The primary focus of a professional certification is to provide an assessment of the knowledge, skills, and/or abilities required for competent performance within an occupational or professional role or in performing specific work-related tasks and responsibilities. When the certification is awarded, it designates that the individual has demonstrated the requisite, work-related knowledge, skills, or abilities required to work professionally within that field.

A certification (or being certified) aims to protect the public from harm by assessing whether the professional meets the established levels of mastery or competence in the knowledge, skills and abilities necessary to perform the job in a safe, effective and competent manner. Certification is also intended to ensure standardized practice by professionals within the field who perform within a defined scope of practice.

Being ‘certified’ means the candidate has met or exceeds established levels of competency deemed necessary and appropriate to work as a professional personal trainer with minimum or no supervision. The certification assessment is a valid process involving an examination and completed assignments that reflect the job demands and responsibilities of the personal trainer and takes place after the individual has had the opportunity to acquire the targeted knowledge, skills and/or abilities. The assessment is conducted in a standardized manner in a secure, proctored environment. ‘Ability’ refers to the physical capability to execute said knowledge, skills and/or abilities in the real world to meet the needs and expectations of the client in a safe and effective manner. The process of translating ‘certification into ability’ only occurs through practice and experience, which should be an integral component if the certification preparation process.

Certification is also intended to measure or enhance continued mastery and competence through a recertification or renewal requirement. This implies that the certification is time limited (i.e., it will lapse or expire at the end of a predetermined time period if the recertification or renewal requirements are not met). In order to maintain the credential, the candidate must engage in, and complete specified activities designed to measure or enhance continued competence. This differs significantly from a certificate which only reflects the accomplishment of intended learning outcomes from a course or program. The certificate provides education and training of additional skills to grow and develop professionally. When a certificate is awarded, it simply designates that the individual has completed the required education or training and it is not subject to any renewal or recertification process.

Accreditation is a validation process whereby the certification process (i.e., materials, educational curriculum, etc) meet defined standards of excellence for a specific job practice. It is meant to provide assurance and confidence to the public and employers. However, it is important to recognize that accreditation standards are limited to the process of identifying the job-related knowledge, skills and abilities, how scope of practice is defined and how the certification preparation and examination process are conducted. It does not regulate the educational content nor the teaching curriculum of preparing the future professional for certification. This helps explain why some courses are considered better than others.

Although the FEA CFP certification courses are not accredited by the NCCA because they are not intended for the US market, they do follow the same design, development and delivery programs as US-accredited certification agencies. Because of this, FEA offers a 3-day bridging course for all CFP graduates to prepare the individual to sit for US-based, NCCA-accredited personal training certification. This bridging course is unique to FEA because of how closely its certification preparation process aligns with the accredited US certifications.

In some more developed countries, certifications and the fitness industry are self-regulated, by organizations rather than the government like the Registry of Exercise Professionals (REPS). To date however, no countries in Asia have any established organization or government agency to regulate certifications or the fitness industry. What this means is that the opportunity for many inferior products, practices and programs exists which must be avoided. In the absence of independent regulation, FEA has developed its own standards of self-regulation by following established the same policies as US agencies and is now recognized as a premier certification and continuing education organization.

Recognition is the equivalent to an acknowledgement within an industry or field. In the context of whether the certification or the certificate is recognized, it is referring to its acceptance and validity by educational organizations, employers and countries. This is important because it reflects the value of the education or course which is critical in both practice and the hiring process. Sometimes the term “international recognition” is used for marketing purposes, but it is also important to note that this term can be ambiguous because it depends upon the individual employer’s or country’s acceptance. For example, the American Council on Exercise (ACE) is well recognised in U.S and throughout most of Asia, but not necessarily in the UAE and Australia. In this case, the term “recognition” may simply mean “heard of” which does not imply value.