Best Menopause Coaching Certification

While menopause is certainly nothing new, the menopause market is just beginning to show up. In a May press release, it was noted that there are over a billion women currently experiencing menopause, but only 20% are getting the support they need. My first thought was “How have we missed this?”  

Women in menopause are a vastly underserved (and misunderstood) market, and often stereotyped. But, if you’ve met most women at this stage in life, they’re far from frail. 

Women are living longer, healthier lives than ever before and are taking control of their health through menopause and beyond. But are we ready to answer the call?

We’re starting to see menopause coaching programs and certifications emerge and become more mainstream. You can find programs that last a few hours to ones that provide several months’ worth of education. Most menopause education is a part (albeit a very small part) of interdisciplinary programs, while others provide powerful specialty certifications. These distinctions matter. 

No more are general guidelines enough. If you’re training women aged 40+, you need to have a solid understanding of menopause and how to train women experiencing it.

Here, I’m ranking the best menopause coaching certifications, including the newly announced one from ISSA in May 2026 and the stalwart favorite from Girls Gone Strong. The menopause training landscape is evolving quickly, so be sure to verify pricing and enrollment dates before making your decision.

Fast Facts on The Best Menopause Certifications

Menopause Certification	Girls Gone Strong	ISSA	NETA
Ongoing Enrollment	No	Yes	No
Self-paced	Yes, once you’ve been accepted into the class	Yes	No
Receive CECs	Yes	Yes	Yes
Price	$899 during pre-sale, $1,500 regular	$639	$299
Prior Fitness Certifications Required	No, but recommended	No, but recommended	No, but recommended

Why Specialize in Menopause Coaching Right Now?

Training for women as they age isn’t just a fad. The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) lists “fitness programs for older adults” as the #2 trend for 2026. It has been a top-ranking trend since the inception of the ACSM’s fitness trend survey in 2007. At nearly 20 years old, I would say this trend is here to stay.

By getting certified and specializing in menopause coaching, you’re setting yourself up for decades of clients and success in the industry. Women in this stage of life are often ideal clients. They typically have more time than young parents, more money than college kids, and more dedication than most other client demographics. And yet, they’re overlooked and underserved. Fortunately, you have the ability to change that to their benefit and yours.

How to Decide on a Menopause Coaching Certification

Let me start by saying that there is no single best certification. We all have different learning styles, budgets, and time constraints. Look beyond ratings, reviews, and online followings, and make your decision based on the following four questions:

1. What are your existing credentials? How does a menopause certification fit into the credentials you already have? Do you have generic credentials, or are you already specializing in a niche? If you have general knowledge, a program that goes in-depth will help you create a specialization. If you already work within a specific niche, you may benefit more from a program with greater breadth. 

Also consider continuing education needs. If you need credits to maintain a CPT or other certification, look for one that offers continuing education credits.

2. What do you actually want to do with the certification? This is the one I see trainers miss all the time. They get a bunch of certifications and then never use them. When you’re choosing a certification, whether it’s menopause coaching or any other cert, think about how you’ll use it. 

If you plan on training only men or young athletes, this may not be the certification for you. But if you want to coach the general population or focus on women-specific programming, these certs are a solid choice. 

Going beyond that, knowing what you want to do can direct you to a program that fits your needs. If you want to train individual clients, you need a course that teaches in-depth exercise programming. If you want to add behavior change and nutrition elements, you need a course whose scope includes these techniques.

3. How much time do you have to study right now? Be honest with yourself here. How many unfinished courses do you have scattered across various mediums and email inboxes? If the answer is none, you’re better than me. 

It’s easy to sign up for a class, promise yourself you’ll get to it once your busy season is over, and then never look at it again. Fix that by signing up for a program you actually have the bandwidth for. Menopause coaching programs can range from 10 hours to several months long. The program you can commit to is 10 times better than a promising program that you guiltily ignore.

4. What’s your budget? No one likes to talk about money, but here we are. A short, in-and-out program can get you on the floor for $200 or so. It can help you jumpstart a career or place you as a specialist. More premium, comprehensive offerings may set you back $1,500 or more, but may justify higher rates, aka more money per session. Decide which option suits your business better now while helping you grow for the future.

You’ll want to consider other factors such as delivery method, course deadlines, and whether the course is widely accepted, but these questions should get you headed in the direction of a decision. Keeping your needs in mind, let’s talk about the best certifications for menopause coaching.

The Best Menopause Coaching Certifications

Girls Gone Strong Menopause Coaching Specialist Certification

Arguably, the most well-known menopause coaching cert is the one from Girls Gone Strong. Pioneered by women for women, it is one of the most comprehensive programs currently available (although emerging programs are beginning to rival it). The course covers three primary components of training women through menopause: exercise programming, nutrition coaching, and behavior change techniques. 

The course offers a physical textbook, workbook, and online platform for learning. It’s broken down into 5 units that start with the methodology Girls Gone Strong uses and progress through the anatomy and physiology of the menopausal woman, lifestyle and mental health, nutrition, and exercise programming.

The certification is advertised to be accessible for fitness professionals as well as women who just want to learn for their own benefit. Some have said, however, that if you don’t have a background in fitness, the exercise programming unit can be intimidating. Because it is so comprehensive and rather in-depth, decide if you’re ready for that level of learning before purchasing the course.

I say that because the course is not cheap. It is a premium certification that comes with a premium cost. If you get on their pre-sale list (more on that in a minute), the course is a cool $899, or $89/month. If you don’t get on the presale list and snag a spot during their general registration period, the cost is $1,500. 

Now, back to the pre-sale list. The Girls Gone Strong Menopause Coaching certification enrolls students in cohorts, so enrollment is only open twice a year (usually once in June and again in the fall). Registration is open to those on the pre-sale list first, and if there are still spots left afterward, they open a general registration. So if you’re in a time crunch or want to get a course done entirely on your time, this course may not be a great option. But once you have a spot, there’s no deadline for finishing the course. 

Who this course is best for:

• Fitness pros who are serious about their clients going through menopause.
• Trainers who want a deep dive into the menopausal niche and have the time and money to do so.

Who this course is not for:

• Trainers on a budget or a time crunch.
• Individuals without a background in fitness.

ISSA Menopause Coach Certification

Fresh out of the gate is ISSA’s new Menopause Coach Certification. Released in May 2026, this course is the latest from fitness certification giant ISSA. The course brings the longevity of the ISSA organization along with the latest in menopause research and practice. 

The course is 100% online, so if you don’t want to waste time waiting for textbooks to ship, this course is a good option. If you prefer a physical textbook, you may want to consider other options. The course material covers a wide range of topics related to perimenopause, menopause, and postmenopause, including the physiological changes, exercise and nutrition coaching, recovery, and mental and emotional changes. 

ISSA’s Menopause Coach certification fits into the ISSA’s ecosystem as a specialization after earning your personal training certification. It is designed to help trainers or other adjacent professionals stack their certs for greater specialization and income opportunities. 

It creates a more accessible entry point for specialization through its affordability. Priced at $639, or $53/month, it comes in at an intermediate price point, nestled comfortably between high-priced specialty certifications and one-off CEU courses. It has an ongoing registration, so you can sign up and complete the course on your own timeline, which seems like a given in the fitness industry today, but none of the other top menopause certs offer this option, making you beholden to their start dates.

Aside from the flexibility of the course, the other standout feature of ISSA’s course is its client-facing templates and worksheets. If you’ve been in the industry for any amount of time, you know how important good forms are (and that they take a lot of time and effort to make when done well). ISSA provides ready-to-go client materials along with an option for a free professional website so you can spend time training, rather than creating. 

Who this course is for:

• The trainer who wants the freedom and flexibility of choosing when they start and complete the course, rather than waiting for an arbitrary start date.
• The fitness pro who wants to add a specialty or niche and test the waters before splurging on higher-cost certs.

Who this course is not for:

• The trainer who wants submarine-level depth knowledge on menopause.
• The trainer wants a 1-hour webinar’s worth of information.

NETA Menopause Specialty Certification

If you need a done-in-a-day certification (albeit a specific day), the National Exercise Trainers Association (NETA) offers a Menopause Specialty certification that does just that. It differs from the offerings by Girls Gone Strong and ISSA because the course was developed by a single presenter, rather than a team. If you’re someone who enjoys a single lecturer, this could be a great fit. If you would rather draw on the experience of more professionals, one of the aforementioned courses would be a better fit. 

NETA’s course is the only one of the courses listed here that offers an in-person version of the class. Instead of a self-study style course, you sign up to complete the specialization course on a specific day, either in-person or via Zoom, with all needed materials included. Like the other courses, you’ll need to complete a final exam to pass the class and receive your certificate. 

While the course can be taken as a standalone, NETA recommends that you take it following your completion of a personal training or group fitness certification. This makes sense because it would be difficult, actually impossible, to fit everything you’d need to know about training women in the 8-hour course.

Pricewise, it is the least expensive of the menopause coaching certs listed here, coming in at $299, which is about on par for a single-day certification course. Keep in mind, though, that you may incur transportation and meal costs if you select the in-person option, depending on how far you need to travel.

NETA’s Menopause course is only open for select dates, so you’ll need to work your schedule around the class (like Girls Gone Strong), rather than making the class work for you (like ISSA). At the time of writing, there are only two dates listed for the rest of 2026, one in July and another in October. In-person options appear to only be available in Minnesota, so unless you live (or want to travel) to the land of 10,000 lakes, you can scratch off the in-person option.

Who this course is for:

• The trainer who wants a certificate and a one-day commitment.
• The fitness pro who is looking for breadth and general understanding of how menopause symptoms impact exercise and nutrition for the occasional menopausal client.

Who this course is not for:

• The trainer who wants to get certified on their own timetable.
• The fitness professional who wants to make women experiencing menopause their dedicated specialty.

Make the Move Toward Menopause Coaching

Menopause training does not mean meeting in the middle. If you want to be the best trainer for these women, go all the way with a menopause coaching certification. Your clients deserve it, and you’ll benefit from it. 

If you want the most comprehensive program and have time to wait for enrollment, go with Girls Gone Strong. If your priority is training your clients better starting today and you don’t want to wait, ISSA’s course is open and waiting for you. If you want to get your feet wet and be ready for the occasional client with menopause, NETA’s course is the place to start.

Your future niche (and clients) await!