Passing the American Council on Exercise (ACE) certification test is essential for success as a personal fitness instructor. Yet 35 percent of those who attempt the exam fail on their first try. How do you tilt these odds in your favor and earn your credential on your initial attempt?
The best way to reach this goal is by using a high-quality ACE study guide like the one we provide here on our website. It covers the following topics:
- Conducting interviews and assessments.
- Designing and administering personal fitness programs.
- Monitoring, adjusting, and expanding those programs.
- Understanding human anatomy.
- Managing safety risks while conducting oneself as a professional.
- General facts regarding ACE certification.
Let’s take a look at these competencies and see why they’re included in the ACE exam.
Interviewing and Assessing Fitness Clients
A qualified fitness instructor must know how to properly interview and assess fitness clients. This requires the following skills:
- Open-ended questioning – – which encourages your clients to open up about their fitness goals, concerns, and questions.
- Understanding your clients’ current health – – including medication side effects, risks of chronic diseases, and input from their healthcare professional.
- Developing empathy for your clients – – which means understanding their needs, goals, concerns, and motivations regarding fitness and exercise.
Designing and Administering Personalized Fitness Programs
After the initial interview and assessment, the next step is to craft a personal fitness program for the client focused on the following goals:
- Understanding and eliminating bad habits that stand in the way of better health.
- Cultivating new, healthy habits that will last for a lifetime.
- Helping the client to develop healthy self-esteem.
- Knowing how to address common roadblocks in the quest to achieve lasting fitness.
Creating such a program requires the instructor to possess substantial knowledge of the following topics:
- Creating a healthy, balanced nutritional plan.
- Understanding the ways that exercise interacts with human physiology.
- Knowing the benefits and limitations of stretching, muscle building, and cardio exercises.
- Developing a suitable warm-up and cool-down routine.
Monitoring, Adjusting, and Expanding Fitness Programs
Most personalized fitness programs require tweaking as time goes on. An ACE certified instructor must understand this fact and know when it’s time to change course. This in turn requires the following knowledge and skills:
- Understanding the mental and cultural factors that make clients more or less likely to adhere to a fitness program.
- Knowing how to communicate with the client in a positive, motivational way.
- Knowing when to increase the workout’s intensity, either by adding more resistance, more reps, or both.
- Fostering rapport and trust with the client.
Understanding Human Anatomy
Knowing how the human body works is essential for understanding the benefits of exercise. That’s why our study guide includes anatomy charts, outlines of the muscular system, and other pertinent information. Both you and your clients will benefit from this information.
Managing Safety Risks While Conducting Oneself As a Professional
An ACE certified instructor must do everything possible to minimize the client’s risk of an exercise-related injury. This requires an in-depth understanding of the following topics:
- The ways that heat, cold, sunlight, and altitude can impact a person’s exercise performance.
- The importance of posture, pace, and range of motion during an exercise routine.
- Knowing when to terminate an exercise session – – including the warning signs of accident, exhaustion, and injury.
- Telling the difference between evidence-based data and unsupported conjecture — helpful for countering the disinformation found on the Internet and TV.
- Responding appropriately to clients who are angry, confused, discouraged, or upset.
General Facts Regarding ACE Certification
Passing the ACE certification test requires the applicant to know basic information about the exam, the sponsoring organization, and the personal training industry in general. This includes:
- A personal trainer’s typical work week – – how much of it will be spent training clients as opposed to keeping records, participating in ongoing education, etc.
- Career prospects for ACE certified personal trainers – – including salary expectations and job outlook.
- How the ACE exam is certified – – including some basic knowledge about the National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA), which accredits the test.
- The exam’s cost, deadlines, and retake policies – – which are likely to change over time.
The Right Study Guide Makes All the Difference to Your Test Scores
As you can see, the ACE exam is both comprehensive and challenging. The best way to ensure a successful score is to use our custom-designed study guide. It covers all the information listed above, plus:
- Topic-to-topic mapping to the actual test.
- Exhaustive summation of the official ACE textbook.
- Helpful tips for achieving the highest possible score on the exam.
99 percent of students who use our training materials pass the ACE test on their first try. So give yourself every advantage when it comes to taking the exam. Put our study guide to work for you, then look back with pride on the score you achieved.
