Is no pocket sacred?

As many of you know, in the past year I’ve worked toward my certification to become a personal trainer. It’s a fascination I’ve had over the last couple of years, and was encouraged to pursue it as a sideline, especially since so many people my age share my interest in fitness and overall wellness.

Well, almost as if on cue, the New Jersey state government has found yet another pocket they’d like to pick…..anyone who has or will try to make a living as a personal trainer! Consider this recent letter from a concerned listener in the fitness trade:

Hi, Casey & Rossi

I run the group fitness programs at Princeton University, and recently a piece of legislation has been introduced (S 2164, Fitness Professionals Licensing Act) that would put most, if not all, personal trainers and group instructors in New Jersey out of business. It requires trainers/instructors to have 300 hours of classroom instruction, 50 hours of which has to be an unpaid internship. Even though I have excellent instructors that have been teaching for 10, 20 or even 30 years, literally every one of the 60 individuals I supervise at Princeton would be unable to continue working unless they spent thousands on a program.
Most of our folks are part-time and to have to put out that kind of money for a job that earns them at most a few thousand would likely prevent them from continuing in the field. The state (unsurprisingly) is creating a board that would oversee this process and require instructors/trainers to be licensed through the state and renew every year ($$$ for the state).
I understand the need to have qualified people as fitness instructors/trainers so participants are safe. There's a lot of questionable certifications out there in the fitness industry, and passing one of those wouldn't qualify someone to lead a class or train a client.
However, that's why I have a job--I get tons of resumes from would-be instructors and probably follow up with 10% at best. I look for a few well-respected certifications, audition and interview potential hires, and re-evaluate them every semester. Setting this sort of arbitrary requirement (why 300 hours? why does the internship have to be unpaid? who will be on this "board") will put thousands of individuals who ARE diligent and qualified in their training out of work at a time when none of us can afford to be out of work.


Thanks for your time!

Susan Crane
Coordinator for Group & Instructional Fitness, Princeton University


I'd agree with Susan that there may be some trainers that are under qualified, but the various certification agencies have pretty stringent policies already in place for those calling themselves trainers. Could the government do a better job regulating an industry, that, for the most part, seems to be doing a pretty good job of regulating itself? Keep in mind, even though personal safety is the stated goal, the underlying goal is something we all know as revenue enhancement.

In order for me to keep my certification active, I would need to take a number of what are called Continuing Education Credits during the course of any given year. These could vary in subject, such as different exercise modalities, special populations, nutrition, etc. The more CEC’s I have, the better I am at my craft, and the more current my knowledge of a field that is constantly changing! Does a governmental body really have a better grip overseeing the industry and its many professionals? Seeing how the many governmental bodies regulate our lives now, I would think the answer to be pretty simple.


Thanks again to Susan Crane for taking the time to bring this to my attention. Nothing ever surprises me with the many ways the state looks to pick one’s pocket!