It's kind of a crap shoot. Some of the best trainers i've learned from had masters degrees, but I've also met 1 or 2 with masters degrees that were not impressive at all. I've also met trainers without a formal education that were incredible, and ones that were total dumbasses. I would say if you have the desire to work with elite level athletes such as college, olympic, or professional, or if you want to work with extreme special populations with severe health or injury issues, you will want or need a degree. A degree or certification is only a piece of paper that you might as well hang on the wall over your toilet. What's really important is who is your teacher or mentor, and how good is the knowledge you're learning and passing on to your clients. The best teachers as well as the best trainers are usually people that have a good balance of academic knowledge and applied practical knowledge. If you want a couple of recommendations for how to skip getting a formal degree, but still get a really good balanced education towards becoming a trainer, I would recommend the NPTI(national personal training institute) which is a very in depth 6 to 12 month program. It's not cheap, but in this case you get what you pay for, an awesome program. The other recommendation I would make would be to get some various Crossfit certifications under your belt. Also not cheap, but well worth it. Also aside from the actual training knowledge and experience you will need, none of that matters if you can't find clients and sell them training. So you might want to research resources for marketing and sales techniques as well. Being a trainer is one of the best careers I can think of as long as you are passionate about it, treat it like a serious business, and never stop learning. Good luck
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Darren Cobin
http://www.definefitnessstudio.com
http://www.fitnessdiscovered.com