Fitness course endorsed by Steve 'Commando' Willis under fire.

When he isn’t training Biggest Loser contestants in his signature military style, personal trainer Steve ‘Commando’ Willis is an ambassador for the Sage Institute of Fitness.

In the media he has confidently endorsed their diploma as ‘the best qualification for training and coaching I’ve found’, and as a program ‘designed by the industry, for the industry’. On their website, he also appears in an advertisement that claims, ‘with the Sage Institute of Fitness diploma, you won’t just be an everyday PT’.

But according to a report today in the Sydney Morning Herald, this credential may not allow graduates to pursue a career as a PT at all because most players in the fitness industry do not accept the diploma as a stand-alone credential for personal training.

Dropped by @sageeducation Sydney Campus today to see how everyone is tracking. Thank you everyone for making me feel welcome. #sageeducation #commandosteve #getcommandofit #therearenoexcuses

A photo posted by Commando Steve (@commandosteve) on Oct 14, 2015 at 10:08pm PDT

To be clear, that’s an annual cost of $18,750, for a course that likely does not qualify you for a career in the fitness industry, let alone one that looks anything like Commando‘s.

The course has been criticised for not providing their students with basic equipment, training material and facilities. Graduates are allegedly outraged after learning that the nutrition qualification offered by the institute enables them to work only in canteens, hospital kitchens, nursing homes, or as an assistant to a dietician. Likewise, Fitness First does not accept the Diploma of Fitness Coaching as a sufficient qualification to work as a personal trainer.

The body in charge of monitoring private colleges, the Australia Skills and Quality Authority, has issued a warning to the Sage Institute of Fitness, and plans to cancel the accreditation of the fitness coaching course this year, as it no longer complies with industry standards.