The Top 5 Nutrition Courses for Personal Trainers

Are you looking for the best nutrition course for a personal trainer? As a personal trainer, it's pretty much your job to deliver a service that gets the best possible results for your clients.

Based on a mini-survey we conducted in the Institute of Personal Trainers Facebook Group, it's clear that most personal trainers not only understand that achieving most health goals requires some nutritional coaching, but they thought that it was one of the main factors.

When it comes to what's within the scope of a personal trainer when it comes to nutrition advice, there's an ongoing debate between fitness professionals.

RELATED: THE PERSONAL TRAINER GUIDE TO GIVING NUTRITIONAL ADVICE

Why Nutrition is So Important

The truth is, body composition goals like overall weight loss, fat loss and especially muscle gain cannot be achieved if the nutrition habits of a client are not addressed. However, giving out he wrong advice carries even more risks for the personal trainer if something goes wrong.

One thing's for sure. Only registered dietitians have got the scope to prescribe meal plans that are individually calculated by nutrients and where the meals are measured in any way.

As a personal trainer you can advise your clients about general nutrition guidelines and habits that were covered in your PT course. If you'd like to go a bit further than that you are better off taking an extra nutrition course that will provide you with knowledge and the skills to stay within your scope but be able to help your clients achieve their fitness goals more efficiently.

People are becoming more educated now and while they are mostly still looking for personal trainers, they are keen on receiving nutritional guidance from the trainer they choose because they understand the importance of their diet in achieving their goals.

Below are the top 5 nutrition courses for personal trainers our community members listed when asked about the best nutrition courses for fitness professionals.​

1. BTN Academy

The BTN Academy by Ben Coomber is probably one of the more comprehensive nutrition courses for personal trainers in terms of information provided.

BTN Academy don't just teach evidence based nutrition practices but the dig deeper in to what really matter when it comes to making more concrete changes to your clients eating... habits.

The Practical Academy course covers:

• How to work with a diverse range of clients, with completely different goals
• How to improve client adherence using the science of behaviour change
• Anatomy, physiology and endocrinology relevant to nutrition
• How to mprove your client communication and overcome client barriers
• How to properly monitor consistency and adherence over time
• How to provide accountability, mentorship, and support to the client’s you coach
• How to assess nutrition clients effectively and efficiently
• How to set clients up for long-term, sustainable success
• How to improve your critical thinking skills, so you can keep progressing long after you graduate
• Access to the BTN community, a group of coaches committed to changing lives
• Learn around work and home life, in your own time
• Gain a Level 4 qualification in Nutrition Coaching

2. Precision Nutrition

The Precision Nutrition Certification promises students a deep understanding of nutrition, gives them the authority to coach nutrition to their clients, and the ability to turn what they have learned into real results.

The courses claims that you will have access to the science behind nutrition and learn or improve your coaching skills so you can get life-changing results for yourself and your clients.

Precision Nutrition have 20+ years working with everyone from Olympic gold medalists, to NFL, NBA, UFC, and NHL athletes, to recreational exercisers, to Fortune 100 companies like Apple and Nike.

With the Precision Nutrition course you are able to study at your own pace. You are free to work through the textbook, workbook, and online course videos at your own speed, anywhere in the world. There’s also support available when you need it via a private group designed to assist those on their nutrition qualification journey.

Precision Nutrition promises guaranteed results, or you can return your textbook within 45 days. Free textbook shipping and the ProCoach nutrition coaching software further assist course takers.

Precision Nutrition costs $799 USD for a PN Level 1 Certification.

Many of our members have completed the Level 1 PN qualification previously and find that the strength of this course is the habit coaching method. They report that practicing those skills with both their in-person and online training clients has been a real game changer in getting results.

3. Mac-Nutrition ​Uni

Mac-Nutrition Univ claims a world-renowned, evidence-based online nutrition course with the option of acquiring an Honors for those based in the UK.

Both the MNU and MNU with Honors certificates will qualify you to become an insurable nutritionist. MNU even provides a policy that will cover you for nutrition consultancy: you can assess your clients' diet and advise on nutrition interventions where needed. (Note that you're still not qualified to prescribe meal plans.)

The policy is valid in the USA, UK, Ireland, Canada and South Africa but they are working to expand that within Europe and Australia.

Once you have completed the course you will have 12-months free access to The Mentoring Lab. Basically in the first year of working as a nutritionist you will have access to unlimited support via this group to help you gain confidence in the field.

For the MNU Full Online option, pay £183 per month + £203 enrollment fee. A MNU Full with Honors is priced at £255 per month + £269 enrollment fee. Enrollment opens twice a year, course start dates are March and September.

Anybody we know that has completed this course was very impressed by the depth of evidence based knowledge it provides and the support their students receive throughout the course.

4. Health Sciences Academy

The Health Sciences Academy allows course takers to learn the science behind nutrition and build expertise in specialist areas, whether that's Superfoods, food labels, or specialist dietary requirements.

The courses promise to cut through the conflicting nutritional information found online, and allow you to pinpoint the unique needs of each individual. When complete, you will be able to build custom programs that work.

Health Sciences academy is the largest online educator of nutrition science in the UK, and when you enroll you will get lifetime access to online lessons. 

There are a plethora of courses developed by scientists that can help you to expand your knowledge and understanding of nutrition science and specialized segments of it too. You can take a free course valued at £50 to get a feel for the process before enrolling on one of the CPD courses. Other courses can be priced similarly to £899, or £90 monthly. 

5. NESTA

NESTA provides nutrition courses that qualify you as a Fitness Nutrition Coach or a Sports Nutrition Coach and you can opt to pursue them both if you like. 

They recommend their courses for a variety of fitness professionals, personal trainer, coaches and even registered dietitians to broaden their knowledge and improve their coaching skills. On the course you will acquire in-depth knowledge of nutrition, client behaviors about nutrition, and various business and career options after you qualified. The courses are self-paced and 100% online.

You will have all the tools available to learn proven techniques for helping clients to increase energy, improve their health and decrease dependence on medications. You will also be able to learn how to start your own business from home with the information provided

The Fitness Nutrition Coach qualification is priced at $297, you can become a Sports Nutrition Specialist for $347 or access them both when you buy at the same time for a $449 special offer.

Read more about their students' success stories HERE.

6. ISSA Fitness Nutrition Course ​

The ISSA nutrition course is a self-paced online course designed for health and fitness professionals to teach them the foundations of nutrition and how it can effect exercise and viceversa.

Upon completion you will have the knowledge, credentials to confidently educate your clients, help and inspire them to apply a healthier approach to their diet or advise them methods to optimise their food intake to aid their fitness goals.

Enrollment costs $1199 for an instructor lead course, and $799 for self study.

You are able to study on your time, and the course can take up to 6 months to complete. However, most students finish in 8-10 weeks. You will receive regular material updates as well as ongoing support and access to a student forum.