BOSTON -- A fitness Web site gave a Boston woman who knew little about fitness a personal training certificate after she paid a fee and took an online test.

NewsCenter 5's Rhondella Richardson reported Sunday that Meghan Cronin, a NewsCenter 5 video librarian, took a two-hour online test with American Muscle and Fitness to see if she could make the cut as a certified personal trainer.

"It was a 20-question, multiple-choice, open-book test," Cronin said. "I'm not in terrible shape, but I'm not completely fitness-minded, either."

Cronin scored an A-minus and had her personal trainer certification in hand within a week.

"It's horrifying. It's horrifying to me as a trainer and as a professional who follows a code of ethics. It's just something that shouldn't be happening, and I'm afraid for the general public's safety," certified personal trainer Josie Gardiner said.

Gardiner has been a personal trainer at the Boston Athletic Club for 18 years.

"Would you go to a dentist that took a one- or two-hour course on a computer? No," Gardiner said.

The American Council on Exercise named Gardiner Instructor of the Year in 2005.

"My name is now on their Web site, with my e-mail address as a personal trainer in Massachusetts," Cronin said. "I don't know what muscle it is to lift over my head."

The online test bordered on ridiculous. One question said, "Clients want to be (blank) during a training session? The answer choices were: abused, badmouthed, listened to or cursed at."

"It pretty was obvious what that answer was for that one," Cronin said.

The American Muscle and Fitness Web site asks applicants to pay $69.95, but the site does not ask applicants anything about their personal training experience, or if they exercise.

"I don't know how to lift weights. I don't know anything," Cronin said.

"Not only does the trainer not have proper credentials, but they probably they have no liability insurance, either. So when you get hurt with that trainer, you probably have no recourse," Gardiner said.

There are only five personal training associations currently accredited by the National Commission for Certifying Agencies. They are the American Council on Exercise, National Council on Strength and Fitness, National Strength and Conditioning Association, National Academy of Sports Medicine and the National Federation of Personal Trainers. American Muscle and Fitness is not one of them.

Boston Athletic Club General Manager Patti Daly explained her club's hiring policies.

"We review their resumes first. We look at their references. We look at their past experiences. This would not be acceptable. I don't recognize the initials of the certification, which would lead me to question the validity of it," Daly said.

NewsCenter tried to call American Muscle and Fitness to find out how the company could give a certificate to someone with no experience and no real interest in fitness, and the company never called back.

American Muscle and Fitness is one of more than 70 Web sites that offer fitness-related certifications.