Regulating Personal Trainers

I've been personal training for 12 years and have never up until now thought about the need for regulation in my industry. I now see why it is a big deal for regulation in my industry. The first reason is due to safety. Anyone can call themselves a personal trainer whether it is someone who is certified to the gym rat who trains 1-2 clients because he or she "looks" in shape and seem to know what they are doing. Also, take into consideration the "trainers" who gave or sold steroids to professional athletes. With the congressional hearings and negative press about personal training over the past 2 years, Congress and some states are trying to regulate our industry. I do agree with regulation for safety and having the actual words "personal trainer" upheld as a legal term like the word dietician. With all the continued education and opportunities to learn new concepts and training modalities, a trainer should know what they are doing when training a client. As a trainer, you should always be looking at and reading on the latest information in exercise science, biomechanics, anatomy, kinesiology, etc to really perfect your craft. Regardless, if you have a degree in any of the aforementioned fields or not, you still have to continously learn and understand as much as you can about the body.