NCCA
Guess who's the newest NCCA approved Certification? You got it, NETA!

Within the last few months, NETA is now recognized as one of the top certification programs with their accreditation from NCCA. Good news for us!

Certifications
NETA has two certifications, Personal Trainer and Group Exercise Instructor. I'm going to concentrate on the Personal Trainer certification, but check out the website if you are interested in the Group Exercise Instructor certification as well. (It's very similar to the Personal Trainer Certification)

The Personal Trainer Certification goes after my most valued aspect of training, actually practical hands-on experience in their training! Although you do NOT have to take any workshops or buy any materials to take the exam (unlike places like NASM), I believe it's a required part of your education.

The exam materials are pretty cheap. My weak addition tallies all the books up to be a total of $80.

Reputation / Popularity
NETA is new on the scene and is not as recognized as the longer term players (ACE, ACSM, NASM, NCSF, NSCA). It's going to take some time for people to know what NETA is, especially since it changed its name from NDEITA not too long ago. It also gets a bit confused with NESTA...needless to say, the Acronym Soup is getting mixed up quite a bit!

Eligibility
In order to sit for the NETA exam, you must be 18 years of age, have a current CPR certificate, and that's it!!!

Exam
The exam is administered all over the country at various testing centers, called "Comira", which is great news! As I mentioned, there is no pre-requirements other than what's stated above to sit for the exam. You don't need to purchase or attend any NETA courses to sit for the exam.

Although I recommend at least getting the books, you can really take advantage of their weekend workshops to really learn your material well.

Workshops
NETA offers a Personal Trainer Certification Workshop for a quite reasonable cost ($349 if you register 30 days before) and is available all over the country on the weekends.

It runs Saturday to Sunday and is equivalent to 14 CEC's (for those of you who need a massive amount of CEC's quickly for recertification!)

They also recommend that you purchase the $80 in reading material and study it before you attend.

Costs
So far, they're not too bad in the cost department. Here's the breakdown:

Workshop - $349 (early registration) to $389 (walk up)
Exam Alone - $249
Books Recommended - $80
Home Study Review - $39

These all seem quite reasonable to me, especially since the workshop should be local to your area, or at worst, a one night hotel stay.

Validity
NETA's Personal Trainer Certification is valid for two years once you pass the exam.

CEC's
The CEC requirement is for 20 hours of Continuing Education before you can renew your Certification. (Cost for Renewal - $45)

NETA accepts almost all the other NCCA CEC credits too. So you could take a CEC class for ACE (and still use it to recertify with ACE) and get credit with NETA too. Pretty slick, huh?

NETA does require that 6 of your CEC's come directly from NETA, but that's less than 40% of the requirement.

Check their website to verify that your CEC's at other organizations will count, but their policy seems quite liberal. They aren't trying to milk every single dollar from their members like a few of the other certification organizations.

Renewal
Renewal isn't too difficult, you include any photocopies of your CEC classes(those that aren't from NETA), the $45 fee, and the recertification paperwork postmarked by the expiration date.

If the letter is postmarked later than the expiration date, various fees are added based on how late the letter is received. After 180 days, you can't renew and must recertify.

Summary
NETA is a new player on the NCCA block, which instantly gives it a lot of credibility that it didn't have just a few years ago. They appear to really be working hard on expanding their client base with honest pricing, fantastic learning opportunities, and other amenities.

Although walking into a gym and saying you're NETA certified may get a few quizzical looks, in time this certification will only gain in acceptance. Coupled with another certification, NETA would be a great way to augment your education and professional credentials.

Leslie Smith is a Certified Personal Trainer and owner of Fun-2B-Fit, LLC. She has published a book on "Becoming a Certified Personal Trainer" to assist aspiring trainers with their goals of becoming certified fitness professionals.



Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Leslie_M_Smith

The NFPT (National Federation of Professional Trainers) Personal Trainer certification is one of the NCCA certified organizations and has been for a few years now. A certified stamp from the NCCA means that the NFPT is one of the best and most recognized Personal Training certifications in the United States.

Types of Certifications
NFPT offers a Certified Personal Trainer (CPT) program with a whole slew of additional 'advanced' courses also available.

They offer quite a variety of ways to get the education needed to pass the exam. They have at home, online, workshop, and even correspondence courses at a few local colleges.

Reputation / Popularity
The industry recognition, for some reason, isn't as high for NFPT as the other certification programs. I haven't had any gyms say that NFPT was enough, they always asked if I would also get something like ACSM or NSCA.

Eligibility
All you need to become eligible for the NFPT exam is to be 18 years old with a High School diploma. They do strongly recommend that you have your CPR certification, however you do not need it to sit for the exam.

Deep in their Student Manual, the line "Applicant must have at least 2 years of practical hands-on experience in weight/resistance and/or cardio
Training" can be found. However I can't find anywhere that requests verification of this information before the exam can be taken. I believe this is more of a 'wish' than a requirement.

Exam
The exam is administered at over 300 sites and they even send you the closest centers to make it easier for you to pick the most appropriate for your schedule.

There is also an optional 'practical' exam if you want benefit from some hands on experience and testing. Although I highly recommend it, I do wish they made this a mandatory part of the examination itself. That would definitely help their industry recognition and respect.

The nice thing is there are no exam dates, so you can take it any time you wish.

Workshops
There is a workshop option, with two different ways to attend. The caveat is that you must own the "Home Study" course previously before you can sign up.

On their website they show classes where the Workshops are held. They hold them in their affiliate companies. Therefore, if you're already a member of one of those companies, you're lucky because you'll get a reduced rate for the Workshop.

People that are studying at home can do this workshop for an additional $159. The affiliate companies are some amount less than that, but I haven't heard a firm amount for the price of the course.

Distance Learning
NFPT has a Computer Distance Learning Program that lets you work in 'virtual' classes, just like if you were really in a workshop.

I agree that this is the wave of the future and NFPT seems to be the only group that's doing it in this way. I have no idea how well trainers will do with this technique, but I am sure that over time it will improve.

It costs about $550 to complete the Distance Learning portion of the training. That includes all the books and materials you will need.

Costs
Since there are a variety of ways to pay for the education/exam, I'm going to list them here just to make it easier.

Home-Study Course - $450 (includes exam fee)
Computer Distance Course - $550
Workshop - $159 or less (must own Home-Study Course)
College Course - Dependent on the School

Miscellaneous Fees
$20-$44 for proctor exam (payable at the exam)

Validity
Now here's something interesting, the certificate is only valid for one year. However, here's the catch, the yearly fee pays for all of your CEC fees! Interesting, huh?

Although it's not very easy to learn from their web and printed materials, the recertification fee is $75 a year according to their handbook. That's not terrible, considering you get 2 CEC's free with it.

CEC's
As mentioned above, NFPT considers CEC's as part of your continuing certification criteria. Therefore it's free and you need to get 2 CEC's each 12 months.

You also have Semi-Annual "Self Tests" administered through the NFPT website are required (unless a CEC satisfies the requirement)

They certainly care to make sure their trainers are continually learning. Instead of having a cramming of CEC's in the last 2 months of your 2 year certification, you continually learn with NFPT. Not a bad idea!

Renewal
Renewal is yearly at the cost of $75. This cost covers all your CEC's that you need for the following year to renew in 12 months.

Summary
With a fresh approach to education and CEC's, NFPT is making itself different in an attempt to distinguish itself in a field where, frankly, many organizations seem the same.

The recognition isn't as strong as some, however the education is constant and very valuable. If recognition isn't that important to you (if you're not trying to join a gym), then I would definitely check this certification out.

Leslie Smith is a Certified Personal Trainer and owner of Fun-2B-Fit, LLC. She has published a book on "Hot to Become a Certified Personal Trainer" to assist aspiring trainers with their goals of becoming certified fitness professionals.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Leslie_M_Smith