What are Continuing Education Credits (CECs)?

Each year you need to earn 2.0 continuing education credits for recertification. Choose from a variety of educational offerings through NFPT, from our CEC Provider Partners and other fitness-related outlets. If a course or activity is related to exercise science or building your fitness business, you can probably earn credit for it.

During your first year being an NFPT certified trainer, you can focus on building your business and creating programs for your clients. After your annual recertification date, plan to start earning your required CECs during your second year. Not requiring completion of CECs during your first year is our gift to you so you have time to set yourself up for success. For subsequent years, you’ll need to earn your CECs before your recertification date to maintain your credential.

In the NFPT trainer family, you can earn all of the CECs you need for recertification for free, unlike with other certification companies. Every month, you receive a new Fitness Flop quiz about trainer dos and don’ts. Twice a year, you get a new CEC packet filled with comprehensive articles exploring concepts and trends in exercise science, fitness programming, nutrition and more. Complete the Fitness Flop quizzes and Self Tests and you’ll earn all of the CECs you need to get recertified. Many NFPT trainers choose to experience excellent programming from us or from our trusted CEC Provider Partners, but you also can submit any relevant learning activity for consideration with no extra fee.

To recertify, you need to earn 2.0 CECs each year, the equivalent of 10 hours of relevant educational activity. You can earn CECs in any combination of education options, including our free courses. Each free Self Test equals 0.6 CEC and Fitness Flop quizzes are 0.1 CEC. When you complete all of our free options each year, you’ll earn even more CECs than you need to recertify. Or you can earn another credential like Nutrition Coach or Master Fitness Trainer and get the CECs you need all in one course. If you earn more than 2.0 CECs in one year, you can carry credits over only to the next certification year. You can recertify every year or every two years, depending on how many CECs you earn.

Your efforts can earn you credits, even if they’re not traditional courses. When you invest your time in an exercise science or fitness business learning activity — a workshop, a seminar, an approved third-party offering or even writing blog articles — you get credit. Doing something that you think could count? Let us know. Most of our trainers choose NFPT’s quality courses to earn new titles like Fitness Nutrition Coach or Master Fitness Trainer. But you also can earn free CECs through your NFPT Account by taking Self Tests on exercise science topics and Fitness Flop quizzes about trainer dos and don’ts. Your opportunity to earn free CECs is one of the ways NFPT stands out: We support our trainer family through free options that keep your certification current.

Send documentation — a certificate of completion, transcript or confirmation letter — through your NFPT Account, by mail or by email. When you provide documents that show what you’ve done and with which company or presenter, you’ll receive credit without paying extra fees. You’re automatically awarded credits for NFPT courses, including free continuing education options, through your NFPT Account. We’ve got you covered.

To assess an activity for credit, we determine how many learning hours are required for the activity, if the provider is recognized as qualified by industry standards and if the subject matter is relevant. You could take classes in science topics like anatomy and kinesiology, exercise coursework from yoga to dance, business and communications skills seminars, even CPR-AED instruction. Since we’re familiar with many continuing education sources, we rarely need to review them or their instructors, though this does happen occasionally.