“Garrett, I’m too old to strength train.”

If I had a penny for every time I heard this statement, I’d be a rich man! Really, I would. More recently:

“Dr. Kellar, aren’t some people too old to do strength training?”

What? No! A person is never — yes, never — too old to strength train!

As one ages, one loses muscle. As muscle is lost, strength is lost. As strength is lost, the ability to carry out activity is lost. Need I go on?

Of course I do!

Strength training has the ability to stop, or at the very least slow down — or as I liked to say, “punch these changes in the nose!” — the impacts of aging, such as muscle weakness, risk of falls, decreased quality of life and ability to do activities of daily living. And that’s just a couple impacts we can see!

Strength training also “punches changes in the nose” that we can’t see, like the ability to use glucose (or sugar), cholesterol and fat accumulation, and the ability to create and utilize energy.

All these things we can and can’t see contribute to our ability to remain independent as we age.

I know what you’re thinking: “That all sounds great, but I’m worried about my health too!”

What if I told you that there are many studies that show the distance a person can walk in six minutes; how fast a person walks; how many times they can stand from a chair; how hard they can grip; and how fast one can get up from a chair, walk around a cone, and sit down, all can predict not only sickness and death, but hospitalizations?

Don’t all those benefits of strength training sound glorious for older adults? Of course they do! The problem is, a very small amount of older adults participate in strength training (8.7% of adults >75).

But the barriers for older adults to do strength training are really the reasons they should do strength training (health, pain, fatigue, fear, safety). We, as exercise professionals, need to educate our patients, clients, family, friends, neighbors, even health care professionals, on not only the safety of strength training but the massive amount of benefits! And not just to look better, but to feel better, move better and have a better quality of life!

Well, how do we help people achieve all these awesome benefits?

Let’s shoot for at least two days per week. It’s ok to go heavier (60-80% 1-RM), or we can go lighter to focus more on power (30-60% 1-RM) because this is important too! Let’s try 1-3 sets and anywhere from 6-15 repetitions. Whatever gets our older adults interested in strength training, that’s what we should do. Let’s not be afraid to mix it up and add some balance and functional exercises into those strength training exercises also (two or three birds, one stone)!

So, again, when is one too old to strength train? Let’s say it together: NEVER! Let’s also remember to make strength training a priority for our older adults.

Garrett Kellar, Ed.D., ACSM-CEP, ACSM-EP, EIM3 is an assistant professor and program director of exercise science at Youngstown State University. He is a graduate of Indiana University of Pennsylvania (where he recently won the Young Alumni Achievement Award) and the University of Pittsburgh. Dr. Kellar has over 15 years of clinical experience in cardiac and pulmonary rehab, and exercise testing and prescription for older adults. Dr. Kellar currently serves on ACSM’s Exercise is Medicine Older Adult Committee as well as multiple American Association of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation (AACVPR) committees.

Seven years ago I got my first job out of college as an exercise therapist at a local hospital, where I worked in the rehab department. I taught aquatic exercise classes and land-based classes for different types of people — older people, people with heart problems, those who had neurological conditions and so forth.  

It was at that point in time in my career I found out that there was so much more that I wanted to learn and there was also so much that I didn’t know. I was faced with a client who had so many comorbidities that I was unsure of how to go about treating them, what exercises worked best for them, and how those exercises would help or hinder their progress. This prompted me to want to know as much as possible how exercise affects chronic diseases and what the potential outcomes were. Fast forward to today: I have worked in three hospital systems and seen thousands of patients, and I still feel there’s more to do and learn. Through the years I learned from watching others and asking questions, and then I decided that it was time to challenge myself and test everything I have learned through practical experience. 

The ACSM-CEP^® certification represents a gold standard for exercise science and fitness professionals and allows us the opportunity to grow in our careers, with chances for advancement and to work in other areas of allied health like cardiac or pulmonary units, oncology and other chronic conditions. I find cardiology fascinating, and having worked with many patients with different cardiac issues, I find this certification can help educate me in all there is to know about specific conditions like cardiovascular disease, post-MI rehabilitation and congestive heart failure. This certification will give me a sense of accomplishment and the knowledge and practical understanding of how to best go about training these populations. This certification will also allow potential employers and colleagues in other disciplines to take me seriously as a clinician and give me the ability to choose the environment I would like to work in and the type of patient or client I would like to work with.  

I have always been a person who loves to learn, and I feel sitting for this exam gives me the best opportunity to do that and test my knowledge of this field that I have been in for the past seven years.  

If you are on the fence about whether you should go for this certification, I would say that so many doors will open after you obtain it — you will practically be able to work in any setting you want, from hospital-based outpatient rehab to cardiopulmonary rehab to cardiology. Not to mention fitness-related areas like a fitness director or health and wellness coach. The options you will have are endless, and the sky is the limit. This is going to be the standard in the future, and if you want to have a career that pays you fairly based on your education — and to do what you love and what always challenges you — then I would highly recommend you branch out and learn the things that you don’t know and continue to grow as both a professional and student of this profession. 

Related Content: 
Blog | How ACSM-EPs and ACSM-CEPs Can Advance the Profession’s Recognition, Compensation

Austin Cooper is an exercise physiologist and master’s student at American Public University (’23) studying sports and health sciences. He is a certified strength and conditioning specialist, nutritionist and wellness coach experienced in spinal cord rehabilitation, weight management and the prevention of cardiovascular disease through lifestyle interventions.  

Recorded lectures enhance learning opportunities

As educators, we endeavor to facilitate meaningful classroom learning experiences. A perennial topic of discussion among educators within ACSM is this: How can we engage our students in ways that will drive connection, deepen their knowledge and align with the things that matter to them? Incorporating scientific and professional development content from the ACSM Annual Meeting into classroom instruction is a way to start, and an accessible way to do this is by mindfully embedding conference session recordings into course activities.

How did I arrive at this opinion?

In 2011, I brought the first of many groups of undergraduate students to the ACSM annual meeting. They were not college seniors traveling to present research as a culminating experience in their undergraduate career. Instead, they were second year students taking their first exercise physiology course during an accelerated “maymester” academic term. As part of the course, they attended conference sessions and then processed their experience in assignments aimed to help them integrate new information into their understanding and perspectives on course concepts.

In response to their experience at the annual meeting, students expressed increased motivation to learn, confidence in their growing expertise, interest in conducting research and commitment to pursuing careers related to exercise and sports sciences. Yes, the experience of being at a professional meeting among scholars and practitioners was impactful, but they also pointed to the “a-ha” moments they experienced when attending conference sessions as particularly influential.

Obviously there was no way to scale this experience beyond one small group of students every May. If only I could bring a little of that “a-ha” magic to all of students during the academic year. I discovered that ACSM had a YouTube channel where presentations from the annual meeting, health & fitness summit, and other ACSM meetings were posted—a small goldmine of presentations by preeminent, engaging scholars. I curated a collection to incorporate into one of my courses for required viewing, and titled it the “Keynote Lecture Series” in the syllabus. The response from students was beyond my expectations.

What are some ways you can bring ACSM conference “magic” to your course(s)?

The resources available to ACSM members has expanded tremendously. There is now a platform on the ACSM website where we can access keynote, named lecture, clinical track and nutritional track sessions.

There are so many ways you can use these recordings to enhance the educational experiences of your students. First, choose a conference presentation that relates to an important course concept and watch the presentation together or assign viewing outside of class, and then use the viewing as a jumping off point for discussion or course assignments.

Here are a few ideas you can use to leverage the experience of watching a 2021 or 2022 ACSM conference recording:

• Take a “What, So What, Now What?” approach. Instruct students to take notes during their viewing on the below topics, and following their viewing discuss their responses to these questions in class or in a reflective writing assignment.
  • What are the key points of the lecture and how do they connect to what they’ve been learning in the course?
  • So what? Does the session expand their existing knowledge? Challenge conventional thought? Redefine their understanding? If so, how?
  • Now what? Is there a real-world application of these findings? What new directions could they propose for research in this topic?
• Prompt students to search for the scholarly publications cited in the presentation and choose one or a handful for presentation or discussion in class. This is a great idea for group presentations or journal club-style discussions that students can lead. You could even use this as a jumping off point to assign a narrative review or annotated bibliography.
• Prompt students to find press coverage of findings presented in the conference session. Lead learning activities to evaluate the press coverage for accuracy and bias. You could even assign students to write their own news article about an aspect of the research presented.
• If recommendations are made within the conference session, assign students to create social media posts communicating those recommendations to the audience for whom they are intended, such as the general public or clinicians (e.g., Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook).

Have these ideas started the gears turning in your own head? The possibilities are endless!

Keynotes and featured lectures from the 2022 and 2021 ACSM Annual Meetings are available for ACSM members at no additional cost. They are available to nonmembers for a fee. CECs are available with the 2022 Annual Meeting content and additional recorded content from the 2021 Annual Meeting are both available at a member and nonmember rate. 

ACSM's 2022 Annual Meeting Keynotes and Featured Lectures (FREE for ACSM members, $200 for nonmembers)

ACSM’s 2022 Annual Meeting Keynotes and Featured Lectures | 12 CEC-version ($150 for ACSM members, $300 for nonmembers)

ACSM’s 2021 Annual Meeting: Keynotes and President’s Lectures (FREE for ACSM members, $150 for nonmembers)

ACSM’s 2021 Annual Meeting: Clinical Sessions ($75 for ACSM members, $150 nonmembers)

ACSM’s 2021 Annual Meeting: Nutrition Sessions ($75 for ACSM members, $150 nonmembers)

Kimberly Reich, Ph.D., ACSM-EP, is an associate professor in the department of exercise science at High Point University in High Point, NC where she is the supervisor for HPU’s Exercise is Medicine on Campus Leadership Team. Dr. Reich’s research focuses primarily on health behavior in individuals and communities. Her work explores resources designed to aid in the adoption and maintenance of physical activity and healthy eating. She is a former chair of the ACSM Exercise Science Education Special Interest Group, former SEACSM executive committee member, and currently serves on the ACSM Annual Meeting program committee.

As a professor, I get a great sense of joy from seeing my students succeed: from seeing them do well on an exam, to graduating, finding that first job, getting into graduate school or passing a certification exam. Every year I hear stories from our graduates regarding how having the ACSM Exercise Physiologist (ACSM-EP) certification in addition to their BS in Exercise Science helped them to land a job.

I have been teaching at Liberty University (LU) for 22 years now and this is the 14^th year that our exercise science students have been taking the ACSM-EP certification exam (formerly the Health/Fitness Specialist certification). During this time, we have made changes and modifications to our curriculum and how we prepare the students for the certification exam. Over the course of the last five academic years, we have had a 95% pass rate (91%, 95%, 100%, 95%, and 93%) with 343 students passing the ACSM-EP exam during that time. I trust you will find the following tips on preparing students for the ACSM-EP exam to be of benefit for you and your students.

I hope that your school’s exercise science program has been accredited through CAAHEP*. If so, great—the program should be covering all of the Job Task Analysis (JTA) items, which are found online in the ACSM Certified Exercise Physiologist Exam Content Outline. If it is not accredited, I would recommend doing a brief self-study to determine if your program is addressing all of the Job Task Analysis items. This can be accomplished in a relatively short time frame and can be very helpful in assuring that your students are well versed in the material that will be covered on the ACSM-EP exam.

A number of times we have had students that want to jump the gun and take the ACSM-EP exam before they are truly prepared to succeed. I have to remind the students to stay with the course sequencing. At LU the ACSM-EP exam is part of the curriculum (EXSC 485 Exercise Physiologist Workshop and Certification) and the students take it during their last semester of coursework. The ACSM-EP exam also serves as a gateway to internships. If sitting for the ACSM-EP exam is not built into your curriculum, encourage your students to take it at the end of their course work.

Prior to the ACSM-EP exam your students should be doing some sort of focused study. At LU in the students’ final semester of coursework, they enroll in EXSC 485. In this course the students have weekly readings for the ACSM’s Guidelines for Exercise Testing and Prescription, 11^th (or current edition) and the ACSM’s Recourses for the Exercise Physiologist, 3^rd (or current edition). Also, each week the students take one or more quizzes and complete a total of 20 quizzes during the semester. The students are required to earn an 80% or higher on each quiz and the quizzes can be taken multiple times. ACSM also has study tools available for students. One is an online course, ACSM Exercise Physiologist Certification Preparation Course, and the other is an interactive, online quizzing platform, PrepU for ACSM’s Resources for the Exercise Physiologist, 2^nd Edition.

For the last phase of student preparation for the ACSM-EP exam, I would recommend holding an in-person ACSM Exercise Physiologist workshop.  At LU, we host a workshop the first weekend of November and April every year and have been doing so for 10+ years. The workshop serves as a great review for the students, and it lets them know how much they actually know as well as some areas to focus on during their final bit of study. The week following the workshop the students sit for the exam.

 

*Beginning in 2027, the ACSM-EP certification exam and the ACSM Clinical Exercise Physiologist certification exam will require a baccalaureate degree (or higher) in Exercise Science, or equivalent, from a regionally accredited college or university and CAAHEP accredited program for eligibility. Learn more.

Learn about the programmatic accreditation process, benefits and associated costs.

Read FAQs about programmatic accreditation.

 

James E. Schoffstall, Ed.D., FACSM, ACSM-EP, ACSM-RCEP, has been a teaching at Liberty University for the past 20+ years and holds the rank of Professor. He has served in the roles of Director of the Human Performance Lab, Director of the Exercise Science Program, and is currently the Chair of the Allied Health Professions Department. Dr. Schoffstall is certified as an Exercise Physiologist and Clinical Exercise Physiologist through the ACSM, and is a Fellow of the ACSM. He has served as a Director of the ACSM Exercise Physiologist workshop for the past 10 years. He has served as an Associate Editor of ACSMs Resources for the Exercise Physiologist, 2^nd Edition. Dr. Schoffstall has also served as an exercise physiology curriculum designer for the Chinese Association of Sports Medicine.