Best Personal Training Certifications (2025): 9 Top Options Ranked by a Certified Trainer

Even if you’re just starting to research how to become a personal trainer, you’ve likely already come across NASM, the National Academy of Sports Medicine. That’s because NASM is a highly respected leader in fitness certification and provides a well-designed, thorough online personal trainer certification program that results in an accredited credential accepted by most major employers in the industry. 

Two members of our team—Kate Meier, GGR head of content, and Anthony O’Reilly, performance editor—are NASM-certified personal trainers. 

RELATED: NASM Review: A NASM–Certified Trainer Explains the CPT Course 

The NASM personal trainer course involves a self-paced, online course with well-structured chapters and access to practice exams to ensure you’re ready to take the exam. There are three options you can purchase: 

• Self-Study, for $899, which includes full access to the online course materials and your exam fee
• Premium Self-Study, for $1,399, which also gives you access to NASM mentors, plus a job guarantee and a retest option if you don’t pass the exam on your first try
• All-Inclusive, for $1,999, which includes all of the above and also gives you a hardcopy textbook, a CPR/AED course (which you need to take anyway), and a “Gymternship”

The job guarantee promises that NASM will help you find employment within 90 days of becoming certified, or you get a full refund. I really love the Gymternship, which is a unique component of NASM CPT programs. This option gets you 80 contact hours—actual hands-on personal training—at a NASM partner facility. It’s a really fantastic way to get your career started. 

This pricing makes it one of the more expensive personal trainer certification options, but we think the level of industry respect that a NASM certification brings—and the detailed course material—sets you up for success. 

The course consists of six sections: 

• Professional Development And Responsibility
• Client Relations And Behavioral Coaching
• Basic And Applied Sciences And Nutritional Concepts
• Assessment
• Exercise Technique And Training Instruction
• Program Design

NASM uses the Optimum Performance Training (OPT) Model as the basis for their curriculum. You’ll learn about this in sections five and six. This is where you will get into the nitty gritty of fitness programming, with an emphasis on performance for the everyday person and people with contraindications to exercise. 

To sit for the NASM exam, you must meet the general requirements of any personal training certification course: Be at least 18 years old, hold a high school diploma or equivalent, and hold a current and valid CPR/AED certification. 

NASM does offer an at-home exam, but it is not proctored, therefore it does not result in the CPT credential. You will earn a “certificate of completion” if you choose this option and you may be ineligible for employment at the employer’s discretion. To ensure you get the NCCA-accredited certification, take the proctored exam in a testing center.

RELATED: NASM Nutrition Coach Certification Review

Individuals who tend to struggle with self-learning should check out the CPT course from ISSA, the International Sports Sciences Association. There is only one study package you can buy, costing about $1,000, and it includes full access to the online course materials, which include: 

• Online textbook
• Online practice quizzes
• Audio and video lectures
• Online workbook
• Online student forum
• Exam 
• Access to a website builder to start your business
• Unlimited student support 
• CPT Education Bootcamp
• Purpose Driven Training Model

The course is self-paced, but you have the option to follow ISSA’s guided 10-week program, which you can set up in the trainer education portal. This, combined with unlimited access to ISSA mentors and customer support, plus the online student forum, makes ISSA the best option for students who want more structure. 

The ISSA CPT course covers all the fundamentals of personal training across six sections:

• Anatomy and Physiology
• Kinesiology and Biomechanics
• Health and Physical Fitness
• Program Development
• Nutrition
• Fitness For All

I appreciate that there are two sections dedicated to human movement—this is stuff that personal trainers really should know. Otherwise, it’s difficult or impossible to program modifications for injury, chronic disease, and other considerations. 

Where ISSA could improve is in the assessment arena. According to the course outline, assessments are given just one chapter in section four, Program Development. Although I have not seen the course material in full, I think adequate teachings on client assessment and intake need more space than this. 

Like NASM, ISSA also offers two exam options. You can take the NCCA-accredited exam in a testing center, or you can take the exam at home; the at-home option is accredited by the Distance Education Accreditation Commision (DEAC). Opting for the latter option means you will not receive an NCCA-accredited credential and you may be denied employment at an employer’s discretion. 

If you prefer hands-on learning, access to a teacher, and being part of a group learning experience, the National Personal Training Institute is worth considering. The company has partnered with the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM), so graduates receive an NPTI personal training diploma, as well as the NASM-CPT credential and NASM-ACD (Academic Hands-on Certificate of Distinction).

Here’s what you get with NPTI:

• 300-hour curriculum
• 200 hours of practical experience at a partner gym
• Study materials
• Live instruction via Zoom and classroom lectures
• State-licensed Personal Training Diploma (does not expire)
• Nutritionist certification
• Lifetime job placement assistance
• 6 months of mentorship after completion

While most personal training certifications are self-study courses taken at home, NPTI offers in-person learning and instruction. You’ll be working with a personal trainer and training your classmates, applying what you learn in real time. For a personal trainer, this provides valuable experience before you take on your first paying client.

The NPTI curriculum covers the most important topics a fitness professional should know, including:

• Business management
• Legal guidelines
• Client evaluation
• Program design
• Metabolic calculations
• Biomechanics
• Nutritional factors in health and performance
• Musculoskeletal anatomy
• Bioenergetics of training
• Resistance training and spotting techniques

Now, the big thing to consider is that while this is a very thorough course, it’s time-consuming. Most students will take 4-6 months to complete the course and will need to spend time at the local facility every week.

I asked Severo Cardenas, an NPTI graduate, about the weekly time requirements, and he said, “The average weekly time commitment for most is typically around 6 hours per week, depending on the program format and individual pace. What makes it really nice is you get the opportunity to choose what time you want to be in class if you have work or other responsibilities.”

One of the best parts of NPTI is the hands-on training, according to Severo Cardenas.

“What stood out to me most was the hands-on training,” he told me. “Getting to apply what we learned in the classroom directly in the gym helped me build confidence and develop real-world coaching skills. It made the transition into working with clients feel much more natural and prepared.”

The biggest callout is the lack of transparency around pricing. NPTI offers financial assistance, but they don’t publicly disclose what their pricing is, and you need to reach out for more information, which means you’ll likely need to speak with a sales representative before making a decision.

That said, if you don’t mind speaking with the sales team to get started, this is a fantastic choice for anyone who wants to get hands-on training before beginning a personal training career.

The American Council on Exercise (ACE) is the way to go if you intend to continue your education as a personal trainer and become a certified specialist in a specific niche. I say this because I believe that the ACE certification is the best when it comes to training special populations. 

RELATED: What Is ACE Certification? A Full Review

The term “special populations” in fitness refers to essentially anyone who has any contraindication to exercise. A contraindication is something, such as a health condition, that prevents a person from doing all or some types of exercise. For instance, high blood pressure is considered a contraindication to heavy lifting, and a person with high blood pressure would need exercise modifications to ensure their blood pressure doesn’t skyrocket to a dangerous level. 

I am an ACE-certified personal trainer, and I can confirm that ACE does a wonderful job of preparing personal trainers to work with clients from all backgrounds with varying contraindications to exercise. There is an entire section dedicated to this, and it covers: 

• Cardiovascular disorders: coronary artery disease, hypertension, stroke, peripheral vascular disease, dyslipidemia 
• Diabetes: Type 1, Type 2, and gestational 
• Metabolic syndrome 
• Cancer
• Asthma
• Osteoporosis
• Arthritis
• Fibromyalgia
• Chronic fatigue syndrome
• Low back pain
• Weight management
• Seniors
• Youth
• Pre- and post-partum 

Additionally, ACE offers several specialist certifications should you want to continue your education to become more adept at training a certain population. ACE specialist certs include: 

• Medical Exercise Specialist
• Fitness Nutrition
• Senior Fitness
• Corrective Exercise
• Functional Training
• Weight Management
• Behavior Change
• Sport Performance
• Youth Fitness
• Pilates Unlimited
• Function First Pain-Free Movement
• Cancer Exercise Training Institute 
• Size Inclusive Fitness
• The BioMechanics Method Corrective Exercise

The ACE CPT course is thorough, with 17 chapters covering everything you need to know as a new personal trainer. In addition to program design, anatomy, physiology, contraindications, assessment, and progression, you will also learn about the principles of behavior modification to drive adherence among your clients. ACE also includes information on building a personal trainer business, including legal and insurance considerations. 

There are three study packages to choose from, ranging from a basic self-paced course to live webinars and study groups. You have six months to schedule your exam from the day you purchase a study package. In most cases, you can schedule your exam up to 60 days out, so this gives you a total of about eight months to study. ACE offers an at-home exam option through live remote proctoring, and it is NCCA-accredited, so you can test from home without sacrificing your credential.

RELATED: ACE vs NASM

What many personal trainers realize early on is that for clients to achieve and maintain results, nutrition is as important as the work you put in at the gym. That’s why it’s not a bad idea for CPTs to also get certified as nutrition coaches to provide more of a holistic approach to wellness. We like Fitness Mentors for a combo CPT and nutrition certification. 

RELATED: Precision Nutrition Certification Review

Fitness Mentors Certified Personal Trainer course is an online-only course that looks similar to other quality CPT courses. You’ll dive into anatomy and exercise physiology, program design, working with special populations, psychology, and nutrition in a 13-chapter course that offers a digital textbook, audio lectures, assignments, and quizzes.

Fitness Mentors also offers a Fitness Nutrition Specialist course, and you can bundle the two courses together for only $729—a 5-out-of-5 price. With this bundle you’ll receive:

• FM-CPT course
• GM-CNS course 
• Exercise Library
• Bonus learning videos
• Flashcards
• Interactive learning activities 
• Study guide answers
• Final exam prep guide
• 2 practice exams
• Facebook support group 

The FM-CPT exam is online and consists of 100 multiple choice questions; you’ll have two hours to complete it. You’ll have to renew your certification every two years with 2.0 CEUs and a current CPR/AED certification. 

For a solid education on a budget, look to the National Council on Strength and Fitness, or NCSF. The NCSF offers NCCA-accredited study packages for $399 or $449, as well as course bundles for $649 (CPT plus sport nutrition specialist) and $699 (CPT plus certified strength coach). 

Not only are these programs affordable, but you can take as long as you need to study for the exam, unlike with other courses that have a set timeline. According to the NCSF, “The only time restriction within the entire process is that the exam must be taken within six months of the initial test registration date.” 

So, this means you could theoretically study for six months or more, then register for your exam, and study for another six months. However, it’s unclear if this is the case when you purchase a study package, since the package includes an exam voucher. There might be an expiration date to the exam voucher, but that information isn’t disclosed as far as I can tell on the website. So if you want to study with no deadline, you should buy the study materials individually and then purchase the exam when you are ready. 

The NCSF CPT curriculum is split into six sections, covering: 

• Today’s Society and the Healthy Lifestyle
• Applied Exercise Science and Biomechanics
• Health, Fitness and Performance Assessment
• Foundational and Applied Nutritional Science
• Foundations of Advanced Program Design

Within each section, there are several chapters covering various aspects of human movement, but there is little material dedicated to aspects of training such as behavior change, adherence, habit formation, and client communication.  

The NCSF offers two NCCA-accredited exam options: at home or in a testing center near you. You can choose your option when you register for the test. To maintain your certification, you’ll need to earn 2.0 CEUs every two years (about 20 hours), including your CPR/AED renewal. For NCSF, CPR/AED renewal counts as 2 hours or 0.2 CEUs, which is nice. Not every agency includes CPR as CEUs. 

The National Strength and Conditioning Association, perhaps best known for its Certified Strength and Conditioning Coach (CSCS) credential, also offers a personal training credential. True to NSCA nature, this CPT course is very science-heavy, so we recommend it to prospective trainers who are interested and invested in kinesiology, anatomy, and physiology. 

RELATED: NASM vs NSCA 

For instance, you will need to be able to understand and explain training adaptations that occur via exercise, and not just to the muscles, but also tendons, ligaments, fascia, bones, cartilage, and adipose tissue (fat). You will also need to thoroughly understand how exercise impacts body systems, including the neuromuscular, cardiovascular, musculoskeletal, metabolic, endocrine, and psychological systems. 

You’ll then need to know how to apply those learnings to exercise programming and develop effective training protocols based on the client’s or athlete’s contraindications, goals, and needs. As such, we believe that the NSCA CPT certification prepares you to understand the training needs of athletes and high-performance individuals. 

As for study materials, they’re all a la carte. You can purchase the NSCA-CPT study guide, NSCA-CPT quizzes and practice test, Exercise Technique Manual, and Essentials of Personal Training textbook individually. Or, you can purchase the online study course, which includes Essentials of Personal Training and a guided study plan with year-long access from the date of purchase. 

If you buy materials individually, you have lifelong access and as long as you want to study before registering for the exam. Once you register for the exam, you have a maximum of 120 days to take it. NSCA does not currently offer an at-home proctored testing option, so plan to go to a local testing center. 

One thing you should know about the NSCA CPT is that the recertification process is different from other agencies. The NSCA runs three-year recertification cycles, and every NSCA-certified CPT must earn 6.0 CEUs (about 60 hours) by the end of the three-year cycle. Every cycle ends on December 31.

This averages out to about 2.0 CEUs or 20 hours per year, which is more than average. Upon earning your initial certification, the amount of CEUs you need is prorated for that cycle. 

Education isn’t cheap, and it’s part of what makes starting a new career so difficult. Luckily, the NFPT offers affordable personal training certification courses. If you’re already well-versed in the essentials of personal training and human movement, you can purchase the exam alone for $249, which is less expensive than most other agencies’ exam fees (and some agencies don’t offer this option at all). 

If you do need study materials, you can choose from two affordable packages: Standard, for $379 or Premier, for $499. These price points make the NFPT certification the most affordable on our list—and you’re not sacrificing anything for these prices. It’s still an NCCA-accredited program and you have up to one year to take the exam (which is actually longer than average). 

The Standard package includes: 

• Exam content outline
• One exam attempt
• Digital trainer manual
• Digital workbook
• Online chapter quizzes
• Learn to be a virtual trainer course
• Essential forms for your business (assessments, screenings, waivers, consent forms)

The Premier package includes everything in the Standard package, plus a hard-copy book, two practice tests, exercise animations, client assessment videos, and NFPT expert trainers who are available for student support. 

You may also purchase study materials individually if you don’t think you need a full online course. 

To pass the NFPT exam, you’ll need to be well-versed in the following topical areas: 

• Principles of Human Anatomy
• Principles of Human Physiology
• Fitness Components
• Training Program Development, Implementation & Modification
• Professionalism and Communication Skills

Each section of the personal trainer manual corresponds with a section of the exam. There are multiple chapters within each section that dive into various aspects of human movement and fitness programming. 

To recertify with NFPT, you’ll need to earn 2.0 CEUs every two years, and your CPR/AED renewal counts toward your total. Additionally, NFPT offers a whole range of unique CEU opportunities for NFPT-certified trainers, including credits for securing liability insurance coverage and attending trade shows. There are also free CEU options, which is a nice bonus, because continuing education can get expensive. 

The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) is another highly respected and well-known educational institution in the fitness industry. With ACSM, you will learn the finer details of the body’s structures, including bones, joints, muscles, and other connective tissue, as well as the body’s various organs and systems. 

Like the ACE certification course, the ACSM course expansively covers anatomy, physiology, exercise science, and special populations. This makes it a good option for people who hope to eventually specialize or pursue additional education in order to be qualified to work in clinical settings. 

Typically, you will need additional credentials to work in any clinical setting, but the ACSM certification is a good starting point. For instance, if you’re pursuing a degree in an exercise-related field, you would also qualify (upon graduating) for ACSM’s certified exercise physiologist program (CEP) which would allow you to work in many more settings than a personal trainer. 

The ACSM also has a heavy focus on exercise as a treatment protocol or as “lifestyle medicine” and the course reflects that in its emphasis on disease prevention and risk factor reduction. 

For studying, ACSM offers a course bundle, but I don’t recommend that option because there are restrictions around exam timing. If you buy the bundle, your exam voucher comes with it and expires at the end of the calendar year. So if you purchase the bundle later in the year, you may not have ample time to study. This option could work if you purchase the bundle early in the year. 

Still, I recommend buying study materials individually, because then you can study for as long as you want to and schedule the exam when you’re ready. Both exam options—in-person and at-home—are proctored and NCCA-accredited. 

ACSM’s continuing education requirements are slightly above average. You must acquire 45 hours of continuing education every three years, which works out to about 15 hours per year. 

NESTA, the National Exercise and Sports Trainers Association, offers the only NCCA-accredited personal training certification that is valid for more than two years. The NESTA CPT is valid for a whopping 4 years! So if you want to extend your time for recertification, this is the best option for you. 

Don’t get too excited, though: You still have to earn an average of 1.0 CEUs, or about 10 hours of education, every year. It’s just presented differently, the requirement being 4.0 CEUs every four years. Though it’s the same amount of education, it does end up saving you money in the long term, since you only have to pay your recertification fee every four years, not every two years. 

NESTA training is affordable, too, with pricing starting at $349 for just the exam. You can choose from two study packages: Plus, for $399 and Complete, for $697. Plus includes your exam fee and a digital textbook. Complete includes the exam fee, digital textbook, unlimited practice exams, digital and audio training, and chapter review quizzes.

You can take as long as you need to study, but once you request your exam eligibility (you must apply and show you meet the basic prerequisites), you have 90 days to take the exam. NESTA doesn’t offer an at-home exam yet, so you’ll have to go to a testing center. 

The NESTA personal trainer manual includes 14 chapters of information, including: 

1. Introduction to Personal Training
2. Exercise Physiology
3. Kinesiology and Functional Anatomy
4. Applied Biomechanics
5. Flexibility
6. Nutrition
7. Special Populations
8. Assessments
9. Program Design
10. Exercise Application
11. Safety, Injury Prevention, and Treatment
12. Exercise Psychology 
13. Business Strategies and Applications for the Certified Personal Trainer