You may be interested in becoming an ACSM Certified Health Fitness Specialist whether you're already a personal trainer who's ready to ramp up your career, or if you're simply interested in beginning a career in the field of exercise science. Also known as an advanced personal trainer certification, this career path will enable you to work with special populations whose bodies would benefit from regular exercise. Getting acquainted with the certification process will help you decide whether aiming for certification is the logical next step.
Scope of Practice
An ACSM Certified Health Fitness Specialist is responsible for recommending appropriate exercises for healthy adults and people with controlled conditions such as high blood pressure. He is also responsible for screening clients for potential risk factors, assessing clients' physical fitness levels, interpreting results of assessments and motivating clients to consistently make healthy lifestyle choices, according to the American College of Sports Medicine. A health fitness specialist may work in a school, corporate, medical, community or commercial setting.
Minimum Requirements
You qualify to sit for the ACSM Certified Health Fitness Specialist exam if you have an associate's or bachelor's degree in a field that is health-related and you have adult CPR certification from an institution such as the American Red Cross or American Heart Association. Starting July 1, 2011, an ACSM Certified Health Fitness Specialist must have a bachelor's degree in an exercise-related field such as kinesiology or exercise science as well as having current adult CPR certification.
Certification Exam
The certification exam is computer-based and contains 125 to 150 multiple-choice questions distributed across multiple content areas. About one-third of the exam focuses on creating exercise prescriptions and programming, another 23 percent covers exercise physiology and any related exercise science, and 12 percent focuses on assessing clients' health and conducting fitness exercise tests, according to testing company Pearson VUE. The rest of the exam questions are distributed among topics such as injury prevention, nutrition and weight management, and human behavior.
Making a Decision
If you're still trying to decide whether you want to get into the field of exercise science, ask yourself a series of questions about your life goals. For example, write down where you would like to be in five years, how much school you're willing to commit to, how much schooling you can afford and how committed you are to promoting others' health. You will get a better sense of the career path if you talk to people who work in the field. Volunteer in an exercise-science setting or ask a guidance counselor to arrange a chance for you to spend time with professionals in the field, according to the American College of Sports Medicine.
Member Comments