ACSM/ISSA Review

by Marcia Oliver MSPT CPT
(Indiana)

I have both Certs and am a physical therapist. I still believe that ACSM is the benchmark of all personal training certs, but that is my humble opinion. My ISSA cert and training is/was heavily biased towards body-building with minimal said about cardio health. In fact, cardio was almost spoken of as insignificant.

I know that the fitness industry is moving into the interval training industry where cardio is really combined with strength training so this is good, but there are still those clients/patients out there who come to me for various reasons and need to be well rounded and versed in the bigger picture.

Two thumbs up for ACSM! ISSA is your cert if you only care about the body-building factor.