With fitness trends skyrocketing through the roof, one profession that has emerged is that of the personal trainer. The gig has always existed, but it’s definitely become a lot more common today. This is highlighted by the point that there are many people who aren’t officially certified to be one and still run their own training businesses. This, naturally, begs the following question: do you really need to be certified to be a trainer?
The Short Answer is No
You really do not need to be certified to be a trainer, at least not from a legal standpoint. If you believe you have what it takes to help someone reach their fitness goals, there’s truly nothing legally stopping you from selling your services to others. Now, while legally that might be totally cool, the next question is whether or not morally it’s a good idea.
To answer that, one must really question the credibility of the training certification itself. If you ask many within the fitness community, they’ll maintain that the training certification doesn’t mean much and that it’s more of a formality. Furthermore, some trainers are truly talented and may have a hard time getting a certificate for personal reasons.
This leads us to our final point, which is that a certificate really means very little when it comes to finding a good trainer. If someone is able to help you get real workout results, then who cares whether or not they have a silly little paper to prove their credentials?
