The Cold War Era: The Current State of the Personal Training Industry

The personal training industry is on fire right now. The field is splitting between two basic groups, accreditation and national board. It appears very much like it is nothing more than a war for political power and financial control over an industry that is not "owned" by any one group. It's like, all of the sudden, lack of regulation is a big problem and we have to do something about it. The topic of state legislated licensure has become very active, and this is one danger that we must ALL actively fight against. No matter what happens, we do not have to accept licensure as unchallengeable. Big changes are close at hand. The question is, what changes? How will they ultimately affect our careers?

In search of these and other answers I have questioned everyone in the industry that will talk to me--from prominent trainers and business owners, to representatives of certification organizations and the NBFE. Any personal trainer that is working in the field will be affected, possibly greatly, by the decisions these individuals are making. We deserve to be involved, to have answers, to be represented--but also to have a voice ourselves. When I started to question things that were happening in the industry, I was innocently looking for answers to questions and foreseeable problems. What I got was attacked or ignored.

An ISSA student emailed me a letter publicly posted by Sal Arria from September 2003. Interestingly enough, this pre-NBFE letter by Dr. Arria is stating that ISSA will seek NCCA accreditation because it would offer the public assurance. Now, in 2006, Arria and the ISSA are pushing their own NBFE initiative and are appearing to actively speak against the NCCA accreditation process as being insufficient in relation to the personal training industry.

What transpired between then and now? As we sit here in the middle of a great power struggle with the quality of our wonderful industry hanging in the balance, I wonder who to support in all of this mess. One characteristic of this controversy is that very few individuals are willing to talk. I have called countless industry leaders and owners of certification organizations, and there is such a feeling of secrecy and distrust. I frankly find this discomforting due to the fact that my occupation is in their hands! The help that we bring to hundreds of thousands of clients daily in the U.S. is in their hands! I think, as both sides of this war are claiming to represent us, we should be getting some answers.

First, it is my personal opinion based my own experience that the national board camp does not respond well to being questioned. I have phoned many industry leaders from both the NBFE and NCCA side of this battle. Every conversation with a supporter of the national board was more or less an unpleasant experience. When their viewpoints, agendas, or the possible consequences of their actions were questioned, they became angry, rude, mean, or downright evasive. I was even once told that no one really wanted to hear what I had to say, and that I should just go start my own blog, although "no one would read it." Well, here we are!

Conversely, every experience I had questioning individuals from the NCCA side of the battle was rather pleasant. Each individual was professional, and even under the pressure of some tough or personal questions, the response was never aggressive or defensive. This is my comparison based on speaking to 3 major representatives from each camp. I urge anyone who questions this to do their own research and draw your own conclusions, objectively of course.

In the absence of convincing answers from these self-appointed leaders, some of us have begun to examine this situation more closely. Taking a closer look at the NBFE, which has its origins with Sal Arria, co-founder of the ISSA, we have found many things that, in opinion, do not align well with their stated mission. In fairness, these questions have been presented to the NBFE and ISSA directly, in all cases they chose not to respond.

Problem #1: First, the NBFE has stated that it wants to create a national standard through a national board exam. Okay, but if it is truly a national standard, then why would it not be open to ALL personal trainers nationally? It is only open to trainers who hold certifications through organizations that have aligned themselves with the NBFE in what is called it's Affiliate Program. Therefore, trainers certified by other organizations, no matter how respectable, are not welcome. How does that look out for those trainers? These trainers have invested their time and money and hard work into a certification, only to be told they must gain a redundant certification PRIOR to taking the NBFE exam. Talk about getting charged 3 times for something! In conclusion, a true national standard with a mission to standardize the industry and raise the bar would be open to all trainers nationally.

Why did they choose to do it this way? Well, while I can not speak for them, we can only speculate. In much of the NBFE and ISSA material and press releases, there exists specific statements against NCCA accreditation, dismissing it as inefficient and insufficient as a standardizing agent in the fitness industry. All of the NBFE affiliates are not NCCA accredited. All of the NCCA accredited organizations, or those applying for accreditation, are not NBFE affiliates. Given these facts, it seems clear that there is not only a move to establish a national standard, but also to eliminate or devalue the existence of NCCA accreditation. It is the clearly separating factor between the sides of this battle.

Problem #2: The NBFE has its origins with Sal Arria, co-founder of the ISSA. Both the NBFE and the ISSA have spoken out in support of a national board specifically citing the, to quote a statement by the ISSA recently, "Slip shod practices by some industry certifying and training groups led to what some claimed were an abundance of less than qualified instructors." An NBFE statement also read, "However, the unfortunate reality is that today dozens of “Personal Trainer Certificates” are available for download from the Internet with no more required than the $39.95 fee. There are reportedly between 100 - 200 fitness certification companies offering education or 'personal trainer certifications.' Unqualified programs compromise the integrity of the industry, creating problems for qualified personal trainers, health clubs, insurance companies, and the general public." They have repeatedly stated they are out to get rid of the "hacks" in the industry.

Why does this seem to be a problem? Well, first of all, the ISSA is a non-supervised, mail-in/online test. The actual test is mailed to the recipient with the course study materials, and the student is given 2 years to complete and return the test. There is absolutely no way the ISSA can know with any certainty who is taking the test. It can be filled out by whomever, wherever, using whatever resources available in the free world, whenever, within two years! Now, I am not taking anything away from the phenomenal course ISSA has, just making a small point that its testing is completely unsupervised and unverifiable. So, if Sal Arria and the ISSA were really so concerned about unqualified trainers becoming certified, wouldn't it be a logical conclusion that they would first clean up their own act? How can they support the raising of standards on one hand, and yet profit from low standards on the other. You say we need to eliminate fraudulent and unscrupulous competitors, yet you have, to your profit, provided an avenue for this type of individual for decades. Is that like having your cake and eating it too? What is really your objective here?

Problem #3: The NBFE initially stated that it was not pursuing state licensure. In a recent interview on Fitness Business Radio, Sal Arria stated that he, and the NBFE were "completely neutral" on the issue of licensure, they had no stance. He stated that it was up to the trainers in the field to decide on that. Then, they put out a survey asking trainers if they agreed that a state license could do a myriad of good things for them.

Why is the NBFE taking a survey concerning trainer support of licensure? In their own words, it is to " provide objective information to state legislators based on public and professional opinion." Are you serious? There are a few problems if this 'data' is going to represent us in the field. This survey is not audited by any non-biased third party. It is not scientific. Trainers were questioned on important, industry changing issues without any primer of knowledge concerning the implications of the answers to their questions. The only advertising really done for the survey was within the NBFE affiliate organizations consisting of trainers who have been coached with pro-NBFE material for at least 2 or more years. In consideration of some 200,000 personal trainers in the U.S., how can the unscientific surveying of a small handful in comparison be used to represent the whole?

The biggest problem that many of us have come up with is that a national board can not be mandatory without some governmental involvement. Therefore, pushing for a national board exam, and professing to represent trainers everywhere, how can the NBFE not have a stance on licensure? It is one of the most important issues in the industry facing us, and is directly connected to the success of their agenda, and they have "no stance"? This does not make sense, really. Of course, when the issue of state licensure is involved, now we have much more to be concerned about. [Please review articles The Great Myths of Licensure and Licensure for Personal Trainers for the vast dangers associated with licensing The Trainer's Advocate]

Excerpt from letter from Sal Arria:

From: Dr. Sal Arria
Sent: Wednesday, September 10, 2003 1:55 PM

The International Sports Sciences Association (ISSA) is in the process of
applying for accreditation by the National Commission for Certifying Agencies
(NCCA) The NCCA is a division of the membership organization NOCA, the National
Organization for Competency Assurance who sets standards for a variety of
credentialing organizations.

Since 1988, ISSA's programs have always met the highest academic standards,
however since the influx of literally hundreds of fitness certification
organizations, the public and the media is concerned about the quality of all
these programs.

ISSA, in an effort to assure the public and it's members that our
programs exceed the industry standards, is in the process of obtaining
accreditation by NCCA.