Vanessa M. Kercher, Ph.D., SSC, M.Ed., ACSM-EP, BESS |
April
15, 2020
How to earn a certification that aligns well with your personal and professional goals.
You’ve made up your mind and you’re ready to get your first health and fitness professional certification, but how do you determine which one is best for you? For starters, you want to earn a certification that aligns well with your personal and professional goals. If you’re thinking like one of my students, you’re probably also wondering which one’s going to help you get a job?
In the latest issue of ACSM’s Health & Fitness Journal® (HFJ), Dr. Gallo provides valuable information related to the scope and role of four certifications within ACSM, which should be a good guide to help you make your final decision. Without going into too much detail, let’s cover a few main points.
The Four Core ACSM Certifications
ACSM-CPT
- Role: One-on-one training
- Clients: Healthy individuals and those who are medically cleared to exercise
- Proficiency: Customizing exercise programs to achieve specific health or fitness goals and meet the unique needs or ability of a client
ACSM-GEI
- Role: Lead quality group exercise sessions
- Clients: Healthy individuals and those who are medically cleared to exercise
- Proficiency: Motivating clients toward a common fitness goal and modifying exercises within a class to meet the unique needs or ability of a client
ACSM-EP
- Role: Conduct physical assessments and prescribe personalized exercise programs
- Clients: Medically controlled diseases and/or disabilities
- Proficiency: Conducting and interpreting exercise/risk assessments to develop exercise prescriptions and provide client education
ACSM-CEP
- Role: Provide prevention of disease and management of risk factors associated with disease to improve, maintain or attenuate declines in fitness and health
- Clients: Healthy and those with medically controlled diseases and/or disabilities
- Proficiency: Conducting and interpreting exercise/risk assessments to develop individualized exercise prescriptions and provide client education
The demand for more qualified health and fitness professionals to promote positive health behaviors to help with disease prevention and management continues to grow! Learn more about the qualifications, salaries, and job forecasts for each certification by reading Dr. Gallo’s HFJ article, A Health Fitness Professional, Group Exercise Instructor, and Clinical Exercise Physiologist Walk into a Fitness Facility. After you figure out which certification is right for you, commit to a test date to help you reach your goal!
"The demand for more qualified health and fitness professionals to promote positive health behaviors to help with disease prevention and management continues to grow!"
Take Aways
The increasing demand for more qualified health and fitness professionals to promote positive health behaviors to help with disease prevention and management continues to grow! Learn more about the qualifications, salaries and job forecasts for each certification by reading Dr. Gallo’s article, “A Health Fitness Professional, Group Exercise Instructor, and Clinical Exercise Physiologist Walk into a Fitness Facility” in the recent March/April issue of HFJ. After you figure out which certification is right for you, commit to a test date to help you reach your goal!
Article based on: Gallo, P. A Health Fitness Professional, Group Exercise Instructor, and Clinical Exercise Physiologist Walk into a Fitness Facility. ACSMs Health Fit J. 2020; 24 (2): 40-2
Author:
Vanessa M. Kercher, Ph.D., SSC, M.Ed., ACSM-EP, BESS, is a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Kinesiology Department for the School of Public Health at Indiana University. Dr. Kercher's research passion focuses on helping individuals optimize their physical activity experiences to promote sustainable, positive health behaviors. She serves as the digital editor of
ACSM’s Health & Fitness Journal®.
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