What kind of training standards and certification should I look for in a personal trainer in the UK?

All good personal trainers should be members of REPS (Register of Exercise Professionals). REPs has been set up to help safeguard and to promote the health and interests of people who are using the services of exercise and fitness instructors, teachers and trainers.
The Register uses a process of self-regulation that recognises industry-based qualifications, practical competency, and requires exercise professionals to work within a Code of Ethical Practice. Members of the Register are given a card and registration certificate to prove their qualification and membership. You can also search on the REPS site for a REPS trainer. A personal trainer should have a Level 3 qualification or above in personal training and should have comprehensive public liability insurance. I hope that helps.

You can ask to see any certificates that a trainer may have. REPS is an industry known regulator of personal trainers and fitness instructors and so they should have a REPS membership card. You can also ask to see their insurance certificate as insurance companies require copies of qualifications in order to provide cover.

yes reps are the only Registered body in the the uk but some gym are take on trainer that are not level 3 reps it is just about you pay us and we give you a bit of paper . in my 11 years no one has said can i see your reps qualifications it just about money it dose not mean any thing to the client reps fee is £90 if you times that by 35.000 wich you get £3,150,000 so no one knows about reps but the big gyms and trainers so if not just about making money i don.t no what is it about when your not asses on what you know and do with your client so in my mind it just a bit of paper that they say you need when no one will ask to see it at any time i know 20 trainers and i said have any of client said to you to see your reps and they said no there you go it just about money ?

The very basic qualification that a personal trainer should hold is a Level 3 Personal Training Cert. REPs provides professional insurance, but does not distinguish trainers based on experience. Trainers are simply given their accreditation once a Level 3 Certificate is presented. Through REPs you are encouraged to continually develop and deepen your knowledge by doing new courses and keeping yourself abreast of new developments and trends within the fitness industry.
However, these days with the current economic climate and recession, many unemployed people are turning to cheap course providers to become a personal trainer in a relatively short time frame, so that they can charge big money for what they do. A solution to getting off the dole. Because of this, the fitness industry is becoming increasingly saturated with poor quality trainers who have very little interest in what they are doing, or furthering their knowledge.
A truly "qualified" trainer should be someone who looks good because they themselves know how to practice what they preach. Who has a training background and a genuine interest themselves. For example, what have they done to get fit? How did they know what to do for themselves? Will they be able to help you?
They should also be in pursuit other interests and courses and should be going out of their way to treat their clients as individuals. Too often trainers will design one program every 8-12 weeks and will use the exact same protocol with ALL of their clients. This is disgraceful as no two people are the same and they certainly shouldn't be treated as such.
Look for someone with experience, speak to current clients of someone you are thinking of training with to get an idea of what they are like as a person also. Personal training is a big investment. With the right trainer, it will pay dividends for you. Choose the wrong trainer and it's like putting all your money down on a bad bet.

hi yes reps is not good not all that good you pay £90 per year to be on list for reps i have been personal trainer for 11 years and study with the with y.m.c.a it this took me 12 weeks to pass was ok but did not go deep for me so i look at the C.H.E.K. institute in USA it has taken 6 years to get to practitioner level 3 you have to do new study every year to stay list on there web site and use the name all there course there 60hr hours of studying to do just because a trainer is Level 3 qualification with rep dose not mean there any good what need look for C.H.E.K practitioner level 3 They do 5 years of study mind body movement and with a 4 hr assessment of body and 8 hr of diet and lifestyle and going rate for a C.H.E.K practitioner £125ph up to £160ph there is over 35.000 personal trainer out there in london that are put there client in pain and there client are paying for it !!! any trainer that any good should show you there qualifications and there-comprehensive public liability insurance any one can get this or need do is to pay for it so look at qualifications what they have study how long they been in the job what there body look like what assessment they do and see how many References do they have too lots of the course are line so they don.t even do any work with a client every course i did the institute i had to do 5-11 days on the course in usa to become a personal trainer take 12 week to be a C.H.E.K practitioner take 5 year to be a d.r take 6 years so i know what i go for im putting personal trainer down but they need to re study not just do one crap course and think they can help any onehttp://www.activebryantsystems.com/services.html

REPS: "To ensure that all exercise professionals are suitably knowledgeable and qualified to help safeguard and to promote the health and interests of the people who use their services."
http://www.yourlocalpersonaltrainer.co.uk

Most people realize that they should ask if their potential personal trainer is certified or not. If the trainer says they are not certified, simply walk away. If a personal trainer tells you that they are certified you should then ask them what organization certified them. Being certified is certainly a good start but the problem is that there are currently over 300 different personal training certifying agencies in existence
 
The National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) and the American College Of Sports Medicine (ACSM) and (PREMIER TRAINING ) are three of the most respected certifications in the fitness industry. The NSCA is the only nationally recognized accredited certification and it offers both a Certified Personal Trainer (NSCA-CPT) and Certified Strength and Conditioning Coach (CSCS) credential. The ACSM is considered the “Gold Standard” in the fitness industry and all Professional trainer should be REPS (Register of Exercise