The purposes of assessment are to gather baseline data and to provide a basis for developing goals and effective exercise programs. Gathering and evaluating the various pieces of information give the personal trainer a broader perspective of the client. The process and the data collected assist the trainer in identifying potential areas of injury and reasonable starting points for recommended intensities and volumes of exercise based on the goals and fitness outcomes.

The steps on this page will help you select the right certification that fits your career goals.

The purpose of this article is to provide personal trainers with a review of common muscle extensibility tests of the lower extremity.

Heart rate variability (HRV) testing is at the forefront of a wave of cutting-edge assessment tools that are becoming available to the personal trainer. In this session from the 2015 NSCA Personal Trainers Conference, Carmine Grieco provides an overview of the physiological background and dynamics of HRV, including the most current supportive evidence, with an emphasis on the practical application for personal trainers.

Matt Crawley, Strength and Conditioning Coach and Internship Coordinator for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Performance Institute, discusses performance considerations around testing and programming for UFC fighters, as well as the role of the strength and conditioning coach within the interdisciplinary team.

In this 2018 NSCA Personal Training Conference video, Mike Israetel describes how to create and develop motivation in your clients, and how to understand the process of motivation in people.

The second in a planned series to review essential considerations of each Functional Movement Screen (FMS) pattern, this article will examine the FMS hurdle step pattern in finer detail.

This article provides practical suggestions that personal trainers can use to help their clients become and stay motivated to stick with their exercise routines.

This article provides a sample six-week, non-linear program for improving muscular strength, power, endurance, anaerobic capacity, and aerobic capacity. However, this is not a “one-size fits all” program, and manipulation of the program variables may be warranted for some individuals.

This infographic aims to challenge current approaches to supporting high-performance sports by introducing the concept of "parallel incrementalism".