NBFE Conducting a New Job Task Analysis 2017

Currently, the NBFE is updating its job task analysis for future National Board
exams, therefore no registrations will be taken at present.

Florida Personal Trainer Licensing Update

SB 1616, a proposed Senate bill in Florida that would require personal trainers
to become licensed, has died as of May 2, 2014 without any action or Committee hearings.

D.C. To Regulate Personal Trainers

By: David L. Herbert, Attorney at Law,

David L. Herbert & Associates, LLC,
Attorneys & Counselors at Law, Canton, Ohio 44718; http://www.herblaw.com/
Editor, The Exercise, Sports and Sports Medicine Standards & Malpractice Reporter
PRC Publishing, Inc., Canton, Ohio 44735; http://www.prcpublishing.com/
Author, The Personal Trainer, A Tale of Pain, Gain, Greed & Lust; http://www.thepersonaltraineronline.com/

The District of Columbia has become the first United States jurisdiction to adopt legislation to regulate the personal training profession. The law, part of the D.C. "Omnibus Health Regulation Amendment Act of 2013," passed by the D.C. Council in February of 2014. The law will require all personal trainers providing service in that jurisdiction to register with the D.C. Mayor’s Office for a yet undetermined fee and pursuant to a yet unspecified procedure. The new law will become effective once the United States Congress completes its review of the legislation. The D.C. Board of Physical Therapy will oversee the registration process.

Personal trainers are defined in the law as "personal fitness trainers" and this term is defined as follows:
(b) For the purposes of this section, "personal fitness trainer" means a person who develops and implements an individualized approach to exercise, including personal training and instruction in physical fitness and conditioning for an individual and a person who performs similar physical fitness training regardless of the designation used.

Once the legislation becomes law, no one in that jurisdiction may use the terms "personal fitness trainer", "personal trainer", "professional fitness trainer", "fitness instructor" or any other similar term unless the person is registered in accordance with the new law. While a legislative committee report supported the enactment of the law, the President of the D.C. Physical Therapy Association opposed the enactment. Further refinements to the law as well as the adoption of regulations are anticipated.

Now that this legislation has been passed in a United States jurisdiction, the question becomes whether or not other states will join in passing similar legislation.

Florida Moves to License Personal Trainers

These requirements include the following:

completion of the required application and payment of the specified fees;
being at least 18 years of age;
being a high school graduate or having completed its equivalent;
being certified in CPR and AED from the American Red Cross or the American Heart Association, or an equivalent;
being certified from a program that is accredited by the National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA) or the Distance Education and Training Council (DETC) and that is recognized and approved by the Board;
passing the licensure examination;
being in good standing with the Board and the Management Corporation.

The law will require continuing education for licensed personal trainers not to exceed 24 credit hours every two years and additional training in CPR/AED as established by the Management Corporation. The fees to be required are established in the law and are proposed as follows:

An application fee, not to exceed $100;
An examination fee, not to exceed $200;
An initial licensure fee, not to exceed $200;
A biennial license renewal fee, not to exceed $200;
An inactive license fee, not to exceed $100;
A delinquent application fee, not to exceed $100;
A license reactivation fee, not to exceed $100;
A voluntary inactive license fee, not to exceed $100.

In one certain respect, the law virtually mirrors the 2006 final resolution of IHRSA on the certification of personal trainers which recommended that its member clients hire only those personal trainers who were certified by an organization accredited by either the NCCA or DETC.

NBFE Full Affiliate Organizations

The NBFE has completed a comprehensive review of the provisional affiliate organization’s Personal Trainer Certification programs. The review committee analyzed seven (7) major test areas and sixteen (16) measurable test objectives to ensure that graduates of each affiliate program were prepared to take the NBFE National Board Exams.

Scores awarded were passing 95-100; provisional 90-94; whereas, 93 and below were asked to resubmit. Recommendations for improvement were included with each review.

Within the next five (5) years the NBFE will be asking all organizations to provide a grid, mapping specific exams questions and tasks to NBFE sections and objectives exams specific to the weight and score of each report.

Congratulations! Each of the following organizations have become a Full Affiliate of the National Board of Fitness Examiners (NBFE). New logos have been sent to these organization distinguishing this recognition.

Academy of Applied Personal Training Education (AAPTE)
Aerobics and Fitness Association of America (AFAA)
International Personal Trainer Academy (IPTA)
International Sports Sciences Association (ISSA)
International Strength Training Association (ISTA)
National Aerobics & Fitness Trainers Association (NAFTA)
National Association for Fitness Certification (NAFC)
National Council for Certified Personal Trainers (NCCPT)
National Endurance and Sports Trainers Association (NESTA)
World Instructor Training Schools (WITS)

Thank you to each organization for your professionalism and commitment as an industry NBFE Affiliate.

State Licensing of Personal Trainers

August 20, 2008

Most recently, two states and the District of Columbia have proposed laws that would regulate the practice of personal training and require trainers to obtain a license. The states, Georgia and Maryland, originally proposed legislation to utilize the National Board of Fitness Examiners (NBFE) examination in their respective regulatory provisions. There are no active proposals now pending in these states. The proposal in D.C. is still be considered. [see attached bills]

State

Download

Maryland House Bill, 2008

Georgia Senate Bill, 2008

With the lack of local, state or national regulations or licensing requirements for the education or practice of personal training, there's little doubt that proposals like above will continuing to surface. Since its inception, the NBFE has remained neutral with regards to licensing. To find out how fitness professionals felt, the NBFE conducted a licensing survey.

In response to the outcome, the NBFE continues to recommend that if states wish to license or regulate personal trainers, they follow models adopted by other allied health professions and utilize one standardized written and practical National Board examination. This would allow personal trainers to practice in multiple states or move from one state to another without needing to be reexamined.

The NBFE also proposes that the scope of practice and continuing education requirements remain the same in each state thereby eliminating unnecessary financial and logistic burdens on fitness professionals. The NBFE National Registry can serve to help protect the public by providing a single source to validate each individual Registered Trainers status.

The NBFE will continue to survey the public and fitness professionals as it continues to serve as an independent source for the personal training industry.

NBFE 2005 Annual Report [Attached Annual Report]

Physicians Prescribe Exercise, Personal Trainers Stand Ready

Nearly two-thirds of Americans – over 131 million people - are inactive and overweight, many severely obese. Physicians are being asked to write prescriptions for exercise. The fitness profession is uniting to help them, reports the National Board of Fitness Examiners (NBFE).

Santa Barbara, Ca (PRWEB) February 24, 2004 –- Personal trainers and health clubs will see a dramatic increase in referrals coming from medical doctors over the next decade, announced the National Board of Fitness Examiners (NBFE). Because nearly two thirds of Americans – over 131 million people - are inactive and overweight, and many more are severely obese, physicians are being asked to write prescriptions for exercise, and the fitness profession is uniting to help them.

According to a recent report published in the archives of Internal Medicine, Dr. JoAnn Manson the Chief of Preventive Medicine at Harvard’s Bringham and Women’s Hospital said, “We’re treating the symptoms of the diseases rather than the root cause.” Because inactivity and obesity are responsible for at least 300,000 premature deaths and over $90 billion in health care costs each year, this new “call to action” to write prescriptions for exercise can help change patients’ ways the report says.

While doctors will start writing prescriptions for exercise, the fitness profession is preparing to help. Properly trained personal trainers are experts in this area. Weight training, aerobic conditioning, flexibility, and a sensible diet are the keys to preventing and even reversing many chronic diseases – what fitness professionals have been teaching for years. Until now, there have been no standards in the fitness profession and as a result few physicians refer to personal trainers.

Over 200 certification companies offer education to personal trainers, however it is difficult for the medical community to know who is providing the right advice. In response to the lack of regulations and standards, in 2003 the National Board of Fitness Examiners was commissioned to do just that; demonstrate to the public and the medical community that Board certified fitness professionals undergo unbiased, criteria-referenced, nationally approved examinations that ensures standardized levels of competency. Successful completion of the National Boards not only assures competency, but will eventually lead to licensing, a process recognized by the medical community. “This model to determine individual competency has been used successfully by physicians since 1915, therefore the National Board wants to assure the public and the doctors that they can confidently refer patients to Board Certified fitness professionals,” said Dr. Sal Arria, Executive Director of the National Board of Fitness Examiners (NBFE).

“Unfortunately, our country is in the worst shape ever, so we applaud physicians for taking a positive stance towards prescribing exercise ... the health and quality of life for literally millions of people rests in their hands. Exercise has been proven as the most powerful disease prevention tool of all,” said Dr. Arria. “And best of all, the side effect of prescribing weight training, aerobic conditioning, flexibility and sensible nutrition is not only that patients will live longer, but the quality of their lives will be dramatically improved," Dr. Arria stated.

National Board Certified personal trainers and health clubs are in a perfect position to help physicians address the 80% of Americans who don’t use trainers or go to gyms. "As more and more physicians start writing prescriptions for exercise, the fitness industry can expect explosive growth over the next five to ten years,” Dr. Arria finished.

About NBFE: The National Board of Fitness Examiners (NBFE) is a not-for-profit organization, founded in 2003 to ensure to the public that qualified fitness professionals who have successfully passed the National Board examinations have achieved an approved level of competency in the health and fitness industry.

For more information contact info@nbfe.org

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The National Board of Fitness Examiners continues to monitor and report on activities within the industry and state legislation. Contact us with your questions.