NCCA
Guess who the most recent NCCA approved certification is? You got it, NETA!
In recent months, NETA is now recognized as one of the best certification programs with its NCCA accreditation. Good news for us!
Certifications
NETA has two certifications, Personal Trainer and Group Exercise Instructor. I will focus on the Personal Trainer certification, but please visit the website if you are also interested in the Group Exercise Instructor certification. (It is very similar to the Personal Trainer Certification)
The Personal Trainer Certification comes after my most valuable aspect of training, actually practical experience in your training! Although you do NOT have to take any workshops or buy any materials to take the exam (unlike places like NASM), I think it is a mandatory part of your education.
The exam materials are quite cheap. My weak addition adds all the books to a total of $ 80.
Reputation / Popularity
NETA is new to the scene and is not as recognized as long-term players (ACE, ACSM, NASM, NCSF, NSCA). It will take some time for people to find out what NETA is, especially since it changed its name from NDEITA not long ago. It also gets a bit confused with NESTA … it goes without saying that the acronym soup is getting quite confused.
Eligibility
To take the NETA exam, you must be 18 years old, have a current CPR certificate, and that’s it!
Exam
The exam is administered throughout the country at various testing centers, called “Comira,” which is great news! As I mentioned, there are no prerequisites other than those listed above for taking the exam. You do not need to buy or attend any NETA courses to take the exam.
Although I recommend at least getting the books, you can really take advantage of their weekend workshops to really learn your material well.
Workshops
NETA offers a personal trainer certification workshop for a fairly reasonable cost ($ 349 if you sign up 30 days in advance) and it’s available nationwide on weekends.
It works from Saturday to Sunday and equals 14 CEC (for those of you who need a massive amount of CEC quickly for recertification!)
They also recommend that you buy the $ 80 worth of reading material and study it before attending.
Costs
So far, they are not too bad in the cost department. Here’s the breakdown:
Workshop – $ 349 (early registration) to $ 389 (upload)
Exam only – $ 249
Recommended books – $ 80
Home Study Review – $ 39
All of this seems quite reasonable to me, especially since the workshop must be local to your area, or in the worst case, an overnight hotel stay.
Validity
The NETA personal trainer certification is valid for two years after you pass the exam.
CEC
The CEC requirement is 20 hours of continuing education before you can renew your certification. (Renewal cost – $ 45)
NETA also accepts almost all other NCCA CEC credits. So you could take a CEC class for ACE (and still use it to recertify with ACE) and get credit with NETA as well. Pretty sneaky, huh?
NETA requires 6 of its CECs to come directly from NETA, but that’s less than 40% of the requirement.
Check their website to verify that other organizations’ CECs count, but their policy seems pretty liberal. They are not trying to extract every dollar from their members like some of the other certification organizations.
Renewal
Renewing is not too difficult, it includes photocopies of your CEC classes (the non-NETA ones), the $ 45 fee, and recertification documentation postmarked by the expiration date.
If the letter is postmarked after the expiration date, various fees are added depending on how late the letter is received. After 180 days, you cannot renew and must recertify.
Summary
NETA is a new player on the NCCA block, which instantly gives him a lot of credibility that he didn’t have a few years ago. It seems like they are really working hard to expand their customer base with honest prices, fantastic learning opportunities, and other amenities.
Although walking into a gym and claiming to be NETA certified may get some questioning looks, over time this certification will only gain acceptance. Along with other certification, NETA would be a great way to increase your education and professional credentials.
