June 30, 2006

Dr. Sal Arria on the
National Board of Fitness Examiners (NBFE) - Show #45

Dr. Sal Arria is the President of the National Board of Fitness Examiners (NBFE) (www.nbfe.org).

Sal A. Arria, MSS, DC was the founder and director of the Santa Barbara Chiropractic and Sports Medicine Clinic from 1978 to 1996. It was one of the first sports medicine clinics in the United States to incorporate a fitness training center within the clinic.

During that time, Dr. Arria personally treated nearly 20,000 patients from all over the world and served as a team doctor for numerous state, national and world championship events. From 1980 to 1985 he served the US Track and Field team and was appointed as a team doctor for the 1984 Olympic Games.

For 10 years, Dr. Arria was an active member of the Sports Medicine committee for the US Powerlifting Federation and served as a team doctor for numerous national powerlifting championships and three USPF World Championships. His personal athletic achievements include winning the California State Powerlifting championships three times and was ranked in the top three in the USA in the 220-pound and 242-pound divisions.

Dr. Arria was also appointed as a Special Advisor to the California Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness and continues to consult many Olympic and professional athletes. He has appeared on numerous national radio and television shows including CBS, CNBC, ESPN and the Family Channel. He directed the American Institute of Health Education”s 1996 TELLY AWARD winning show The Five-Step Back Solution.

Dr. Arria was also the Fitness Program Designer for Kathy Ireland’s platinum award winning abdominal training video, ABSolutely Fit.

In 1988 Dr. Arria Co-Founded and has since served as the Executive Director of the International Sports Sciences Association (ISSA), the first organization to certify personal fitness trainers. Since that time, the ISSA has certified over 65,000 personal trainers worldwide.

In 2003, Dr. Arria was a founding member of the National Board of Fitness Examiners (NBFE), a not-for-profit organization that is responsible for defining scopes of practice, standards and national board examinations for personal fitness professionals.

In 2004, Dr. Arria was elected President of the NBFE by the Board of Trustees.

Dr. Sal answered the following questions:

Can you explain the differences between the NCCA and the National Board?

Can you explain the reason for a National Board or national standards?

What are your thoughts about states requiring personal trainers to become licensed?

What is your title or job at the NBFE?

There are rumors that you own NBFE. Can you explain that?

Some people have called the NBFE nothing more then a certification. Is this true?

Can you explain the purpose of the NBFE Registry?

I understand the NBFE will be offering a practical exam and over 100 people were nominated to help develop it. Why is the NBFE building a practical exam?