed the world’s first and still remaining, most effective, practical training programs to educate and train fitness professionals. The IFPA developed the first “user friendly” manuals, study guides, videos and workshops to raise the bar on the competencies of fitness professionals. Though the IFPA has many imitators, no organization has been able to keep up with the innovative educational and training techniques developed by the IFPA. To provide you with the proof that the IFPA is unsurpassed in all aspects of education and training, the IFPA took the very demanding steps to meet or exceed all the laborious Standards of IACET to become the only IACET provider who is also NOCA/NCCA accredited. IACET providership is a highly esteemed credential used by the medical, engineering and other demanding professions to prove they have valid, reliable and professional educational and training programs.
The IFPA is now authorized to provide IACET Continuing Education Credits (CECs) along with IFPA CEC’s for all IFPA certifications and CEC! This is TWICE the value for your CEC dollars! Every IFPA course you complete will grant you both IACET and IFPA CECs!
IACET providership is a bridge for the fitness industry, through the IFPA to the medical industry. Many medical organizations accept IACET CECs so now medical professionals can be given incentive to learn exercise and nutrition modalities from the IFPA to improve their patient care. One steadfast goal of the IFPA has always been to educate medical professionals on the efficacy of IFPA modalities to improve patient care and provide fitness professionals the skills they need to safely and effectively manage the special needs of patients with various diseases, disabilities and dysfunctions that can be treated with exercise and nutrition prescriptions. IACET accomplishes all these goals and more, and provides you the proof you need that the IFPA has the industry’s best education and training programs.
Remember: “What does not kill us makes us stronger!” ~~Friedrich Nietzsche
We at the IFPA are dedicated to helping you become the best fitness professional and the best person you can be.
Dr. Jim Bell
President, IFPA
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I have a Masters Degree in Exercise Physiology; do I really need a certification?
Congratulations on completing a very demanding course of study! But yes, you do need a certification. Even with a Masters Degree most gym owners will not hire you and most insurances companies will not insure you. Despite 2 (or more) years of dedicated academic study, most gyms know that you have little or no practical application in fitness. Certifications satisfy this demand.
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I have won dozens of titles in bodybuilding including Mr. Universe, why do I need a certification?
Congratulations on your achievements and dedication to excellence! But club owners will not hire you and insurance companies will not insure you. Despite a wealth of practical experience you will need a certification to prove you understand the science behind training to ensure you will DO NO HARM to the public you will be charged with training. Training a 60-year old with osteoarthritis has nothing to do with bodybuilding! Likewise, training a 50-year old, overweight doctor has nothing to do with bodybuilding. Personal Fitness Training has little to do with the type of sports conditioning required of a competitive athlete. Your athletic achievements, though a well-earned source of pride and display of dedication and discipline, do not prove your competence to train others safely and effectively. Your IFPA certification shows a level of professional competence far superior to any championship when it comes to becoming a successful personal fitness trainer.
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What is the Best Personal Fitness Trainer Certification?
The question “What is the best personal fitness trainer certification?” is asked every day throughout the world by everyone considering a career in the fitness industry. By some estimates, there are over 400 different personal fitness trainer certifications to choose from. Virtually every one of them will claim to be the best personal fitness trainer certification. The only logical way to determine which is the best personal fitness trainer certification is to use deductive reasoning and gather facts from valid, reliable, third-party sources. Without the use of a fair, unbiased criteria to evaluate which is the best personal fitness trainer certification, you are left with misinformed, prejudiced, unreliable opinion, slick advertising and marketing hype!
Researching the facts on over 400 personal fitness trainer certifications is an overwhelming task for almost everyone. Fortunately there is a very easy way to narrow your choice to a manageable few.
Years ago, when the proliferation of the numerous personal fitness trainer certifications began, the International Health, Racquetball & Sports Clubs Association (IHRSA), the leading non-profit health club association and many of the fitness industry’s leading organizations grew concerned. Many of these personal fitness trainer certifications were highly questionable and many were “selling” certificates with no discernable qualification to become a “certified” personal fitness trainer. These nefarious organizations presented a threat to the safety of the public, since they were “certifying” people without the requisite knowledge, skills and abilities necessary to ensure safe and effective personal fitness training. The only logical decision to be made was for the credible, qualified, valid and reliable personal fitness trainer certifications to demonstrate their superior and professional qualities from the nefarious organizations that were selling worthless certificates, by earning accreditation through the National Organization for Competency Assurance (NOCA) and their certifying commission, the National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA). Of the over 400+ personal fitness trainer certifications, only a very few met the very demanding standards required for NOCA, NCCA accreditation, including: the International Fitness Professional Association (referred to as the IFPA, www.ifpa-fitness.com), ACE, ACSM, NASM, NSCA, NFPT, NCSF, NESTA, NETA, and the Cooper Institute. The NOCA, NCCA accreditation standards prove that these ten personal fitness trainer certifications are the best personal fitness trainer certifications in the world. NOCA, NCCA accreditation requires a certification to meet 20 highly demanding standards. These standards are proof that the certifications constructed their certification tests according to the most current industry standards for educational and psychological testing and evaluation; constructed all examinations based on the most current psychometric standards from Job Analysis Surveys (JAS), following a scientifically designed system culminating in professional examination administrative procedures and much, much more. It normally requires three years of hard work and considerable time, effort, energy, expense, and other resources to achieve NOCA, NCCA accreditation.
Do not be fooled into believing that other accrediting organizations have the same level of credibility as NOCA, NCCA. Several accrediting organizations have appeared, developed by some certification organizations themselves, primarily as an easy alternative for the nefarious organizations who cannot qualify for NOCA, NCCA accreditation.
Do not be fooled by organizations that are members of NOCA. This is a meaningless claim whose only requirement is for the organization to pay an annual fee to join NOCA. NOCA, NCCA accreditation is the only credential to look for in a valid, credible and reliable certification.
Using deductive reasoning, you can easily conclude that the 10 certifications listed above are the best personal fitness trainer certifications in the world. Out of 400+, your choice is now narrowed down to the 10 best certifications.
NOCA, NCCA accreditation is evidence of the high quality of the certification examination process, but is not the best criteria to judge the educational and training components of the organization. NOCA, NCCA standards require an organization to separate certification from educational and training functions. The best NOCA, NCCA counterpart for education and training is the International Association for Continuing Education and Training (IACET). IACET has highly demanding standards for educational and training organizations. Of the ten best personal fitness trainer certifications listed above, only the International Fitness Professionals Association, IFPA, has also achieved the demanding IACET standards for the superior quality of the IFPA personal fitness trainer educational and training programs. Education and training is an essential criteria for fitness professionals. Developing the best training program required the IFPA to conduct the most comprehensive Job Analysis Survey (JAS) in the fitness industry. The IFPA JAS evaluated over 150 specific knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs) required for successful, safe and effective personal fitness training. The IFPA organized the world’s most knowledgeable and experienced Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) to determine the value of each of these KSAs. This process was used to develop the IFPA system and modalities for the IFPA “best practices” to perfect the “scope of practice” for a personal fitness trainer. Though there are many benefits to becoming a member of the IFPA, one more reason why many knowledgeable, well-informed fitness professionals determined the IFPA to be the best certification for personal fitness trainers is that the concise IFPA educational and training programs are the very best way to prepare fitness professionals for success by teaching the KSAs for the ideal personal fitness training scope of practice.
Many of the fitness industry’s finest experts and leaders consider the IFPA to be the best because the IFPA has used the same SMEs of NOCA, NCCA & IACET standards to develop over 65 advanced and specialized certification courses to dramatically increase the knowledge, expertise, and professionalism of fitness professionals. These courses vastly increase the skills of fitness professionals to expand their “scope of practice”, preparing them to work alongside physicians to execute the doctors’ exercise and nutrition prescriptions and manage the exercise program for the doctors’ patients. These prescriptions provide care and prevention of the over 65 different diseases, disabilities and dysfunctions afflicting the patients. Exercise and nutrition are the only cure for these dysfunctions. Drugs treat symptoms! Only exercise and nutrition prescriptions will provide effective treatment, care and prevention for the underlying dysfunction that afflicts the patient!
The IFPA is the best personal fitness trainer certification because only the IFPA will put you on the path to achieving your highest potential success in the fitness industry.
Only the IFPA offers such a powerful array of extremely valuable certification courses for fitness professionals. The other nine certification organizations listed here offer their members a few, between 3 to 5, certification courses. By the end of 2009, the IFPA will be offering over 70 certification courses! Far more than those offered by the other top nine, COMBINED!
The Fitness Institute of Technology has determined that the knowledge, skills and abilities provided by these IFPA certification courses can be used to earn college degrees. These IFPA certification courses can earn the fitness professional an Associate’s Degree, A.S.; Bachelor’s Degree, B.S.; Master’s Degree, M.S.; and/or a Doctor of Philosophy Degree, PhD. in Sport and Personal Fitness Training or Medical Fitness Specialization. The Fitness Institute of Technology, in conjunction with the IFPA certification courses and an incredible Internship Practicum, developed exclusively for the Fitness Institute of Technology, provides each student with the best knowledge, skills and abilities and the best practical learning experience to perfect these KSAs. This degree opportunity is unequaled by any other certification organization, including the other top nine listed above.
You have a unique opportunity, not only to increase your own knowledge, skills and abilities, not only to increase your opportunities for success, not only to elevate yourself far and above all your competition, but to earn a practical, useful, and vital degree. This degree opportunity is ample reason to select the IFPA as the best personal trainer certification. But there is another, even more powerful reason to select the IFPA as the best personal fitness trainer certification.
In 2003, Dr. Robert Goldman, MD, DO, PhD, FAASP, founder of the NASM, Co-founder of the American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine (A4M), and Chairman of the International Medical Commission (IMC) met with Dr. Jim Bell, CEO of the IFPA, to request that Dr. Bell develop a specialized program designed to teach and certify physicians on the safe and effective use of exercise and nutrition prescription. The goal of this innovative program would be to optimize patient care through fitness and healthy lifestyle. Physicians in the A4M and IMC had discovered over 65 different diseases associated with lack of exercise and unhealthy lifestyle and wanted the knowledge, skills and abilities provided by the IFPA to combat the preventable epidemics of obesity, heart disease, cancer and diabetes. Working together, Drs. Goldman and Bell have developed a physicians’ Fellowship program: The American Boards for Kinesiology, Nutrition and Sports Medicine (ABKNSM-pronounced a-back-sum). The ABKNSM Fellowship consists of self-study and six 3-day Modules to provide the physician with extensive knowledge, skills and abilities in exercise and nutrition prescription for the safest, most effective modalities in ultimate patient care! Physicians who successfully complete the program will be Board Certified Doctors and Fellows in ABKNSM.
Non-physicians have the opportunity to gain the same knowledge, skills and abilities through the ABKNSM-Health Practitioner (ABKNSM-HP). Successful completion of ABKNSM-HP will lead to the ABKNSM-HP certification and will enable healthcare providers and degreed certified personal fitness trainers to work alongside the physician to execute the exercise and nutrition prescription.
ABKNSM-HP presents a giant leap forward for personal fitness training! Until now, fitness training has targeted the healthy gym goers. ABKNSM-HP allows personal trainers to target the 92% of the population that truly need your help to live a longer, healthier and happier life! ABKNSM-HP increases your potential client market by over TENFOLD! ABKNSM-HP enables you to command greater fees due to your greater knowledge and capabilities! ABKNSM-HP enables you to achieve your destiny of becoming the best personal fitness trainer.
Since the content of several IFPA certification courses were used in the development of ABKNSM the IFPA is the logical certification of choice, but the ABKNSM-HP program will accept any NOCA, NCCA accredited certified personal fitness trainer. If you are certified by any NON-NOCA, NCCA accredited certification, the IFPA will offer you a discounted rate on an IFPA personal fitness trainer certification course so you can become qualified for the unlimited potential offered by ABKNSM.
Summary:
- There are over 400 Personal Fitness Trainer certifications.
- The 10 best personal fitness trainer certifications are the ten that have achieved the very demanding NOCA, NCCA accreditation: IFPA www.ifpa-fitness.com ,
ACE, ACSM, NASM, NCSF, NFPT, NSCA, NESTA, NETA and the Cooper Institute.
- Of the 10 best, only IFPA has achieved the very demanding IACET credential.
- The IFPA has over 65 certification courses; more certification programs than the other nine combined.
- The IFPA is the most practical and therefore, more useful.
- The Fitness Institute of Technology offers A.S., B.S., M.S., and PhD degree programs through IFPA personal fitness trainer certification courses.
- The IFPA personal fitness trainer certifications were used in the development of the Physicians’ Fellowship and Board Certification in the American Boards for Kinesiology, Nutrition and Sports Medicine.
You have a choice in your evaluation of which is the best personal fitness trainer certification. You can listen to the biased opinion of the “certified trainer” in your gym who may or may not have 1, 2 or 3 certifications from different organizations, but how could he/she possibly know all the facts on the ten best listed above? Or you can study the facts and use logic and deductive reasoning to determine for yourself that the IFPA has the very best personal fitness trainer certification!
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What
is the difference between the IFPA and
ACE?
ACE is a fine certification and is one of the oldest (ACE and ACSM are the oldest certifications). ACE and the IFPA have significantly different philosophies on what a certification should do. ACE’s program is designed by some of the world’s foremost academic scholars of the exercise sciences. While all the scientific material is highly detailed and accurate, ACE ran into the problem the IFPA worked diligently to avoid. The problem: how do you develop a scientifically based program and still make it practical for the fitness professional? How do you apply the sciences to the real-world needs of the fitness professional? This was an extremely difficult task. The IFPA recruited a highly select group of Subject Matter Experts that met extremely rigid qualifications. All IFPA Faculty would be required to have: (1) a minimum of a Masters Degree in exercise, nutrition, sports medicine and related fields of study (PhD, MD, DO, DCM, etc.); (2) all IFPA Faculty would be required to have practical, hands-on experience as trainer, coach, athlete, etc.; (3) all IFPA Faculty would have to have exemplary teaching skills (not all PhDs are great teachers - many are great researchers); since the IFPA’s goal was to become the world’s foremost Fitness Certification and Education Association, the IFPA wanted great teachers!; (4) All IFPA Faculty would be required to have dedication to the fitness lifestyle.
If you are not intimately familiar with the fitness industry, you probably do not realize how daunting a task this was! The IFPA went through well over 1,000 resumes to find the elite core of Faculty that developed and continues to teach IFPA programs. If you look for one single reason for the superiority of the IFPA over all other certifications, it would have to be our uniquely qualified faculty. The hard work and dedication of the IFPA Faculty is responsible for the development of the finest, most practical and most useful fitness, sports conditioning and sports nutrition courses and certifications available in the world today.
Development of these programs was essential. The job analysis the IFPA performed in order to determine precisely what knowledge and skills were necessary to perform the fitness professional’s job safely, efficiently and competently, led all of our experts to determine that there was no training program available on the planet that would adequately prepare anyone for the job. Since the safety of the public was our primary concern, we were tasked with developing both the education program as well as the certification test. The Job Analysis determined what knowledge, skills and abilities the IFPA would test to determine proficiency; but in order to be fair to our applicants, we would first need to teach them the required knowledge and skills.
The legacy began in July, 1994. The IFPA started a revolution in the fitness industry with the start of the first ever fitness certification based on the actual job that fitness professionals needed to perform in order to be both safe and effective. Now, nearly 15 years later, the IFPA has over 100,000 Certified Instructors world-wide, and the IFPA continues to lead the industry with both the most practical certification available and the finest Faculty of educators ever assembled.
The IFPA continues to achieve ever higher success, but now it is because of those 100,000 dedicated IFPA Fitness Professionals that prove the efficacy of the IFPA system. Q-Sports Clubs said it best: “After an extensive, internal audit of all our trainers, representing all the popular certifications, it was determined that IFPA trainers did the job the best!”
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What is the difference between the IFPA and ACSM?
ACSM is a fine certification and is the oldest in the industry. ACSM certification was specifically designed by medical doctors and exercise physiologists for exercise physiologists who planned on careers in the health and medical community. ACSM certification is generally required for any exercise physiologist working in hospital or medical clinics with cardio-rehabilitation patients. ACSM certification requires a college degree in exercise physiology or related areas. The ACSM has attempted to develop personal trainer type certifications, but this is a very different scope of practice and outside of their medical expertise (How many doctors do you know that have any interest or knowledge in fitness or nutrition?). The ACSM fitness certifications lack the practical understanding of the fitness industry.
We at the IFPA feel very strongly that the vast majority of the medical and health care concerns, expenses and problems of today can only be resolved by an army of dedicated fitness professionals. Estimates run as high as 80% showing all medical and healthcare costs are a direct result of lifestyle choices. The only logical conclusion to draw is that: the fitness and nutrition experts of today will become the doctors of tomorrow. The IFPA is asking you to join the fight. The fight is to motivate, train and educate the public away from the destructive anti-lifestyle that is so prevalent in our community. The anti-lifestyle is (1) physical inactivity (2) smoking, (3) poor nutrition, (4) substance abuse and (5) stress.
The IFPA and the rest of the fitness community would like you to join us and together we can win this fight. With 70% of adults and 50% of children projected to be obese by 2012, it is essential that you join this fight. The obesity epidemic has created heart disease, cancer, and diabetes epidemics, and you can save our society by becoming an IFPA Certified Professional!
Starting in 2009, Dr. Jim Bell has developed a new program to bridge the gap between doctors and fitness professionals. Dr. Bell has built a new Board Certification for doctors to use exercise and nutrition as the new cure! Dr. Bell has developed a Fellowship—the American Boards for Kinesiology, Nutrition and Sports Medicine—for doctors to learn the precise knowledge, skills and abilities they need for the treatment, cure, care and prevention of over 65 different diseases, disabilities and dysfunctions afflicting their patients. The American Boards for Kinesiology, Nutrition and Sports Medicine (ABKNSM—pronounced “a-back-sum”) is a revolutionary new specialty for physicians that is long overdue. ABKNSM will provide the doctor with modalities to treat disease instead of relying on drugs that merely treat the symptom without repairing the underlying dysfunction. ABKNSM modalities are designed to safely and effectively treat, repair, and rejuvenate the underlying physiological dysfunction to cure disease and maximize patient health, longevity and potential. ABKNSM will provide the doctor with a complete understanding of all phases of the exercise and of the exercise and nutrition prescription in six 3-day intensive Modules, self-study, webinars, case studies and ABKNSM Faculty Consults. The content of ABKNSM is derived from several of the 67 different IFPA certification courses, specifically chosen to provide doctors the knowledge they need to have to rejuvenate their patients back to health and optimum performance. ABKNSM modalities will enable the doctor to return their patient to health and limit, or in many cases, eliminate the need for drugs.
Doctors successfully completing all ABKNSM requirements will become Board Certified in the ABKNSM Fellowship. Non-doctors, those who are certified IFPA personal fitness trainers and have a degree in exercise physiology or related fields of study can complete the same modules and receive certification as an ABKNSM-Health Practitioner and work side by side with the Board Certified ABKNSM physician to execute the doctor’s exercise and nutrition prescriptions.
Certified personal fitness trainers completing the ABKNSM-HP program will have the necessary knowledge, skills and abilities to safely and effectively manage the special needs and medical and health concerns of the doctor’s patients that have one or more of the over 65 different diseases, disabilities and dysfunctions afflicting the doctor’s patients. This is the way medicine was practiced by Hippocrates and the ABKNSM Health Practitioners will enable doctors to practice that way again. ABKNSM doctors will become the healers they always intended to be!
(Please take the time to read the information under the ACE comparison to learn critically fundamental differences of IFPA Programs from all other organizations.)
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What is the difference between the
IFPA and NSCA?
The NSCAs CSCS (Certified Sports Conditioning Specialist) is a fine certification. The CSCS is designed for college and professional strength coaches. The CSCS is designed for the most popular sports. The IFPA has taken a different approach to sports conditioning. The IFPA has a basic sports conditioning and ten sports specific certifications. The basic course covers all aspects of sports conditioning of all components of fitness. The sport specific courses (baseball, basketball, football, soccer, volleyball, tennis, hockey, running, golf and martial arts) allow the IFPA to go into much greater detail in the sport or sports of your choices. The NSCA has more recently developed a personal training certification, but similar to the ACSM the NSCAs expertise is not in the fitness industry. The job description of a strength coach dealing with highly trained, highly motivated elite athletes is significantly different from that of a personal trainer dealing with doctors, lawyers, accountants, business owners, housewives and other non-athletic, overweight and out of shape individuals in a fitness center environment. There is no doubt that the training of elite athletes is significantly different than training the average gym member. Athletes train 6 hours/day, sometimes 6 & 7 days/week. The average gym member has trouble getting 6 hours of training in a month! Therefore several aspects of NSCAs Certification, while very well meaning, simply will not work in the practical real-world scenarios faced by personal trainers in fitness centers.
(Please take the time to read the information under the ACE comparison to learn critically fundamental differences of IFPA Programs from all other organizations.)
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How does the IFPA compare to other certifications?
The IFPA is the most PRACTICAL and useful certification program in the world! The IFPA went through a very extensive, painstaking, detailed and very demanding Job Analysis Survey (JAS) to determine the precise knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs) required by the Personal Fitness Trainer (PFT) and other fitness professionals to do their jobs in the most effective and safest possible manner. Other fitness certifications have conducted their own JAS, but any JAS is only as good as the leadership and Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) conducting the JAS.
Dr. Jim Bell is the founder and president of the IFPA. He knew from both his experience of learning to become an Air Force Fighter Pilot that training for a job of Fighter Pilot is totally different than getting an academic education to earn a PhD in Exercise Science. The American Academic System is the best in the world for what it does, and that is educate! Dr. Bell knew that a Personal Fitness Trainer certification and all the IFPA fitness professional certifications would not accomplish the goal of preparing people to become skilled at the job of personal fitness training if the focus was on academia. Virtually all of the existing fitness certification focused almost solely on academic theory and had little to no practical content. In order to prevent this flaw in all IFPA fitness certifications, Dr. Bell recruited the fitness industry’s most successful fitness practitioners—experts who also hold PhD level degrees (PhD, MD, DCM, DO, etc.)—to become the IFPA’s SMEs for the construction of the IFPA personal fitness trainer JAS. This same methodology has been used to develop all 67 IFPA certifications (67 in 2008, more planned for 2009).
Dr. Bell shared his vision of developing the most practical personal fitness training certification and utilizing both the IFPA training and certification programs to raise the level of competency for fitness trainers throughout the fitness industry. The key question that needed to be answered: How do You Become A Successful Certified Personal Fitness Trainer?
Subject Matter Experts used their extensive knowledge and experience to determine the precise skills for the personal fitness trainer to become highly successful.
How do you become a certified personal fitness trainer and How do you become a successful personal fitness trainer should be one and the same, but only the IFPA gathered the ideal think tank of world-class fitness practitioners to answer those questions correctly. Unfortunately, due to the long history of success, many other certifications attempt to use the term practical, but because their staff lacks practical experience, they fail to understand the meaning of practical and still rely on their academic theory for their content and simply use the term practical in their marketing and advertising. The IFPA is and always has been the most practical personal fitness training certification in the world.
How do you become a successful, certified personal fitness trainer? You earn an IFPA certification!!
The other certifications available today are reminiscent of the old legend of the three blind men who are brought to experience an elephant by touch. The first blind man is brought to the elephant’s trunk and after feeling all around the elephant’s trunk exclaims: Ah! The elephant is like a snake! The second blind man is brought to the elephant’s side and after feeling all around the elephant’s abdomen exclaims: Ah! The elephant is like a wall! The third blind man is brought to the elephant’s leg and after feeling all around the elephant’s leg exclaims: Ah! The elephant is like a tree!
Each blind man felt sure he knew what an elephant was, but obviously, to a man with sight the blind men only got a small piece of the overall big picture. The same is said of the other certifications, they each have their own specialty in medicine (ACSM), in athletics (NSCA), in power lifting (ISSA), in academia (ACE), in dance (AFFA) and through their own self-imposed coma, filter what they believe personal training and other aspects of the fitness profession are all about, without having been in the trenches, doing the job themselves, they fail to understand the entire BIG PICTURE OF THE FITNESS PROFESSION! The IFPA looks at the whole elephant. The IFPA certification and continuing education courses are put together by professionals who have been in the trenches, have done the job and have succeeded. They also have extensive science backgrounds as exercise physiologists, kinesiologists, sports nutritionists, chiropractors, doctors, physical therapists, sports psychologists and other related expertise.
(Please take the time to read the information under the ACE comparison to learn critically fundamental differences of IFPA Programs from all other organizations.)
In order to be highly successful, you must learn, in great detail, all seven phases of the Personal Fitness Training process. The IFPA is the only program that has put these 7 phases into an easy to learn, concise system.
The Seven Phases:
- Client Consultation & Assessment
- Fitness Testing and evaluation
- Exercise Prescription
- Program Design & Development
- Exercise Management of all Ten Components of Fitness:
1 - Strength
2 - Speed
3 - Power
4 - Anaerobic Endurance
5 - Aerobic Endurance
6 - Agility
7 - Balance
8 - Coordination
9 - Flexibility
10 - Body Composition
- Exercise Physiology
- Nutrition Education
Only the IFPA system will prepare you with all the knowledge, skills and abilities you need to know to reach the highest pinnacle of success as a fitness professional. Regardless of whether you plan to become a Personal Fitness Trainer, Group Fitness Instructor, Youth Fitness Instructor, Senior Fitness Instructor, Women’s Fitness Instructor, Sports Conditioning Specialist, Flexibility Coach, Speed and Power Coach, or the many other 67+ IFPA Specialization courses, the IFPA has developed through great time, effort and energy to provide you the best possible educational experience to guide you in meeting your goals! Good luck!
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Does my
IFPA Certification expire?
Yes! IFPA certifications are active for 2 years. After 2 years you have several options to renew. Recertification is a requirement of all legitimate and credible organizations (including doctors) to ensure you are current, up-to-date and competent.
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How do I renew my IFPA Certification?
You need 12 C.E.C. (Continuing Education Credits) to renew. You have several options in order to get CECs: (1) CECs are awarded for any IFPA Certification course you take during the renewal period (begins 1 yr prior to expiration and goes to your expiration date). The IFPA has over 5 dozen certification courses available, with many more currently in development. (2) CECs are awarded for any IFPA CEC course you take during you renewal period. The IFPA has a host of CEC courses available, with many more currently in development in a wide array of different specialties. (3) CECs are awarded for first aid and CPR (One time only). (4) CECs are awarded for college courses you take, that you receive a grade of A or B. The course must be related to fitness, health or nutrition. (5) CECs are awarded for courses taken from other NOCA/NCCA/IACET certification companies such as ACSM and NSCA. (6) CECs may be awarded for courses taken from other certification companies on a case by case basis, depending on the credibility of the company and the viability of the course, (7) CECs may be awarded for research articles written or courses developed for use by the IFPA. (8) CECs may be awarded for special projects completed on behalf of the IFPA.
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Does the
IFPA help find jobs for IFPA
certified instructors?
Yes, we do! We have a find a trainer locator on the IFPA web site, which is free for all currently certified instructors. The IFPA also has a job board for fitness centers looking to hire IFPA certified instructors.
The IFPA is, most importantly, continuously supporting you in your career development. We accomplish this through the quarterly FitNews and weekly FitBits. These are free electronic subscriptions designed to keep you abreast of the newest and latest happenings in your profession.
The IFPA has also developed dozens of certification courses and hosts of CEC courses designed to aid your professional development.
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Does
the IFPA guarantee my success as a fitness professional?
Absolutely NOT! Many students sabotage their career right from the very start by not preparing for the certification exam. Preparation, learning, and study are essential to pass the IFPA certification exam, just as the very same preparation, learning and study are essential to success in the fitness profession. Quite simply: If you are not prepared to pass the IFPA test, you are not prepared for success as a fitness professional.
Passing the test is the first achievement. But that still does not guarantee success. There are PhDs in exercise physiology that are not successful as personal trainers because they lack the personal skills to win and keep clients. Analyze your personality critically. Do you truly like people? Do you like working with people? Do you like helping people? If you can honestly answer yes to all three of these questions, then you are on your way to a successful career. If you scoff at these three questions, you are fooling yourself! There is a reason – it is called PERSONAL training (figure it out).
One other important note: smoking, excessive drinking, substances abuse, illegal bodybuilding drugs and poor nutrition habits are anti-lifestyle and are hypocritical when fitness professionals are participating in these activities. Get a clue; a non-smoker can smell the stench of cigarette smoke at 50 paces. IF you want to look like a complete fool, try bringing in a bag from MacDonald’s for lunch in the gym - your clients will notice. Likewise, eating a snickers bar in the gym (arguably a very practical meal post intense workout as a source of quick glucose replacement) just does not help your image. Remember: you are probably not going to get the chance to lecture them on Sports Nutrition, they are going to go by the image you present.
Speaking of image, you must keep yourself fit. You do not have to look like a competitive bodybuilder or fitness model but your credibility is shot when you are trying to help your client lose 5 pounds and you both know you need to lose 50.
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What to bring to your certification site
Unless otherwise noted, On-site Certifications are conducted from 9AM to 6PM both Saturday and Sunday. Plan to arrive to the certification site 15 minutes early. All students must provide proof of payment in the form of their receipt to gain admittance to the certification preparatory workshop and examination. No electronic devices, manuals, texts or materials of any kind are allowed in the testing area. No coats, book bags, briefcases, or anything written or could contain written material are allowed in the testing area.
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What to wear
to your certification site
We recommend that you wear comfortable clothing and bring a sweater or jacket as many of the sites are fitness facilities and are air conditioned to a temperature conducive for working out.
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What to wear to your certification site
Bring your IFPA materials: book, study guide, etc., pen/pencil/paper and identification. Wear workout clothes.
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How many members does the IFPA have?
The IFPA has certified over 100,000 people and other fitness professionals: Group Fitness Instructors, Youth Fitness Instructors, Senior Fitness Instructors, Sports Conditioning Specialists, and specialists in strength, speed, power, endurance, flexibility, core trining, functional training, bodybuilding, weight lifting, and more.
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When was the IFPA founded and what is its background?
With roots back to 1991, the IFPA was incorporated in 1994 by Dr. James T. Bell. Dr. Bell has over 25 years experience certifying personal trainers and has trained thousands of individuals. Dr. Bell founded the IFPA to establish fitness certifications that are based upon the practical, scientifically based information.
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Does certification include membership?
Once you become certified by the IFPA you are a member of the IFPA for two years. If you maintain the proper number of Continuing Education Units you will remain a member of the IFPA in good standing.
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What materials are provided when I sign up for an IFPA certification?
Registrations for an IFPA Certifications are processed within 48 hours. Study materials are shipped UPS-signature required and should arrive within 3 days (express delivery is available at an additional charge). Price includes manual, study outline, preparatory workshop at specified location, certification testing, certificate, wallet card, and IFPA membership. A practice examination may also be ordered and included (check for current price). There are different study programs that can provide even more valuable information for exam preparation and career success.
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What is the IFPA examination format?
Certification examinations include 100 questions in a multiple choice format that test the comprehension of material covered in IFPA programs. Advanced certifications include a practical demonstration component. Advanced Distance Learning Certifications are similar in format consisting of 200 questions, including a 50 - question written practical component.
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What do I need for a passing grade and does the IFPA charge to retest?
Passing for the IFPA examinations is 80%. Registered participants who do not pass the first time around are given the opportunity to retake the Certification exam for a modest retake fee.
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What is the Complimentary Review Workshop format?
IFPA Complimentary Review Workshops are intensive two-day programs. The first day is the optional preparatory workshop. This is followed by a second day of review and testing. The goal of the IFPA Certifications is to not only teach the essentials of the certification topic, but to also teach the student how to disseminate knowledge in fitness, health, and nutrition. In this manner, IFPA students are able to increase their skills and knowledge in fitness, health, and nutrition more effectively after they have taken an IFPA Certification. The workshop is a combination of lecture, demonstration and “hands-on” practical application.
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As a personal trainer, how do I get liability insurance?
IFPA Certified Trainers are qualified for insurance by the companies listed on our website.
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Where do I go to take an IFPA Certification?
The IFPA Personal Fitness Trainer Certification exam can be proctored at your local library (if service is offered), community colleges, and universities. All other IFPA Certifications are Distance Learning courses that do not require proctored exams.
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What
is the on-site certification format?
Contents are being uploaded.
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