There are so many certification body that its becoming ludicrous -
NSCA/ACSM/ACE/FISAF/ISSA/NASM, tons more that i've not uncovered.
Most renown coaches and trainers are NSCA - CPT/CSCS or NASM - PES/CPT/CES - Some require degrees(don't have to be sports related) some don't.
In my opinion for a starting phase, NASM has many out of the book solutions for trainers to use as its accompanied with videos and it addresses about posture and dysfunction with the imbalances.
That said, NASM certification is one of the better one and what i'm looking at right now too just for marketing.
I've learnt most of my skills with experience, listening, reading articles and books and watching instructional DVDs by Michael Boyle - functional Strength coach 1, Gray Cook, Dr. Stuart Mcgill and Shirley Sarhmann' stuff - list can go on and on. Socializing with many therapist/doctors to even bodybuilders for their views and perspective and constantly reading up on research and articles every other day just to keep in touch on whats going on.
However it depends on where you want to specialize in, general fitness/athletic strength coach/physique - bodybuilder/rehab which where I'm currently working towards more.
It really depends on the level of knowledge from your own experience level as a lifter/gym rat/coach and the competency of your hands on knowledge- There are many courses here,
www.humanprinciples.com and where you want to cater for your niche clientele.
In truth, nobody cares which certification you hold or what you know as long as you can get them results safely and effectively. You can even be an average joe who knows what he's doing and still be an effective trainer.
That said, certifications are just preliminary knowledge which have been compiled together and put into a package; if you've been snooping around sites like T-nation or even bodybuilding forums you'll get the gist of it all just in more details based in science.
However you cannot end with just that cert because the world of strength and conditioning is ever changing with new research/reviews and studies and the methods are always updating itself.
Some of the medical professions here are guilty of that, that i'm really losing confidence of their effectiveness.
You'll need to always be investing in your education and refining your training system by going to seminars/reading books/watching DVDs/experimenting for more effective results and i can safely tell you that the things you learn from some of these certification are useless in real world setting most of the time.
However as I've mentioned, always opt for Hands on workshop and always seek an established mentor. I've seen many trainers who do stupid things with the clients and prescribed lousy programs and seen their clients with lousy form for lifting. Its so bad that it makes the profession a joke.
If you need more information, you can always ask and i'll be glad to share with you more.
