Greetings, everyone. I hope you are enjoying your fast-closing window summer. I just got back from an awesome week of hiking in Aspen and taxing my cardio system. Even now that I’m back down at sea level, my head is still in the clouds due to my incredible excitement about the Primal Blueprint Expert Certification. The response to our August 27th launch has been amazing. We quickly passed the 100 person registration mark last week, and have been inundated with tons of questions. Hence, I’m taking this post to answer some of the most common questions that have come through, so that all of us can understand what this new direction is all about. That’s right, the “Cert” kicks off a new direction, one that I think the movement must head in. While I’m happy to be a thought leader for Primal living, I realize that in order to continue making headway against conventional wisdom and unhealthy modern society, we need multiples more impassioned experts to spread the word.
Getting certified is about empowerment and self-improvement so that you can make a difference in the world. For a trainer or life coach, it’s an obvious enhancement to your professional offering. But interestingly, a fair portion of our early registrants are simply primal enthusiasts who want to take their education and their commitment to the next level. Let’s review some questions and of course, feel free to contact us if with further questions or clarifications. I’ll carefully monitor the comments of this post to provide quick answers, and also we are ready and waiting on email, live chat and phone lines (888-774-6259 or 310-317-4414 for international).
Can I participate in this program outside of the USA?
A ton of people have asked this, and the answer is a huge YES! In fact, we’ve had students already register from Australia in droves, more from all over Europe, and even Pakistan, Mexico, South Africa, Brazil, Hong Kong are represented in our student roster. Everything is online for your access anywhere on the globe (well, anywhere with an Internet connection!), and we’ll even ship your graduation kit of goodies internationally. The cert program is perfect for folks living abroad who might not be able to pop into a PrimalCon weekend, a Paleo f(x), Ancestral Health Symposium, or other grand USA event very easily.
I am a newly ACE (American Council on Exercise) certified personal trainer from IL/MO. I have two specific questions. According to scope of practice for ACE certified personal trainers, I am only able to provide nutritional information to clients that follow USDA guidelines. Would this certification allow me to expand my ability to provide nutritional advice based upon Primal Blueprint principles? Also, is this certification able to be counted as continuing education for major personal training certification institutions (like ACE)? Thank you for all you do!
Seth
The program seems great! The Paleo lifestyle is truly one to be sought and practiced. My biggest concern is completing a program that is accredited or approved by an accredited school. Do you think this status is as meaningful today as it has been in years past? Thanks for your input!
Sarah
Hi, Sarah and Seth. Seth, don’t get me started on ACE! Okay, you got me started on ACE… I’m pleased to take this public opportunity to inform everyone that ACE quickly and unequivocally denied our application for CEU credits with just a perfunctory review of our massive educational content. Denial was on the grounds of—horrors—our dietary advice conflicted with USDA recommendations. I’m glad we invested our $500 non-refundable application fee to learn that! I also wonder if the folks at ACE caught the national headline story, first published in the NY Times last week, that eating fat is good for you and can help you lose weight.
We are in the application process and very likely to get CEU accreditation from NASM, the National Academy of Sports Medicine. They are a leading provider of certification for personal trainers. Details forthcoming on that end.
However, my priority for the cert program, and all of our future educational offerings, is that we create our own Primal/paleo certification body. Here, Primal Blueprint Certified Experts will sit atop their very own mountain without apology or watering down to adhere to some other professional association’s guidelines. Hopefully someday our Certified Experts might develop their own programming and apply for Primal Blueprint Certified Expert CEU credits! But rest assured, even as our educational offerings grow, we will never revoke your Certified Expert status or require an annual fee at some future date.
All this said, I realize that trainers and other licensed professionals are compelled to obtain CEUs each year, and that budget concerns make it important for educational investments to qualify toward CEU requirements. Particularly with international students, we are happy to apply on your behalf for CEU credits with certain favored institutions if the certification bodies seem reasonable and respectful of the Primal Blueprint philosophy. We are already doing so in Australia thanks to prompting from students there. We look forward to hearing from students and potential students about which governing bodies are the most valued for CEU accreditation.
I lost 50 pounds two years ago and live the 90/10 rule now. I’m coaching others to their own wellness journey too, and I host wellness workshops all over SF. I do these efforts for free, and am still waitressing and have two kids. Are there any scholarships available for the new certification course?
K.J.
Hi, K.J. I very much like how you customized the percentage rule to your own specs! It’s the 90/10 rule for K.J.! As I’ve mentioned previously, I get a little miffed when people misinterpret the spirit of my 80 percent rule by using it as an excuse for a wavering commitment. Just reading your brief letter, I can tell that you’ve done a couple of my favorite things: transformed your health and your body by living Primally; and taken responsibility for your behavior and your circumstances with your honest evaluation of a current 90/10 Primal alignment! I hereby challenge others to take their 80/20 and raise it up to 90/10 like KJ!
Back to your question, we offer discounts to full-time students who provide verification, and we offer payment plans to make course registration friendly to your budget. If you would like to discuss your personal situation and budgetary concerns with us further, please call or email and we’ll do everything we can to help you.
Assuming one passes the course and goes on to implement the material in a business, is there a follow-up or support network that can be tapped in the future if any clients ask questions which we’re incapable of answering? Thanks!
Alison
Hi Alison, that’s a great question. We have so many grand ambitions for our educational programming that I’m restraining myself from spewing them forth right now until they actually come to life. Honestly, the entire team has been really focused on simply executing a successful launch of this ambitious program. We indeed are in development with a number of support programs for Certified Experts. For the immediate needs of you and other certified experts, please email or call us at 888-774-6259 and we’ll provide a quick answer for anything you are stumped on. Actually, I love doing this and so does my staff!
Hi, I was wondering if the Primal Expert Cert covered exercise programming? Does it cover just principles or will it show you how to implement programs for clients? Thank you.
Jason
Jason, the answer to your question is “does it ever!” Readers of the Primal Blueprint 21-Day Total Body Transformation Program book understand that Key Concepts #7 and #8 relate to exercise philosophy—why exercise doesn’t really correlate with fat reduction and why it’s so important for fitness, health, and anti-aging benefits to conduct brief, intense workouts with a proper balance of stress and rest. Action Item #4 details practical application of workouts and programming for moving frequently, lifting heavy things and sprinting.
The fun thing about the cert was being able to pick up where The Primal Blueprint and the 21-Day Transformation books left off. After you receive a detailed education on the principles and philosophy of Primal Blueprint Fitness in the Key Concepts section, Action Item #4 in the cert (aka Module #12) covers actual workouts and exercises. There are details about correct technique for sprinting and cycling, how to properly warm up and dynamic stretch, how to design a workout with numerous specific step-by-step examples for fitness enthusiasts of all levels in a variety of activities (full impact, low-impact, and no-impact), and much more. I just checked and Module #12 alone contains about 9,000 words of content. It’s robust and tightly focused. You’ll emerge full of ideas for you and your clients.
Hi, I would LOVE to do the certification and have been waiting for its release date for months! I just had a couple of questions: I would like to choose the 4 monthly payment plan option for registration. Will I still get immediate access to all the content? I live in the UK and need to select a shipping method. What is the shipping method for? Is it for the binder, books etc? I look forward to starting the course! Thank you for your time.
Regards,
Vanessa
Vanessa, you get immediate access to all course materials as soon as you register, even if you select the four-month payment plan. We’ll choose the best shipping method for your the materials kit you receive at graduation and cover the cost as part of your registration, even if you are international. The “Choose Shipping Method” you see is just a default field in our shopping cart. You can ignore it for your cert registration. Shipping is free when you order the cert product. We give our customers shipping options for other products. Of course, you will have to finish your monthly payments to receive your completion kit, even if you finish the course inside four months.
I noticed in one of the FAQs you wrote that early students reported taking between 25 and 50 hours to complete the course. That’s a pretty broad range and I’m just curious as to how long you think the course might take. I’m pretty well Primally-read and a decent student overall. Thanks.
Stu
Tough question. Thank you, Stu! There is a lot of material to cover in the course and the exams are rigorous. It’s conceivable that a real all-star could breeze through the material, succeed on the tests and be done with the coursework in less than 20 hours. A more deliberate student or one who is less informed and comfortable with Primal principles starting the course could easily exceed 60 hours all told by the time the final test is passed. We’ve already seen some students rush a bit too quickly through exams, receive a below-passing grade, and have to engage in back and forth short answer with our staff in order to advance through the modules.
I also want to remind you that the Primal Blueprint Expert Certification is not just an online course with exams. It’s a complete program with a robust library of multimedia educational materials for you to enjoy. On the multimedia educational materials download portal, we have 15 hours of audio books, 4 hours of video presentations, and five more PDF books to read. These hours of content is not even counting the 13-module online course and examination material.
Take your time and enjoy the course! There is no rush to pass in haste and potentially compromise your educational enjoyment. I’m telling the same thing to my son Kyle in college, even as I—gulp—swallow these tuition invoices. He’s a goal-directed kid moving at a good clip through his coursework, but it’s important to remind students that they have the rest of their lives to work, and only a brief opportunity to enjoy all that university study and college life has to offer.
I am interested in the PB Certification program, just can’t start it before I finish my post-diploma studies in Nutrition and Diet here in Warsaw, Poland. Would the option be still open in Feb/March 2015?
Sincerely,
Radoslaw
Radoslaw, glad to connect with a Primal enthusiast in Poland! Yes, we will be here for you when you are ready. February 2015 will be here before you know it so good luck with your other endeavors in the meanwhile.
I am interested in your certification program. I live in Europe – is there any considerations or different terms to your offer for candidates outside of the USA?
Robin
How does the course differ for overseas students?
Donna
Hi, Robin. Hi, Donna. (Told ya we get a ton of inquiries from international folks! Although I gotta say, “Donna” and “Robin” sound kinda Californian to me…). A special term we have for participants outside the USA is that you are awesome! We are so gratified at the fantastic international response to the program. We’ve already had our first request for an international materials kit shipment from a speedy graduate. Oh, one thing: We offer USA graduates an option to select a few extra books for their materials kit to give to clients, but international shipments are limited to one of each book from the list. If you want more books, we’ll happily ship them to you for a small fee that helps to partially cover the added cost of shipping.
Hey, I live in Denmark and want to take the “Cert program”. Will I be able to sell Primal Blueprint supplements from my country?
Jesper
Hi Jesper, part of the Certified Expert benefits package is wholesale pricing on all Primal Blueprint products, including our nutritional supplements. We’ll ship you whatever products you like, but minimum quantities apply to wholesale products orders, as do international shipping rates. Furthermore, you may have some import restrictions in your specific country when it comes to importing and selling quantities of consumable products. Check with authorities on your end.
Hi, I am very interested in getting certified. Are there any additional fees/extra fees for taking the exams? Or are the examination fees included in the price?
Looking forward hearing from you.
Claudia
Hi Claudia, this is a comprehensive program where your registration includes the coursework, the exams, the multimedia educational materials, and your Certified Expert completion kit shipment.
I have not yet purchased any materials through your site, however, I’m hooked on the blog (a recent discovery!), and the certification training piqued my interest immediately. Is purchasing other pre-existing reading material necessary to complete or make the most of this course? Would you say the majority of the insight and details found in your other published books is also found in the course (or are any of the books included in the course offerings)?
Erin
Erin, great question! Look, you are starting with a clean slate so it’s a no-brainer to register for the certification program, as you receive five of my books (The Primal Blueprint, 21-Day Transformation, The Primal Connection, The Primal Blueprint Cookbook, and Quick & Easy Meals), three audio books, two video presentations, and the online course material, which goes into much more detail than the books do on the Primal Blueprint philosophy and the practical application of Primal principles to transform you or your clients’ health.
I really want to do this, but it is really really expensive.
Kathryn
Hi, Kathryn. Thanks for being direct! As a businessman, I am constantly wrestling with the dilemma of producing the absolute highest quality products with producing affordable products that people will buy. With so much free information available on the Internet these days (where everyone is an expert, eh?), I decided—three years ago now—that the Primal/paleo/evolutionary health movement needed a proper certification program for the most passionate enthusiasts. I envisioned a program that was detailed, scientifically validated, but also easy to understand and complete for non-scientific types. I believe this course represents the best opportunity to become an expert in our realm of diet, exercise, and healthy living, and a fantastic opportunity to invest in yourself, your health, and your future. I spent a lot of effort carefully conveying my thoughts on this matter in the program information page’s “Message From Mark”.
Back to your budget concerns, I just made a special exemption for an impassioned student who wanted to extend out even beyond the four-month schedule to an eight month schedule of paying a hundred bucks a month toward registration. I can’t bear to turn any potential student away who is interested and willing to make the commitment to the program, but part of that commitment is a financial investment on your end. This shows you’re serious and perhaps in some cases willing to make sacrifices elsewhere in your disposable income behavior. I encourage you to email or call us at 888-774-6259 directly to discuss your budget concerns.
Hi Mark! I am very interested in Primal Certification. I have been Primal for almost 2 years and it has transformed my life. The most obvious benefits were health-related in the beginning, but I am continually amazed by its cascade effect and how it has provoked change in countless other areas of my life. I feel that sharing this with others and encouraging them on their Primal journeys could be the next step for me and I am currently brainstorming about how I could make this a reality and what form this would take. If you have any thoughts or ideas, I would greatly appreciate them. In the meantime, I will continue to consider taking the Primal Cert plunge. Many thanks for all you do…Grok on!
Kathryn
A “cascade effect”! That is really well said, Kathryn! Hey, another part of your note is interesting where you say, “continue to consider taking the Primal Cert plunge”. That’s cool. I’m a deliberate decision maker myself. And while I’ve spent a good amount of time during this post enthusiastically promoting the program, the best time to register is when the time is right for you. I certainly hope you have all the information you need to make an informed decision, and we will be here ready for you when you are ready to take the plunge!
I’m really interested. The problem is that I feel I have the education already. This cert would challenge me and I’m sure that it would be very credible. Thank you for keeping me the emails. I just don’t know if it would be very recognized. I still need to weigh the pros and cons.
Thank you much, still on the fence,
Nick
Hey, another “fence-post”? Ha! We’ve heard several similar comments from really devoted Primal enthusiasts. One quote that really stuck with me was when our PrimalCon leader and early cert graduate Chris Adams said, “I’ve been deep into the paleo/primal lifestyle for several years, but studying the course material has me excited to make even more changes and tweaks that strengthen my commitment to primal living.”
Now, Chris is a very sharp guy. He’s been to eight consecutive PrimalCons. He’s a highly trained firefighter and EMT by profession in Arizona, and he’s a fitness freak who can run a 64-second 400-meter time despite carrying 222 pounds of solid muscle. When I first met Chris, his face was flushed—not from him being excited to finally meet Mark the Daily Apple guy in person—but because he had just returned to an upright position after effortlessly rattling off a bunch of handstand pushups against a palm tree at PrimalCon I back in 2010.
I was like, “Wow, who’s this dude?” Anyway, the guy knows his stuff and walks his talk! In fact, Chris knows his stuff so well that he (and his partner, the equally amazing Tina Leaman, trapeze artist/voice-over actress/massage therapist/PrimalCon staff queen) made some outstanding contributions to broaden the scope of certain elements of the online course and refine numerous test questions to strike a great balance between challenging and fair. Anyway Nick, maybe you should talk to Chris and Tina as you weigh the pros and cons. Contact us and we’ll put you in touch with him.
Hi Mark, as a chiropractor, we require continuing education credits to maintain our license. Approximately how many hours are estimated to complete the program? Is a syllabus available for me to send to our association outlining the content? Also, as a professional speaker I am always looking for new audiences. Once certified, is there a pool of potential audiences or referral network within the Sisson Primal world? Looking forward to the program.
Thanks,
Doug
Hi, Doug. I would absolutely love to make some headway into the world of chiropractic. As a group, chiropractors’ commitment to continuing education and to exploring new information and treatment modalities, seems to be unparalleled. Contact us directly if you would like some engagement with your association regarding CEU accreditation. As detailed in the program overview page, we welcome those interested in public speaking to align with us to schedule and deliver the Primal Blueprint Transformation Seminar in your area. There’s a great opportunity here, but of course you have to be a go-getter. No one has gone out and got quite as successfully as our very first certified expert, Mike DiLandro. Check out what he’s done with his Primal Transformation seminar and other promotional efforts at PaleoMikeD.com.
Hi, I am very interested in doing this course. Could you tell me:
1. Approximately how long each module takes?
2. Is there a start date and finish date?
3. Can I download the module content onto my iPad so it is transportable?
Thank you and Regards,
Patrice
Hi, Patrice. The modules take around 2-5 hours each, assuming you pass the first exam. See my earlier, more detailed answer about time estimates.
The start date and finish date is entirely up to you. It’s a self-paced program. The online course material has a bookmark feature so you can pickup where you left off each time you exit and re-enter the course.
The online course modules require an Internet connection. However you can download each of the multimedia educational materials (eBooks, audio books, and video instruction) and have unlimited access to them, even offline. Of course you can also stream these materials online.
Hello, I’m interested in the expert program but I’m unsure if it could meet my goals. I’m a psychotherapist and I’m currently working to add life coaching to my practice. I’m interested in this particular certification because I want to be able to coach individuals (maybe do seminars) in the primal lifestyle without getting sued. I’m not about to become a nutritionist as I’m more committed to the therapy/coaching world.
Does this certification in any way help a person to be able to become a health coach in the primal blueprint paradigm?
Thank you,
David
Hi, David. Sounds like an exciting ambition to blend your psychotherapy practice with life and nutrition coaching. While I cannot dispense legal advice to you about “not getting sued”, I will offer the educated guess that when you are practicing psychotherapy, you are adhering to certain guidelines and have certain protections. When you are giving a lecture about nutrition, you are outside the scope of a formal session with a patient in the framework of your professional license to practice psychotherapy. Dr. Alessandra Wall, a psychotherapist and CrossFit instructor in San Diego, presents at PrimalCon under such circumstances.
The cert sounds like an excellent fit for you, as there is clearly significant crossover between general lifestyle practices and psychological health. In fact, the final module of the online course, Module 13 – Slow Life Down, goes into extensive detail about stress management, work/life balance, and other matters related to overall well-being. It’s so important to the course, and the overall success of Primal Blueprint living, that it’s around twice as long as the average module. You will really enjoy it. Thanks for your question and good luck with your ambitions.
Well, thanks for reading everyone. I look forward to your comments! Current students, chime and tell your friends about your experience to date. And remember to visit the Certification course information page for a complete description of the components and benefits of participating in the program.