What is the best personal training certification? IT DEPENDS- the famous trainer answer peaks its head again! The question shouldn't be WHAT'S THE BEST FITNESS CERTIFICATION, it needs to be WHAT DO YOU WANT TO DO & WHERE DO YOU WANT TO WORK?

Do you want to train out of your apartment or garage gym?

You need to get limited liability insurance. In my 20 years of being a personal trainer, NOT ONCE has a client ever asked what certification I have. I speak with confidence, and know anatomy, programming, and nutrition better than any certified trainer – I AM A QUALIFIED PERSONAL TRAINER. There isn't a textbook certification that teaches these skills (NASM, ACE, ISSA, NCSF, NSCA, ACSM, Precision Nutrition.)

Do you want to work at Equinox, Lifetime, or Crunch?

Show Up Fitness CPT has the top-performing trainers in Berkeley, Santa Monica, Chicago, Miami, New York City, Houston, West Hollywood, and Austin (these are the trainers that we are aware of!) The recruiters at Equinox and Crunch Fitness send me monthly emails, “Chris, we need more SUF-CPT's who do you recommend?” Textbook trainers are a dime a dozen. Think about it for a second, how many personal trainers do you know? A LOT! How many do you trust to train an elite athlete or your mom? A few. At Show Up Fitness trainers learn the human body, the average textbook trainer barely understands their own.

Do you want to work for LA Fitness?

Show Up ready and eager to train in 25-minute sessions for $8-10/ session. We have heard of NUMEROUS stories of people SHOWING UP and being offered a job on the spot without any certification.

Do you want to work for F45 or Orange Theory?

NASM & ISSA have worked their way into the higher-ups as they are adamant about these certifications – hmmm can we say that these marketing companies are paying mucho dinero so they can monopolize the small group market? MAYBE, I can't say for certain but I have my conspiracy theory goggles on!

Do you want to work at Show Up Fitness?

Show Up Fitness CPT is all that we accept. A kid came to our La Jolla location the other day with his resume and NASM-CPT pretty and bold at the top. I gave the resume back to him and said we do not accept NASM. That's the beauty of owning your gym. You can accept quality or the fast food of certifications like NASM, ACE and ISSA.

Is there a BEST fitness certification?

No. I knew a kid who had a degree in kinesiology, ACSM, SUF-CPT & NASM-CES. He didn't look the part of a trainer, AT ALL. He had low confidence and lacked the essential social skills (sturdy handshake and eye contact) – all things coachable under the right mentorship. Equinox, Lifetime, and LA Fitness all denied him and stopped him after the phone interview (1st part of the 3-5 part interview process.) He wasn't able to get any independent 1-1 clients but for some reason, he killed it online. To put it nicely, the kid was kind of a weirdo, but he was able to be directed into an area where he could thrive (thanks to Show Up Fitness.)

90% of TEXTBOOK personal trainers quit within 12 months of getting hired at a corporate gym. It's because they read a textbook without a true understanding of anatomy, programming, or the ability to ask questions or gain hands-on learning. That's what Show Up Fitness offers – access to fitness professionals and the ability to learn by doing.

Want to become a SUCCESSFUL

personal trainer?

If you can't make it to our In-Person 2-month CPT program in Los Angeles or San Diego (CLASS DATES STARTUP HERE), we have daily LIVE calls via zoom that give you access to FITNESS PROFESSIONALS. If you can't make the call, the classes are recorded and placed on demand within the Show Up Fitness APP. You can become a successful CERTIFIED personal trainer anywhere in the world with the SUF-CPT. The only certification that gets you access to REAL LIFE PERSONAL TRAINERS, not robots or telemarketers. Don't believe me? Here's what an Equinox front desk employee (soon-to-be trainer) said HOW TO BECOME A SUCCESSFUL PERSONAL TRAINER! (can review the 400 5-star reviews on amazon including this one in Jan. 2023)

Not including the hundreds of hours of Show Up Fitness Content on Youtube, this book aims to be the best introduction to anyone eager to become a personal trainer. It does this tremendously while being easily readable. Chris’s humor and knowledge will empower newbies and inspire cynics in the fitness industry and will shut down the ideology of a certification making anyone qualified enough for the career. Pick up the book, but also, get yourself hands-on experience if you want to become a successful personal trainer. Might as well go through Show Up!