Licensing for personal trainers: legitimizing the profession.
“In its present form, personal training only dates back a few decades, yet it is among the fastest growing professions in the U.S.” (Holt). In the 80’s and 90’s personal trainers were predominantly heavy lifters who looked like they could soon compete in a bodybuilding contest. The muscular physique automatically qualified each of them as “guru” in the fitness world and helped quickly build a clientele. Towards the late-90's, the situation started to change: gyms became less and less of an intimidating environment for a wide category of people with no desire to become “huge.” Personal trainers of a new generation expanded their specialization to weight loss, cardio vascular …show more content…

In my opinion, this analogy is more than appropriate considering that clients are paying almost as much for a private training

session as for the one-hour massage or a visit to dietician. Moreover, Howard mentions two interesting points in favor of the licensing. First, it “will facilitate referrals from traditional health care providers,” and, secondly, the insurance companies “will be more likely to reimburse for services if personal trainers are licensed” (Howard). This means more people would be able to afford training that is safe and effective.
Clearly, the transformation of personal training industry won’t be easy. Joe Cannon (personal trainer, author and health educator) states that “a government mandated fitness license might also mean an end to fitness organizations all together.” At the present moment, there are dozens of certifying fitness organizations within US and, for obvious reasons, they are resisting to proposed legislation changes. “If personal trainers needed a license” - Cannon says – “then all fitness organizations would come under the jurisdiction of the government and the ‘licensing’ would be standardized.” I understand how much multimillion dollar certification business would be affected but new market conditions will automatically eliminate companies like ExpertRating Online Certification and increase the entrance barrier into the profession.