I have moved on to other ventures and do not have the time to put into this effort any longer. During my very lucrative career in training, the state of affairs in the personal training industry greatly alarmed me concerning licensure and the questionable national board movement. I worked very hard to put forth a different perspective for professionals in the field to look at these issues from. Although I will not be posting new material here, I will leave this information up for reference purposes, as it will all stay relevant I am sure. I will still answer contacts at thetrainersadvocate@yahoo.com

The Great Myths of Licensure

Myth 1: Licensing of personal trainers will increase the perception of professionalism of personal trainers in the public eye.

This is simply not true. While some believe that a state license will make the personal trainer appear more credible in the public, it is important to ask yourself if you feel less than professional or credible now. In my pursuits as a certified personal trainer, I have not encountered any obstacles to gaining public acceptance or respect as a professional. In truth, the average client does not even know the real difference between a license and a certification--they are more concerned in your knowledge, skills, and abilities to provide them with the service that they seek. Seeking credibility and a professional acceptance is something that can and should be pursued through your own efforts; it is not something that will magically appear with a license. Knowing your job well and doing it with complete dedication, passion, and professionalism will suffice in producing a wonderful public image for yourself and our industry as a whole.

Myth 2: Medical and allied health care professionals would be more willing to refer their patients to personal trainers who are licensed.

Again, this is misleading. It implies that it is removing some obstacle that inhibits these professionals from giving referrals now. As a certified trainer, I have had phenomenal success in networking with, getting referrals from, and even gaining clients themselves from within the allied health care and medical professions. As certified fitness trainers, you currently hold the ability to market to, network with, and work for anyone out there, including health care professionals. There are no mechanisms or obstacles preventing anyone from achieving this level of respect and trust in the industry as it currently is. I have, and have had, clients who were M.D.s, urologists, general practitioners, attorneys, prosecutors, state officials, police officers, stock brokers, and on and on. I have often trained the spouses and children of these professionals also. If you are not achieving this now, do not think that a license will suddenly make this happen. A license would not remove any obstacle or negative image from you as a trainer. I can tell you that a single board examination or license will not raise an eyebrow on someone who has spent 8 years or more in college and graduate school to gain their credentials. It will not change your skill level or ability to gain clientele. Those achievements are up to you and are completely at your access NOW.

Myth 3: A national board must be put into place to prevent states from having 50 different requirements when they impose licensing.

First, this implies that state licensure is coming and we have to just accept it. This is NOT true. We do not have to accept it and can speak out to legislators and our own industry leaders voicing our concerns against it. One approach to the subject of licensing is to suggest that a national board standard should be used in the criteria to obtain a license. While this in itself sounds reasonable, the facts remain that: we do not currently have licensing, licensing may not be what is best for our industry, and finally, we do not have to accept it as our only option. So, to put it into perspective, this approach borders on being a self-fulfilling prophecy. If we blindly accept that licensing is a mandatory upcoming event, then of course many would incorrectly support a national board for that licensing. However, licensing is NOT at this time a mandatory upcoming event. You can still support a national board, but don’t forget that you do not have to accept licensure as your only option. Of course, without licensure, a national board can not be mandatory industry wide.

Furthermore, we know this assertion that a national board will 'save us from the 50 different laws for 50 different states' is not true because in the events of licensing that have already taken place in the medical and allied healthcare fields, different states still have some different rules--even in the health care fields. States have the autonomy to do this, and it is naive to believe that all states will be influenced in the same way. While laws may be similar, practitioners such as physicians, therapists, nurses, lawyers, etc. do experience mobility problems from state to state in currently licensed professions. You will not eliminate this problem.

Myth 4: Licensing of personal trainers weeds out the bad or poor trainers.

This is absolute nonsense. We have all met the so called “bad trainers” in the field. I personally have worked with some myself. Surprisingly, I have found that many of them hold a bachelor’s or higher in exercise science or physiology, and are certified by reputable organizations. No amount of education, certifications, or especially licensing will change this. Recently, a client informed me that her physician told her that her visceral fat was actually broken muscle tissue that can not be repaired and will never go away. Of course, most of us know that fat cells are fat cells, and muscle cells are muscle cells—one can not change into the other. This physician is licensed and board registered, yet I would say he shows some level of incompetence. If she began to develop insulin resistance, where would he look first? Let’s not forget the fact that an estimated 80,000 deaths occur each year in this country at the hands of licensed, board registered health care professionals. Licensing certainly does not eliminate this problem. Once again, the end result would not be worth the dangers and loss associated with licensure. It just simply is not true.

"A recent study by Heathgrades found that an average of 195,000hospital deaths in each of the years 2000, 2001 and 2002 in the U.S. were due to potentially preventable medical errors. A 2006 follow-up to the 1999 Institute of Medicine of the National Academies study found that medication errors are among the most common medical mistakes, harming at least 1.5 million people every year. Accordingto the study, 400,000 preventable drug-related injuries occur eachyear in hospitals, 800,000 in long-term care settings, and roughly530,000 among Medicare recipients in outpatient clinics."

If anything, licensing may serve to protect the bad ones! College coursework and a board exam, even a practical, do little to expose the morals or work ethic of an individual. People with less than passionate intentions can and do get through everyday. However, once they are licensed, they are enormously harder to get rid of due to the protocols surrounding suspension and revokation. You can standardize a test, but you just simply can not standardize people.

Myth 5: Licensing will help personal trainers earn more money.

Not true. In fact, it will often work in the opposite. Licensing has never led to a higher income for the practitioner in any field. In fact, it has been shown to limit consumer choice, raise consumer cost, raise practitioner costs, and ultimately limit practitioner mobility. All things we don’t suffer currently. Physicians actually are doing some work at 1/3 of the pay they previously have performed the same service for, all due to government mandates through licensing. Insurance companies are never “told” what to pay. They will tell you what they will pay for how long, and every insurance company will be different. Ask any licensed practitioner how they like working for insurance companies.

Furthermore, licensing serves to do one thing more than anything else--effectively limit competition. Limiting competition in a growing field means that while demand is going up, supply is going down! This equals one thing, higher consumer costs and higher trainer costs. Trainers would have more fees, more costs, more liability, and less competition. This is economics 101 folks. It is simply a bad idea for everyone.

Myth 6: Insurance companies will reimburse clients if states require licensing of personal trainers.

First of all, this does happen now. It IS happening, and there is no law or other mechanism that stops this from happening. A trainer, with a good reputation and good credentials, can seek reimbursement for their clients. It is a new type of transaction, and is still open for a lot of work. A colleague of mine currently has a client that is reimbursed for personal training—a deal that was set up after the client suffered a heart attack. In another instance, I received reimbursement from a state worker’s compensation agency for working with a couple of post-accident victims. Licensure will take away any bargaining power that you have now. It will put you at the mercy of state mandates and powerful, bullish insurance companies. Ask an allied healthcare practitioner or physician how they like working with insurance companies. The answer is almost always negative. Physicians often spend 8% or more of their practice's income just on the billing--that is, paying the person or office who simply does the insurance coding and submits it for payment.


In conclusion, licensure will give us nothing. The only thing it will do is take things away from us. Please, research this subject deeply. Our future is at stake.

Georgia Licensure Committee Created

Georgia has officially created Senate Resolution 1077, the Senate Study Committee on the Licensure of Personal Fitness Trainers to investigate the industry and attempt to be the first state to impose licensing requirements on trainers.

If you are unfamiliar with this situation, please read my article on Georgia Personal Trainers in Jeopardy.

This is serious business now. If we do not stand up and speak out, allowing our voices to be heard, then our industry will be regulated without our input. Follow the link to the Georgia Personal Trainers in Jeopardy article, and use the contact information at the bottom of the page to voice your concerns to the Senators and Representatives involved.

Occupational Licensing: What does it accomplish?

Here is a link to a most informative article by John Hood, formerly of the John Locke Foundation, on the ill-effects of occupational licensing. As you read this, imagine the future of the personal fitness industry when these same unintended consequences befall us with licensure.
Occupational Licensing

Also, the following article is quite interesting:
License Policy Review

By it's own extensive track record in the U.S., what does occupational licensure accomplish?


"Licensure almost inevitably becomes a tool in the hands of a special producer group to maintain a monopoly position at the expense of the rest of the public. There is no way to avoid this result."
Capitalism and Freedom, Milton Friedman

A Physician's Viewpoint

I had a conversation today with a practicing physician who holds an M.D. in Internal Medicine, an M.D. in Psychiatry, and an MS in Molecular Biology. He is also a reputable speaker for pharmaceutical companies, which pay him to fly all over the country to lecture and teach other physicians about new medications.

Prior to this meeting, I read through the new issue of Personal Fitness Professional. In it were a few references to 50 state standardized testing for trainers, state protocols similar to physicians for trainers, and (my favorite) how to "raise ourselves up on a pedestal next to medical doctors, at least in public perception." Now, first of all, if I was a physician who had spent several years of hard work, expensive med school, and countless sacrifices to become an M.D. and I read such a statement, I may just be a little offended, or amused, depending on the perspective. Either way, how can such a statement be taken seriously?

I have also asked why there aren't any physicians backing up this idea. I mean, you are telling us what physicians will do, but I am not hearing it from them! So today, I asked one.

Why did he choose his trainer? He had heard of my success in helping people and of my emphasis on functional training to prepare for daily life. Once he worked with me, he was impressed and believed my knowledge and approach could produce his desired results. No mention of certification or boards.

Would it make a difference to him if a trainer had passed a board exam? No. In fact, he feels that one of the biggest problems in medicine today is all of the irrational protocols surrounding the board and licensing, and that it is ultimately the patient who has suffered. He said that we have it good right now, and if someone wants to bring a board exam into the field, our road will be long and hard, and many good people will not get into the field. He cited that different states have so many different rules and tests, even with a national board states are different. He is licensed in two states, and points out that there is a 60% gap between the pass/fail rate of the two states.

Would it be a good idea for trainers to seek insurance company approval? Absolutely not! In his words we would "ruin our own lives" if we start messing with them. In his private practice, a full 8% of the earnings is paid to the medical billing services, that is whoever does the billing coding and sends it out to the insurance companies. Not to mention that they often refuse to pay! He says many doctors are going to out-of-pocket services where the client gets reimbursed directly and the physician does not deal with the insurance companies at all. Right away they are saving at least 8%! I told him that there are some cases of that going on with personal training, and he said, "then why in the world would they want insurance companies telling them what to do!"

What did he think about trainers suggesting they should market themselves on a pedestal next to medical doctors? He laughed. He said that everyone always wants to be a doctor, no matter what profession they are in, people invariably compare themselves to the M.D. His suggestion was to just be what you are, and be the best you can be at it! Get respect for what you do and how well you do it, don't worry about comparing yourself to another profession! He stated, without any coaching from me, "I think of all the years of hard work and long hours I put in to be an M.D., if you want that accomplishment and respect, you have to do the same. I respect other physicians, because I know what they went through to get here."
I think that really says it all.

(to be continued)

Georgia Personal Trainers in Jeopardy!

Recently, Georgia proposed SB 401, a bill to require licensing for personal trainers. The bill outlined that no one could hold themselves out as a personal trainer without a state issued license, and to obtain the license you must pass a state exam. The bill also read “The board may grant a personal trainer’s license without examination to any qualified applicant who holds a certification from the National Board of Fitness Examiners.” (Note the use of the phrase “may grant”.) The “board” spoken of in the bill referred to the Georgia Board of Athletic Trainers, who according to the bill was responsible for defining, governing, and outlining the scope-of-practice for personal trainers. The bill was killed in committee due to numerous sources of opposition. This opposition was mainly heard from the Athletic Trainers community and the academic physiology community.

Involved groups such as the Georgia Athletic Trainer’s Association felt that there were not strict enough requirements for personal trainers written into the bill. Both Paul Higgs, Vice-President of the GATA, and Georgia Senator Emanuel Jones, who initiated the bill, have stated in interviews that the bill will be reintroduced and will include educational requirements for personal trainers. The GATA also held the view that the bill was weak in its use of the NBFE, whom they have never even heard of, as the standard. Mr. Higgs stated in an interview that they would like to see more established, reputable, and widely used organizations such as the American College of Sports Medicine, which has been the guideline in academic courses for many years and who also works closely with the Center for Disease Control and the American Heart Association, or the National Strength and Conditioning Association, which certifies Athletic Trainers as allied health care professionals.

It is important to note that personal trainers did not have any representation in this matter. The definition of a qualified personal trainer and the scope-of-practice were left completely up to the Georgia Board of Athletic Trainers. This is not in the best interests of personal trainers at all.

When our industry falls under legislative powers, and we are not represented, we will be at the mercy of other more centralized, self-interested groups, such as Athletic Trainers, that do not have our best interests in mind. It has already been evidenced, as in the ongoing case in Georgia, that licensure can bring with it many consequences. Pushing us closer to, or even completely under, the health care umbrella will bring health care status requirements and health care related problems. In fact, much of the bad publicity given to the personal training industry has come from the Athletic Training community. Just visit a university ATC website and look up their distinction between Athletic Trainers and Personal Trainers (Ohio State University website offers a good case in point)—it is most often derogatory towards our industry. The only way licensure will change that image is if these committees control the outcome. These are not the governing committees that we want to answer to.

With this big push to licensure for personal trainers, no one has been able to factually, statistically justify this move. In other words, where exactly is the real problem that is horrible enough to completely change our industry and possibly put thousands of trainers out of work? There are no supporting statistics. The problem is not that severe. If licensing and board examinations could fix such an alleged problem, then why are there an estimated 80,000 deaths a year in the United States directly due to medical malpractice?

Many support a standardization of qualifications in our industry. While this in and of itself can be a good idea, the methods to achieve it should not include forceful legislation, licensure, or the taking away of credibility of other more established organizations. The answer lies in education, not regulation. We accomplish this by continuing to educate the public about professional personal trainers, respected certifications, and safe and effective fitness training. We do this through public forums such as newspaper and magazine columns, public speaking, corporate networking, and empowering our own clients with a true knowledge of this industry. We also call, write and meet with our Senators and Representatives to educate them about our industry. In cases such as the pending legislation in Georgia, your action is needed now.

The mandate of education requirements is only one of many problems that will arise if Georgia leads the way in licensing personal trainers. Read the related articles on licensure to get a clear picture of many of the dangers of this move. Don't sit this one out on the hopes of getting "grandfathered" in thinking you won't be affected.

It has been demonstrated that if anyone is going to look out for our best interests, it is going to have to be us, starting with each and every individual. We must become educated about the dangers and fallacies of licensure and forceful standardizations and big business. We must be aware of, and warn each other about, legislation that will affect our industry—never keep it a secret. We must get involved with the democratic process by first becoming fully informed, and then making informed decisions based on likely outcomes and not idealistic hopes we are influenced into believing as facts.

If you are a trainer in Georgia, this is not over.
This Senator (Jones, 10th District) is bound and determined to put some form of this legislation through. YOU BETTER SPEAK UP NOW, before you know it, it may be too late!

Contact your senators who support this bad initiative:

Emanuel Jones,
10th302B Coverdell Office Bldg.
Atlanta, GA 30334
emanuel.jones@senate.ga.gov

Also supporting the bill:

Tommie Williams, 19th
Robert Brown, 26th
David Adelman, 42nd
John Douglas, 17th
Terrell Starr, 44th

http://www.legis.state.ga.us/legis/2005_06/senate/senatelist.htm

TELL THEM NO!

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.