ISSA vs ACSM Certifications Compared

If you are looking for certifications in the health industry, like a certified personal trainer, there are many options, two of which include ISSA and ACSM. So how do they compare? 

ISSA

The International Sports Sciences Association is one of the leaders in fitness and nutrition education, with an array of certifications for health and exercise fields. It offers certifications and ongoing support for job placement. The company was founded in 1988 and, since then, has found its niche in offering online certification courses. 

ACSM

The American College of Sports Medicine was founded in 1954. Since then, they have become the largest sports medicine and exercise science organization worldwide, with international conferences, memberships, certifications, and publications. 

Bottomline: ACSM is where to look for international certifications, and high-end speciality certs like clinical exercise physiologist, but ISSA has a much wider array of certs for other fields and specialities. 

Let’s see how they compare. 

Certifications

ISSA is the leader in the quantity of certifications, perfect for those who want a wide array of overlapping credentials. ACSM is pretty specific, with only four offerings. 

ISSA

For example, they have several levels of personal training certifications, not just one, as well as Group Training certifications, specialty certifications like glutes specialist or corrective exercise specialist, and then you add on to that a wide array of health and nutrition-based options, including nutrition coach, yoga, and pilates.

Their core categories are:

1. Certified Personal Trainer
2. Certified Nutritionist
3. Strength and Conditioning Coach
4. Group Fitness Instructor

Within those categories are the specializations for different career paths, like

1. Glute Specialist
2. Tactical Conditioning Coach for military or law enforcement
3. DNA-Based Fitness Coach
4. Corrective Exercise Specialist
5. Senior Fitness Instructor
6. GLP-1 Weight Loss Support Training

The list is very long, with over 20 options, but they have special bundles where you can combine things like certified personal trainer with nutrition coach, and then add other Specialties based on where you want to go in terms of your career.

ACSM

In terms of certifications, despite their extensive offering, they have a limited number of certifications. You can get a certification for:

• Group exercise instructor
• Personal trainer
• Exercise physiologist
• Clinical exercise physiologist

International candidates can find programs at the Beijing Institute of Sports Medicine, the Exercise Science Academy in India, or the Wellness Academy in Korea. 

So as far as the opportunities, if you are an international student, particularly one from Asia, you’ll find a lot of certifications and credential opportunities like medical directors or clinical exercise physiologists, depending on the location.

However, whether domestic or international, your options for certifications pale in comparison to what is provided by ISSA. 

Prerequisites

Before picking any of the available certifications, you need to know what is required of you ahead of time. 

ISSA

ISSA requires a CPR/AED for all of their certifications, and you can either get that from a third party or you can get it directly from them, simply adding it to your cart when you check out. You also need a high school diploma or equivalent, and you have to be 18 years old. These are pretty standard. 

ACSM

The ACSM has basic prerequisites:

1. You have to be at least 18 years old
2. You need a high school diploma or equivalent
3. You need a CPR/AED certification, but starting in 2027 you will also be required to complete first aid training 

Cost

The cost will vary greatly for both options.

ISSA

ISSA, for example, has pricing between an average of $600 and $1,000, depending on whether you purchase one certification or a bundle that typically has three certifications. They also have payment plans, and once you complete a single certification, you typically get a discount on subsequent certifications.

There are no hidden fees for study materials or exams, as all of these are included. You don’t even have an additional fee if you fail the test the first time (but you will the second, third, or god forbid, fourth time). 

ACSM

The cost gets a little complicated to break down because it varies whether you are a member or not. For example, if you want to take the personal trainer certification and you are a member it only costs $279, but if you are not a member, it costs $349.

None of this includes the study materials or the retake fee, which can be $175 if you don’t pass. The total cost is well over $1,000 when you incorporate the study materials.

As the personal trainer and group trainer certifications are some of the lowest tiers they offer, things only get more expensive from there with things like the exercise physiologist exam costing almost $500 for members and almost $700 for non-members, excluding the cost of the study materials and the prerequisites. 

Study Materials

Each organization has different study materials, both included and excluded from your initial cost. 

ISSA

With ISSA, all of your study materials, access to study groups, and the like are included. Everything is one lump sum, no hidden fees. 

Now, the book you get is a digital copy; physical textbooks come at an additional cost. ISSA has an online portal through which all materials are accessed, including your study materials, quizzes, and office hours. You get access to things like a Facebook study group, study groups that meet at certain times, and recordings from things like office hours. Part of your access is a collection of things like exercise videos and recordings for live session study groups that you can watch after the fact. 

ACSM

In terms of study materials, depending on the certification, you have access to a wide range of study materials, many of which come at an additional cost. The personal trainer certification, for example, provides you with a 20-hour course that includes 19 modules, 453 lessons, and 200 interactive knowledge checks.

You can participate in the online Facebook study groups or use the prepU quiz platform ahead of time. For things like the practice exam and the flashcards, you have to pay extra. They also offer physical books that you can purchase or download. There is one main book that is the official preparation book for the exam, but they also recommend two other books that come at another cost. 

Teaching Methods

So what do the teaching methods look like?

ISSA

ISSA uses the same teaching methods that many other organizations do. You get a combination of a textbook, but only a digital textbook, which is not my favorite, but it still works. Then you have the video content, and the video content can be viewed as audio content only if you are unable to stream the video.

The chapters break down a lot of information relevant to your particular certification, and they are each designed a little differently but intended to be chunked such that you have a study path, a few chapters, and quizzes that you can get through in one week in order to get through your certifications in the allotted or recommended time frame.

That said, there is nothing holding you to that time frame. You can choose to use the teaching material all at once, or you can spread it out, but most certifications have a 6-month or one-year expiration date from the time you sign up.

ACSM

The teaching methods for ACSM look really intriguing at face value. When I first looked over what they were offering when I was comparing different certifications, I thought it was pretty cool that they had what they referred to as a “create your own” prep process. 

Upon further investigation, that doesn’t really mean as much as you would think. Rather, it’s kind of the same setup as ISSA, where you download the online exam content and then you determine what type of prep you need. 

Assessments

In terms of assessments for your knowledge, the biggest difference is that ISSA has chapters, quizzes, and a final exam, but ACSM offers test-only options or quizzes and final exams. 

ISSA

ISSA assesses your knowledge with quizzes and a final exam. There are quizzes at the end of each chapter, and a lot of chapters. The final exam doesn’t have a timing aspect and can be done online. 

They are really good opportunities to test not just your knowledge and absorption of the material, but your ability to apply that material to use cases. So you get a good chance to test real-world examples and apply what you learned. 

ACSM

When you look at the exam content for the certified personal trainer, it tells you that the performance domain will include four key areas, and you actually get a look at what some of the questions would look like and what cognitive skill those questions are testing. This is basically a way for you to see just how comprehensive the testing platform is, and in fairness, it is very comprehensive, but a lot of it seems to be taken directly from the study material.

Because of that, while you don’t have to pay extra for the study materials and you can just take the exam, even with a background in this field you might not do as well as you think, given that the questions are derived from a lot of the study materials. 

In general, most of their tests are shorter, 50 multiple-choice exams, and you can take the practice test just to see if your current knowledge or experience can be applied to the structure of the exam without having to purchase the study materials. 

Validity

Once you get your certifications, they only last a few years before both ISSA and ACSM require recertification. 

ISSA

All ISSA certs are valid for 2 years. They, too, require continuing education, usually 20 units. There is a fee that you have to pay to get recertified, too. A lot of those credits can come from other ISSA certs. 

ACSM

ACSM requires recertification. This applies to all credential programs but varies based on the credential, with most requirements being a 3-year cycle, at which point you have to pay an administrative recertification fee and make sure that you have completed all of your recertification continuing education credits. 

The ACSM accepts continuing education credits relevant to your certification, and they might accept credit equivalents from other reputable fitness organizations like ACE, NSCA, or NASM. 

Summing Up

ACSM is really great if you are in India, China, or Korea and you need internationally recognized certifications. It is also a good option if you want higher tiers of certifications, like Clinical Exercise Physiologist. If you already have a lot of background and you want to get your certification as a personal trainer without having to pay for any study materials, you might be able to get by purchasing the test alone.

However, if you want a wider range of certification options, particularly multiple options that you can stack as part of your unique career path, ISSA is better for you. They simply have a better array of opportunities, and they have the job placement guarantee for things like personal trainer certifications, where you are guaranteed a job through their network within one year or your money back.