I've been looking into getting my personal trainer cert for a while. I was thinking of going ISSA as that's what I keep getting recommendations for.

Any thoughts?

I'm just curious for my own knowledge, what's the difference between an ISSA and a CSCS?

I'm a trainer in Seattle, Washington.

I don't know what ISSA is, although I am an NSCA-CSCS. The NSCA is arguably the gold standard in professional certifications in the fitness field.

CSCS stands for "Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist" and requires a Bachelor's degree. Many other certifications do not require education past high school.

Go to www.nsca-cc.org OR www.nsca-lift.org for more information.

Jaison

If you are going to work for a health club after getting certified, it may be best to check with them to see if they care which certifications you have.

The best trainers I have ever had had no certifications at all. They were the guys at the gym who taught all the newbies so that we didn't kill ourselves.

Sadly, today you need a certification to show someone how do do a pulldown

With that being said, there are a lot of crappy cert companies out there. eg - www.expertrating.com/personal-trainer-certification.asp