Hey. Glad I found this great forum! A little background on myself, I'm 21 residing in the Bay area. I have been working out/weight training for 5 years now. I'm currently in college, transferring next year to a state school while majoring kinesiology and a minor in English. I really want to become a personal trainer for the local gyms around the area. I know with my Kinesiology degree I would be able to do so. But I want to get certified as soon as possible so I can begin working. I was thinking of going ahead and being certified through ACE (do most gyms, 24hr. fitness take this certification?) I'm going next weekend to get CPR certified. Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks so much!

There are several reputable places to get a certification, there are also a million places who will practically hand you one (I wouldn't recommend that) .

As far as I'm aware, ACE, NSCA, NASM, and ACSM are the only ones that are accredited certifications by the NCCA (National Commission for Certyfing Agencies). Any accredited certification will be widely accepted.

I know 24hr Fitness take NSCA, and I'm almost certain they'll take the others deschains listed.

Thank's for the advice. I'm going to go ahead and order everything through ACE.

First you should call the gyms around your area and find out what they are looking for. Thats the best way to judge.