Answer from ECA World Fitness: The fitness industry is inundated with certifications. A certification is representative of attaining a certain level of knowledge. There really is no regulation for these certifications, though. At ECA, we have a training school called ECITS. It is the only accredited training school in NY State. We have been aruond for 16 years and provide 10 - 15 hours of "hands on practical" training and 40 hours of academic training to all students. This sets us apart from a lot of the other certifications. For more info on our certification go to http://ecaworldfitness.com/education.html we will also post some more info on it on our fitizens page.

Answer from Peter Marino: I believe the top 4 most respected certifications are from the National Acadenmy of Sports Medicine (NASM); American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM); National Sports and Conditioning Association(NSCA) and the American Council on Exercise (ACE). Picking from any of these will ensure that you are ready to be a trainer at most gyms, however, many gyms are now requiring that you are specifically certified by <A HREF="http://www.nasm.org/">NASM</A> because of its focus on functional training. So if I had to make one recommendation it would be <A HREF="http://www.nasm.org/">NASM</A>

Answer from Peter Marino: Answer from Peter Marino: I believe the top 4 most respected certifications are from the National Acadenmy of Sports Medicine (NASM); American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM); National Sports and Conditioning Association(NSCA) and the American Council on Exercise (ACE). Picking from any of these will ensure that you are ready to be a trainer at most gyms, however, many gyms are now requiring that you are specifically certified by NASM because of its focus on functional training. So if I had to make one recommendation it would be NASM. Go here for their website: http://www.nasm.org