Here’s What Goes into Designing a Best-in-Class Personal Training Certification

When setting out to develop the Academy of Integrated Human Performance (AIHP) and its Integrated Strength and Performance Coach (ISPC) Certification, I knew it wouldn’t be a simple process. 

Twelve years ago, I launched the United Endurance Sports Coaching Academy (UESCA) because I saw a need for more well-rounded, science-based endurance coaching certifications. There wasn’t much competition in the endurance sports space, but we had a lot to learn about program development, customer engagement, and business operations. 

Over the years, we built UESCA into a leading certifying organization for running, cycling and triathlon coaches. We’ve become known for not only our education but also our personalized customer service, ongoing engagement with coaches who go through our program, and our unconventional approach to continuing education. 

(In short, we don’t believe certified coaches should have to spend hundreds of dollars in continuing education credits each year to remain certified—more on that later!)

In the fitness space, there’s a lot more competition from longstanding certifying organizations. But after years of working in the fitness industry myself and gaining an understanding of the personal training certifications available—and what they’re missing — I wanted to develop a better offering. There were things I knew we could do differently that would better serve the needs of future fitness professionals. 

So, here’s how we designed a best-in-class strength and performance coach certification: 

Remaining Committed to Unbiased, Science-Based Education 

Our certification is only as good as our content. Our approach with AIHP is the same as with UESCA: unbiased, science- and evidence-based.  

Dominique “Dee” Stasulli is our primary contributor. Dee created UESCA’s Strength and Conditioning for Endurance Athletes Certification, and she is just incredible. She is a professor of physiology and pathophysiology in Boulder and is currently in a doctoral program. She’s also a professional coach. 

We knew we wanted her to write our ISPC Certification content because of her strong background in strength and conditioning and her ability to apply the material to real-world scenarios. 

We followed a review process to ensure the standards were high. We had external professionals review different modules to assess for content, flow and accuracy as the course was being developed and applied their feedback. We also tested and refined the content internally. 

Including a Business Module to Prepare Trainers for a Career in the Fitness Industry 

We also knew we wanted to develop a robust business section that directly connects to how one can succeed in the real world as a personal trainer—something I’ve found is missing in many personal trainer certifications. 

I wrote this section myself, based on both personal experience and contributed insights from people actively working in the industry. 

The content includes podcast-style interviews with professionals in different working environments within the fitness industry, so that trainers can determine the best pathway for them. There’s content on how to communicate professionally as a strength and performance coach, legal liability and insurance considerations, coaching policies, and advice on networking and marketing a coaching business. 

Applying Feedback from UESCA Coaches and Personal Trainers

We learned a lot from coaches who went through UESCA’s certifications and provided their feedback. That helped us in designing the ISPC Certification. 

Over the years and more recently, we’ve surveyed them on questions such as: What did they like about the certification? What did they not like from a format standpoint? What did they not like from a content standpoint? What could we do better as an organization? 

I also talked to more than two dozen professional trainers with active personal training certifications about what they liked and what they didn’t like about the organizations they were certified through, including content and operational practices. We were able to spot trends and tailor our decisions based on the feedback we received. 

Making Decisions We Believe Are Right, Not Status Quo

From an operational standpoint, we looked at the other certifications on the market and reverse-engineered them. There’s a term called “first principles thinking,” where you avoid making assumptions, break the whole thing down and look for absolute truths. 

What are the truths here? What do we need? What’s being done because it’s the way it’s always been done, but doesn’t need to be? 

For example, to my knowledge, all fitness certifications out there require CPR and AED certification. We decided not to require it. That’s because the landscape has changed, especially since COVID, and a lot of trainers work virtually instead of in gyms. 

It should be the role of the fitness center to require CPR and AED certification upon hiring. And while we do advise strength and performance coaches to pursue CPR and AED certification, we don’t require it to enroll in our certification. 

Another example is our continuing education policy. Other certifying organizations require the completion of a certain number of organization-approved credits each year to remain in good standing. That means the certifying organization continues to make money year after year from trainers who were certified by them. 

While AIHP does have a continuing education requirement, we also decided to provide a free pathway for recertification. Further, trainers who enroll in our certification receive lifetime access to the content, including any updates we make. We also provide other no-cost ways to continue learning, including our research summaries and our coaches’ Facebook group. 

In thinking through how we do things at AIHP, we really tried to examine every aspect of the certification process to determine why it’s done the way it’s done and whether it needs to be done differently. 

Leading with Our People and Great Customer Service

We want to have the best customer service possible. That’s what we do at UESCA, and our coaches love it. We’ll reply to an email the same day and often get a response like, “Oh my gosh, thank you so much for responding!” 

Replying to emails should be standard, but people are so used to poor customer service, slow response times, and AI-sounding emails. When we email someone back, the tone and verbiage are polite and professional. If someone has a question about our certification, we should be able to answer it. 

But it’s not just about being reactive. It’s about being proactive. We reach out to people throughout the certification process and even post-certification. 

Being able to have a phone call with someone from AIHP to chat through career options is really important. It empowers trainers by offering them different perspectives and a resource they can count on. 

Addressing Accreditation: Our Informed Decision

A big decision that AIHP needed to confront is that of accreditation and deciding which accreditation is right for us. Many certifying organizations pursue accreditation from the National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA). We are choosing not to go that route based on our informed standpoint on the accreditation and it being based on only the certification’s exam.

Instead, AIHP is pursuing accreditation from the American Council on Education. This process involves the evaluation of both our content and examination process to ensure the highest level of quality and accuracy.

Because NCCA accreditation has been considered the industry standard, it’s important that we find the correct way to address and explain our accreditation pathway. We decided to publish this blog post, and will likely continue to communicate our stance as AIHP grows. 

Final Thoughts

I’m confident in AIHP and our ISPC Certification because I understand our competition and what we offer that sets us apart. 

We reverse-engineered a lot, especially regarding operational practices. Bad customer service, good customer service; expensive continuing education policy, free pathway to recertify. We also learned what works for our endurance coaches who are certified through UESCA, and leaned into our commitment to unbiased, science- and evidence-based content.  

We know it works. We know we can do it, and we can do it well. That gives me incredible confidence in entering the fitness education space. Over the long term, we believe we can help many prospective and current strength and performance coaches gain a best-in-class certification and begin or continue successful careers in the industry.

---