If you’re thinking of becoming a personal trainer you’ll want qualifications and certifications to help you stand out from the crowd and compete with other personal trainers but with so many qualifications available how do you choose which is best?

When choosing a personal training qualification, the most important question is who is the awarding body behind the qualification and if the training company through which you take it is teaching the right material. In a nutshell, you want to know that the qualification is recognised and hence worth the effort you’re going to put into it and this is determined by the award body behind it.

Awarding bodies write up personal trainer qualifications for training providers to deliver. Their main role is to regulate and police the training providers to ensure that they are offering quality personal trainer qualifications and ensuring that their assessments are standardized and meet the industry standard. They are also responsible for issuing the personal trainer certificates for the various personal trainer qualifications.

The most common personal trainer awarding bodies are:

• CYQ (Central YMCA)
• Active IQ
• OCR and
• City and Guilds

Any training scheme or qualification endorsed by these these award bodies will be worth your time and effort. Let me know if you know of other award bodies you think should be on this list.