Steve

Oh wow, I must have been delirious when I wrote that! My bad.

NASM is what you want to start with. National Academy of Sports Med

heh... this is the first I've heard of NASM. You're my go to guy with stuff, and in your response you said ACSM was easier than NSCA. Hence my decision

What made you decide to go with ACSM? NASM is easier than ACSM. ACSM is actually tough, up there with NSCA. However, it's more clinical with special populations and I've never been a fan of their data.

that getbodysmart site is awesome! My girlfriend is a LMT she thinks its a great site too. Shes gonna let me borrow some of her anatomy and kinesiology books.

I think i'm going to start with the ACSM just to get a easy goal out of the way first. I went to the site and requested their certification guide.

I'm pretty stoked about learning more, and being able to make a difference in peoples lives. I have a decent job working with the post office for only 6 hours a day m-f. I'm not going to be in this for the money. Although the thought of potentially having my own facility one day is very appealing

No problem, you're welcome.

The thing is this: I know plenty of people who get a preliminary introduction simply by reading and learning from the personal training certification book. The books from the good organizations are pretty in depth. But the human body is a very complex thing and even with the length of these books, they're only giving you a bird's eye view of it all.

That's why I make the suggestion, especially if you don't have prior education, to start with the basic components such as anatomy, kines, etc.

The truth is, you could easily get your certification without doing any prior self-education and call yourself a trainer. It's all a matter of how you want to present yourself. To be the guy that lost a bunch of weight and looks great with a PT cert, that doesn't take much. You've already accomplished most of what you need.

To be the guy who lost a bunch of weight, looks great, and understands pretty much everything that is thrown at him in the spectrum of what a PT should be responsible for... that's something entirely different.

And one is not necessarily better than the other. Of course IMO the latter is best. But if you're just looking to help out some buddies and what the credibility of a certification, the latter really isn't all that necessary.

Certifications I recommend - National Strength & Conditioning Association (NSCA) and/or American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM). Both of these together compliment each other nicely. The ACSM is much, much easier than the NSCA.

Anatomy you can start learning today on the web for free. It's not fun though. There are a lot of muscles and hardly any of them are named with friendly terminology. But www.getbodysmart.com can get you on a start. That site doesn't highlight every section of the body but it does a good job with the areas it does focus on.

Any 101 level anatomy book will also suffice really.

For Kinesiology, I like Manual of Structural Kinesiology as an entry level text.

Biomechanics is also critical, I have a few books at home I will recommend if you're interested.

Ya know, asking me about books is dangerous, lol. I love a ton of them and none of them are cheap!

But again, it's really up to you what path you want to take.

Thank you for providing valuable info. I honestly have no idea what Kinesiology is, at least by definition., and a very basic knowledge of anatomy. So I'm going to start there. Any specific titles you might recommend?

I'm interested in doing it more as a hobby and to help people.
If I'm going to do something, I like to do it right with full effort.

thanks again!

What exactly do you mean? I'm sure books exist generally discussing the personal training industry. If you ask me though, they most likely suck. If you're interested in becoming a trainer, here is the ideal order of books you should read in my opinion:

Anatomy
Kinesiology
Nutrition
Certification Manual

Of course it doesn't end there. But that would get you in the gym and ahead of most tool bag trainers. After that you start refining your skills with more niche type things; psychology, sport specific training, prehab/rehab, etc, etc.

But I'm not sure if this is what you're looking for or not.

Hey Steve, got any suggested readings on becoming a personal trainer? thanks!

Hey Matt, I really appreciate it. I love the web but there are days it sucks. Miscommunications occur so easily which lead to monster assumptions that seem to impact people emotionally. It's unfortunate. I should keep my cool better than I do but anger management isn't my strong suit, lol.

I could go the route where I simply ignore the bullshit. However, this is my livelihood and a few personal attacks can fall upon a large number of ears, so I find it necessary to defend myself, unfortunately.

I know I don't owe you an explanation, but since you took the time out of your day to say this, I thought one was due.

Thanks again.

Steve,
I'm sure I dont even need to say this cause you dont know me from a whole in the wall and vice versa. I have been reading that post you are going back and forth on about tact and your delivery. I dont want to beat a dead horse, like i'm sure you dont so that i is why i am here instead. Just wanted to say thanks for everything you do for this site. I'm sure you have a million things going on in life and could be doing but to respnd to people that you have never met is great. Thanks again.

Matt