Best Personal Trainer Certification Course in Dublin
By Sean McGarrity · 29 April 2026
Comparing Irelands Top Personal Trainer Courses
So you’re thinkin about becoming a personal trainer, yeah?
You’re not alone either.
Seems like loads of folk are starting to question the whole 9-5 buzz and wondering if there’s something more out there. And for a lot of people, that “something more” starts with finding the right course.
Here’s a mad one for ye?
One of the biggest search terms on the Google machine right now is This one….
“What’s The Best Personal Trainer Course in Dublin”
And I think I know why….
A lot of peeps seem to be re-evaluating what’s really important to them lately. As this “WTAF am I doing here?” question seems to rattle around in their skull.
Or the whole “Is this really how I'm going to spend the rest of my days in this office doing this shyte?” hits them.
And a smack in the face of how deadend that road really is and how crap it made them feel appears in a kind of epiphany.
It’s at this point they recognise something else has been calling them.
It’s been kinda nagging at them for a while like, in the back of their head for ages anyway, like this here;
“I love training, I love the gym, I see doods doing this and making great careers, I know it’s possible, I followed money and became unhappy. What if I followed something that meant stuff to me. What would that look like? I don’t even need to be mega successful but having a real purpose is something I wanna explore?”
Ye know?
And so it begins.
The search for the course that’s gonna bridge that gap and give you what you need to pursue this passion project.
BUT, and this is a big but:
Not All PT Courses are Created Equal
Not all courses are the same.
Yes I say this even though a lot of them are the exact same certification standard. What you may not know is that they can vary greatly in the substance within those courses, and what kind of trainer you will come out as, at the end.
So you must tread wisely and do proper research on how to become a personal trainer.
Being surprisingly unbiased (and sound) I’ve done a lot of it for you so as to lay it all out plain and simple so you can make the best choice when choosing a course in 2026.
Onwards….
Comparing Ireland's Top Personal Training Courses
So I Googled it and here’s what came back in order;
Origym
A relatively new entrant onto the market that come’s out of the UK and is bought as a franchise so people resell it as far as I can see.
It’s fully online with an exam at the end.
It’s a no frills straight off the shelf Active IQ qualification that includes gym instructor and PT in one combo or if you wish you can study the Fitness instructor part separately.
The whole fitness instructor thing in my humble (but correct) experience is only good if you’re maybe younger and want to gain experience working in a gym on minimum wage so that later you can qualify as a PT and move on in your career.
I’d recommend everyone do full PT, cause there’s just so much more benefits to having that level of knowledge.
I’ve seen the entire active IQ syllabus and been through this course myself.
And I have experience of the material.
Firstly it covers a wide array of the basics in exercise science and a good overview of personal training, you’ve got nutrition in there too which comes in handy and that’s the section I enjoyed most in it.
I’d recommend this to someone who already knows what they’re at. Purely because it’s very wide base of knowledge and therefore doesn’t go into the specifics of any one area with the depth someone would need if they’re brand new shampoo to the whole gig.
If you just want to tick the box and get a cert, or if you’re on a strict budget and money is making decisions for you right now that you can fix later.
If that’s your gig there you go.
From the website you're looking at about 1,899 squids.
The fitness instructor on its own is even cheaper at about 600 odds.
UNI LEARNING
A very recent entry from a company which used to do in person training courses but switched to doing fully online courses. Take from that what you will.
This is again as hands off as you can get.
Watch videos. Do some online quizzes. And then book an assessment.
This is the cheapest course I have ever seen in my life. It’s about 850 squids. So it’s going for the cheap and cheerful route here.
There’s absolutely no frills in this one, very like Origym I reviewed above, it is basic and covers a wide lens of what to expect.
In fact if I were to guess, you are going to get the exact same thing nearly word for word as the certification standard and the companies they use to get the course from are practically the same.
If you want to pay money and get a cert in the post?
And have 6 months to access the material? Then there you go.
However (and I must channel my inner stoic here in saying this) If you’re the cheapest?? You also cannot be the BEST.
So if we’re looking for the best personal trainer course in Dublin the search goes on and we need to bypass these two for obvious reasons.
Ger Conroy
So I looked on the website and im hit with the line
“Turn your fitness passion into your dream job”
Now where have I heard that before?? Seems familiar somehow? 🙂 Imitation is the best form of flattery I suppose.
Any-a-ways
So it’s an ITEC cert that he’s reselling and delivering in his gym.
One thing I cant fault him on though is he has a gym. Great point when delivering education is that you actually do what you say you do. So I love tha straight away.
I’ve never had the pleasure of meeting Ger in person but I know he knows how to run a gym and he can pass on good knowledge.
Being ITEC he’s delivering the same info as all the other guys who deliver ITEC.
You can find a load of these being delivered all over the place and at hugely varying prices too so do your research.
Back to the course.
Lets talk the investment;
2750 Yoyo’s from the website and they’ve payment plans and the lot. And I see he does a deal to pay in full with a nice wee discount.
There’s the offer of a free brochure which will outline the ITEC syllabus if it interests you.
Again the syllabus is a great basic level of knowledge across the range of units covered on 1-2-1 personal training and fitness instructing with nutrition very similar to the Active IQ as it’s an off the shelf course that covers the REPS Ireland and UK basic standards for personal training qualification on the framework of education.
Cool thing about here though I wanna touch on is the fact that you will get in a gym and do some coaching here which is a MASSIVE benefit. Especially considered over the first 2 budget options I discussed, where you don’t get any in-gym practical work.
Also you will get a guaranteed interview with this one
That’s a great addition getting experience in the gym after this would be exactly the next step to take.
Overall this is way better than any online thing you could compare it to as you get to actually do some in gym work which will stand to you in the long run.
Image Fitness
One look at the website and I can see it’s the ITEC syllabus again so were looking at the exact same syllabus and therefore course as above delivered by different tutors, in this case the Image fitness tutors
Don’t get me wrong a tutor can really bring a course to life and do it in their “flavour” if you like.
But when you’re stuck to delivering a syllabus that you’re examined and tested on? Well you have to do your job and deliver the material end of.
I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with that
That’s the job essentially.
What I am saying is; we see so many of these places using the exact same off the shelf syllabus then banging on about one being better than the other.
It’s kinda like buying a Honda off of a Honda dealer.
It’s the same car.
Just buy from the dood you like and want to deal with. That’s the craic here.
You don’t see the Honda dealer down the road saying his Hondas are better than the other doods Hondas. They just fight over price.
Which is what’s happening to these doods.
It’s a race to the bottom so I’d hold out and find the cheapest if that’s what you’re after.
Funny story this is exactly what I witnessed as a Honda dealer myself when targets had to be hit. Ye know.
Any-a-way’s back to the course;
The big sell from these guys page Is the night out afterwards #Afterparty.
Some big graduation do or whatever.
Now when I first reviewed this course which as I explained is exactly the same course content and syllabus as any other ITEC course (Like Ger Conroy’s for instance) It was 2200, now five years later they are bumping the price up closer to ours at 3000. And now calling it - Complete Coaching Course As I scratch my head I wonder where they got the idea to do that? Since this isn’t a coaching course, it’s an ITEC Personal Trainer course.
Especially since these guys don’t actually own a gym and do any coaching. Now before you think I’m attacking here, I’m not. I’m being real. Calling yourself something you’re not isn’t cool. Misleading marketing at best.
Same recommendation goes for this one as does the ITEC course reviewed above cause well, it’s the exact same course.
If I were choosing between this and Ger Conroy I'd go with Ger Conroy every single time cause he’s actually in the gym business and knows what coaches need to succeed.
Plus the way this misleads just doesn’t sit well with me.
ELITE ACADEMY
This is where it gets a little “spicy"
Simply because it’s the only one on the list that actually differs from these more generalist courses.
This is the Elite Coaching Course.
It wasn’t designed just to hit the minimum standards needed for accreditation like the rest.
And it isn’t an off-the-shelf course either.
This course was written with a completely different experience, intent, and outcome in mind.
Jason Kane, the Education Director, is the architect behind it—built from 16 years working with clients ranging from 30-somethings who want to look better naked… all the way to Kellie Harrington, who he coached to 2 Olympic gold medals in boxing and who is now coaching to her third olympics representing Ireland.
The Difference Between a Trainer and a Real Coach
So yeah, this course goes well beyond your typical “personal training” course.
What that means is:
- You still cover everything required on a basic personal training qualification
- Then you go inch-wide, mile-deep into actual coaching
You get full immersion in a system developed in a real gym to reflect what today’s trainers need to know to get results that clients will actually pay for.
It’s a complete, client-tested, results-proven system.
And for 2026, it’s been completely rewritten to include:
- The Elite Proven Process
- Our 3-phase nutrition strategy
- Behavioural change psychology
And loads more
The education has even won Best in Fitness Education at the Irish Fitness Industry Awards.
No surprise really—with input from some of the top educators and coaches in the world like Dan John, Mike Robertson, Tony Gentilcore, Perry Nickelston, Juggernaut Training Systems, and Christian Thibaudeau.
If you’re looking to specialise in the practical application of coaching—not just learn theoretical info—this might be for you.
You’ll get more time on the gym floor, coaching real people, getting real-time feedback from master coaches who do this every day.
You’ll be pushed out of your comfort zone. And you’ll grow. Fast.
But here’s the truth—it’s heavy duty.
It’s not easy to pass. The standard is high. It has to be, given the level of detail and ability required to coach at this level.
It’s not Hell Week, don’t worry, but you will need to come in with the intent to learn the Elite Coaching System fully… then live it… and eventually lead it.
Because that’s the goal: to redefine the future of the fitness industry by producing coaches who actually empower people.
If you value education over just getting a certificate, this is your course.
INVESTMENT: €3497
Payment plans are available, but only for successful applicants.
And yeah, that’s another thing:
You can’t just throw money at this course and be in.
You have to apply, be accepted, and pass an interview.
This isn’t information that gets handed to just anyone.
It’s for someone who knows there’s more to being a coach than having a wee piece of paper with your name on it.
Because being a real coach means being certain.
Certain in every aspect of working with people.
And the only way to get there? Experience.
Real coaching. On a gym floor. Taught by coaches who do it for a living, not lecturers working off an outdated syllabus that still has people dancing around steps in low-fat luminous lycra.
Also worth thinking about:
You can’t become a confident coach by watching videos. That’s like saying you could learn to swim by reading a book.
You could try it. But if someone pushed you in the deep end? You’d drown.
Same in coaching.
Confidence doesn’t come from theory. It comes from doing the thing, and having support from people who know how to make you better every day.
That experience is what Elite offers.
You can learn a whole lot more by downloading the course brochure
Anyway, now you’ve got the lowdown… you’ll do what’s right for you.
