First, it’s based on real client data and our own coaching experience.

We’re not really a certification organization. We’re coaches. So this is coming from first-hand knowledge that we use ourselves every day.

This certification is based on real client results, and a reliable and reproducible system for monitoring and achieving those results. That’s what you learn when you become Precision Nutrition Certified.

Second, it’s designed specifically for people passionate about nutrition and fitness — including health and fitness professionals. Many of our students are coaches, therapists, physicians, dietitians, and nutritionists working with people who exercise.

That’s very important, because most nutrition courses suffer from at least one of two big problems.

Problem 1: They have little or nothing to do with exercising clients looking for health or body transformation.

Most credible nutrition education today is meant for people looking to become professors, researchers (people who work at universities), or clinical dietitians (people who work at hospitals). If you want to do any of that, you go to college, study for years and get a Ph.D. or an R.D. Both noble professions.

I got a Ph.D. in the field myself, so I’m not knocking it. And both Ryan Andrews and Brian St. Pierre, who co-wrote the textbook for the Precision Nutrition Certification, got their R.D.s and worked at prestigious hospitals and research institutes.

But neither of those roads teach you how to actually coach an exercising client through a health and body transformation. That’s a very specific skill set, requiring both an understanding of the science of nutrition and — this is critical — a reliable system for coaching it.

So unlike anything else out there right now, the Precision Nutrition Certification does both of those things. It was designed from the ground up, specifically for people who work with, or are looking to work with, clients.

Problem 2: Most nutrition certification programs are, well, kind of  a joke.

I just Googled “nutrition certification” and found thousands of results. Good God. The situation is bleak, my friends.

Of the non-university level nutrition certifications out there, I see plenty of garbage, quite frankly. Weekend seminars, no exams, no studying. Lots of rubber stamping.

Some are more challenging, I’m sure, and probably a few are even worth the money. I don’t know — I can’t look at the Google results for very long before getting depressed.

I think I would sum it up this way: If you’re here, reading this, you’ve probably followed us for some time and you probably think a lot like us. And so I suspect you will probably benefit more from the Precision Nutrition Certification than from any other non-university level nutrition education you’re likely to find.

That’s just my gut feeling, so take it for what it’s worth.

Source: The Precision Nutrition Level 1 Certification: Frequently Asked Questions. : Precision Nutrition