BOSTON, MA—February 18, 2022—IHRSA, the Global Health & Fitness Association, is delighted to share that the International Confederation of Registers for Exercise Professionals (ICREPs), an IHRSA global association partner, is launching a new global accreditation program for fitness education providers. IHRSA currently has a memorandum of understanding with ICREPs and recognizes the membership-based organization as the global partner representing national registration bodies of exercise professionals.
“IHRSA welcomes this new initiative from ICREPs to increase the recognition and credibility of fitness professionals globally,” said IHRSA President & CEO Liz Clark. “Fitness training accreditation is invaluable to the industry and ensures that health club members and consumers are receiving the best possible care and programming. This new service also further enhances our overall goal of having health clubs designated essential, as it shows that the industry has professional, accredited fitness staff in clubs worldwide.”
New Accreditation Program Provides Portability and Recognition for Fitness Professionals
ICREPs’ new service, the International Accreditation of Exercise Educators (IAEE), provides a way to recognize education providers operating in countries without a national registration system to have their graduates internationally recognized and portable to countries with national registers under ICREPs.
IAEE offers two options to exercise professionals:
Comprehensive: Enables portability of graduates through an official certificate of achievement.
Basic: While not providing portability, it maps and verifies standards being used against international benchmarks and acts as a promotable quality mark, especially in countries without universally-accepted national standards.
“Through IAEE, we are now able to recognize education providers in non-member countries while also providing a way to transition providers to an ICREPs national register when one forms,” said Amjad Khan, ICREPs Ltd board chair. “The key is ensuring that we continue to support our national registers while also allowing education providers in countries without one to be recognized.”
To deliver IAEE, ICREPs partnered with PD:Approval, which carries out accreditation of fitness education providers in multiple countries. Their skills in auditing and accreditation with ICREPs’ global standards provide a platform that exercise educators can use to offer their graduates professional recognition and a pathway to international portability.
For more information on the IAEE program, visit icreps.org/iaee.
About ICREPs
The International Confederation of Registers of Exercise Professionals (ICREPs) is an international partnership between registration bodies around the world that register exercise professionals.
ICREPs has three main functions:
To facilitate international portability/recognition for exercise professionals worldwide
To provide information and support to countries and regions that wish to develop registration systems for exercise professionals
To facilitate sharing of best practice systems between ICREPs members
ICREPs does not in itself operate a registration system – it supports countries to develop their own systems based on the unique needs of that country.
ICREPs is recognised by IHRSA, the Global Health & Fitness Association, as the global body representing national registration bodies of exercise professionals.
About IHRSA
IHRSA, the Global Health & Fitness Association, is a not-for-profit trade association representing the global fitness industry of over 200,000 health and fitness facilities and their suppliers. Founded in 1981, IHRSA maintains a leadership role in advancing physical activity, which is critical for peak health and to fight the battle against obesity and chronic lifestyle diseases.
As the world's leading authority on the commercial health and fitness club industry, IHRSA’s mission is to grow, promote, and protect the health and fitness industry, while providing its members with benefits and resources. IHRSA is the publisher of Club Business International, the leading monthly magazine for the global fitness industry. IHRSA's 41st International Convention & Trade Show will be hosted from June 22-24, 2022, in Miami Beach, FL. To learn more about obtaining a media pass, contact pr@ihrsa.org.
