I am supposed to be taking my NHE Master Trainer Exam in a few weeks. I am questioning their legitimacy. Any info?
I am seeing a lot of message boards that appear to be EXACTLY the same info about someone taking or scheduled to take a test with reponses by people saying that they are questioning the authenticity because they failed or sre not smart enough. I don’t care about pass or fail. I am wondering who this group is. If I google them THE ONLY THING that comes up are the message board threads and scam reports. Obviously this is a red flag, but maybe I am missing something? Is anyone actually employed by them? Why can I find nothing about them online?
I do not know this group. I have seen a lot of chat about them though…. there seems to be no middle ground… some people say it is a good test, some say it is a complete scam. This is a link to a past question with quite a number of responses pro and con:
https://www.ideafit.com/answers/nhe-who-are-they
One thing that I find surprising is that I cannot find them on the IDEA certification list. I might just be looking in the wrong spot, but it is surprising not to have them there as it is a pretty good tool to compare various certifications:
https://www.ideafit.com/fitness-certifications
I also do not see a NCCA accredited seal displayed on their home page. While NCCA may not be the only gauge of a good program, it is certainly a sign that the program will be accepted for most jobs. The NHE has a long explanation on why they did not try to get NCCA, which could be quite true, or could be spin. But even if it were true, I am not sure as a consumer it will help you to do a certification, no matter how detailed that does not offer the validation most fitness businesses look for. They may be right about its role in government bodies, but how many of us are going to work for NIH? I suggest reading it yourself:
http://www.nhecertification.com/accedit.html
I would have to say that I am on the fence. Their web site suggests that someone behind this company has a very good understanding of business and policy. And I agree with quite a bit of what I see on the site. However, there is an opacity to it that I find unappealing. The materials seem to suggest a high calibre of subject matter in their exams. However, I have issues with the costs, which are high. and I do think there is a reason to have a separation between the agency that certifies, and the agency that represents. (anyone else remembers when ACE split from IDEA?) And pragmatically speaking if you want a ‘gold standard’ certification without controversy you could always sit for ACSM.