Certifications are an important part of the fitness industry. Certifications offer assurance to you, the client, that a fitness professional has shown a commitment to their profession by investing their time, effort, and energy in obtaining a reputable, recognized, and respected accreditation. There are a growing number of certification bodies, but not all are created equal. Over my years of working in the fitness industry, I have come to value a CSEP (www.csep.ca) certification over any other due to the following reasons:

• The educational requirements needed to apply for certification
• The rigorous theory and practical exams
• The continuing education requirements in the form of Professional Development Credits

 

 

Educational Requirements

A CSEP-CPT (Certified Personal Trainer) is required to show that they have completed two years of full time study at the post-secondary level in specific core competency areas related to the exercise sciences.

There are six CSEP-CPT core competencies:

• Human Anatomy, Human Physiology, and Exercise Physiology
• Theory and Methods of Behaviour Modification
• Theory and Methods of Health-Related Physical Activity and Physical Fitness Assessment
• Theory and Methods of Health-Related Exercise Prescription and Program Design
• Safety and Emergency Procedures
• Documentation, Administration, and Professionalism

More detail regarding the above core competencies can be found here: CSEP-CPT Core Competencies

Meeting these educational requirements will afford the candidate an opportunity to apply for certification. Once their application is approved by CSEP, the candidate is then required to move on to the examination process.

Theory and Practical Exams

The examination process consists of a theory exam and the practical exam. The theory and practical exams are taken on separate occasions. They can be taken in any order, but once one exam has been successfully passed, the candidate has six months to successfully complete the other and register as a CSEP Certified Member. If six months elapses before successfully completing the second exam and registering as a CSEP Certified Member, the candidate is required to take the first exam again.

The theory exam is based on the six core competencies. This two-hour exam consists of sixty (60) multiple choice questions and requires a minimum score of 70% to pass.

The practical exam tests the candidate’s ability to demonstrate the following practical skills and knowledge in an applied setting under the watch of a CSEP-CPT instructor/examiner and assessed on an acceptable/unacceptable practice basis:

• Pre-screening (Administering pre-screening questionnaires and accurately measuring a client’s heart rate and blood pressure)
• Anthropometry (Accurately determining a client’s height, weight, and waist circumference)
• Aerobic Assessment (Successfully administering an aerobic fitness test)
• Musculoskeletal Assessment (Successfully administering one, or multiple, muscular strength tests)
• Monitoring I (Demonstrating, teaching, and modifying resistance training exercises)
• Monitoring II (Demonstrating, teaching, and modifying flexibility exercises)
• Counselling (Demonstrating an ability to counsel a client in a specific stage of change using the tools provided by CSEP)

Continuing Education

Once certification is successfully attained, a CSEP-CPT is required to obtain a certain number of Professional Development Credits every two years to maintain their certification. Professional Development Credits can be obtained through academic courses, conferences, and online webinars. It is the responsibility of the fitness professional to keep and track their own professional development activity in case they are selected for the Professional Development Credit Audit. If a candidate is selected for an audit and they have not met their professional development requirements, they will lose their certification and have to go through the entire process from the beginning.

 

You can rest assured that a CSEP-CPT has been educated on a variety of topics at the post-secondary level, has successfully passed a challenging pair of exams, and continues to learn and evolve by obtaining Professional Development Credits on a regular basis. This puts any CSEP-CPT in a position to help you, whatever your health and fitness goals and ambitions may be. So, the next time you are considering hiring a personal trainer, investigate the certification(s) they carry before giving them your business. It is not everything, but it is certainly something to consider.