Question regarding ACE certification

[yanks26dmb]

First off, I realize ACE is a pretty useless certification. Unfortunately, I need it so I can rent space at a mroe conveniently located gym. In any event, in order to pass this test, I'm wondering exactly what I need to buy - study material wise; I'd like to keep costs to a minimum.

Just a quick background on myself, I have a 4 year degree in health sciences, which had an emphasis on nutrition, physiology, bio, etc. I have worked as a trainer before at a Fitness Together, and have been an athlete and have weight trained and ate right for most of my life...so I'm not a complete newbie. Is simply purchasing that 59.99 study material book enough for someone in my position? Or do I really need to buy the package, I believe it costs like 150....Any help is greatly appreciated.

[babyface4]

with your background you could probably pass the test right now. The book will be all you need tho.

[megaman77]

you should be good to go just getting the book

[yanks26dmb]

Appreciate the quick feedback guys.

[Rap_Rocky]

First off, I realize ACE is a pretty useless certification. Unfortunately, I need it so I can rent space at a mroe conveniently located gym. In any event, in order to pass this test, I'm wondering exactly what I need to buy - study material wise; I'd like to keep costs to a minimum.

Just a quick background on myself, I have a 4 year degree in health sciences, which had an emphasis on nutrition, physiology, bio, etc. I have worked as a trainer before at a Fitness Together, and have been an athlete and have weight trained and ate right for most of my life...so I'm not a complete newbie. Is simply purchasing that 59.99 study material book enough for someone in my position? Or do I really need to buy the package, I believe it costs like 150....Any help is greatly appreciated.

I don't know why you'd think ACE is useless, but yes I'd suggest you get the study guide. The exam is mostly based on client assessment and, surprisingly, not so heavy on the physiological, kinesiology, or nutrition aspect. A lot of the questions deal with how to train and encounter different diseases/populations.

[FresnoBeeDude]

First off, I realize ACE is a pretty useless certification. Unfortunately, I need it so I can rent space at a mroe conveniently located gym. In any event, in order to pass this test, I'm wondering exactly what I need to buy - study material wise; I'd like to keep costs to a minimum.

Just a quick background on myself, I have a 4 year degree in health sciences, which had an emphasis on nutrition, physiology, bio, etc. I have worked as a trainer before at a Fitness Together, and have been an athlete and have weight trained and ate right for most of my life...so I'm not a complete newbie. Is simply purchasing that 59.99 study material book enough for someone in my position? Or do I really need to buy the package, I believe it costs like 150....Any help is greatly appreciated.

Your so smart, don't wast your money on this manual just go take the test. Your nutrition and bio knowledge as well as your personal weightlifting experience is all you need for this worthless cert.

Good Luck!

[ZombieClive]

i dont get the hate on ACE. is it because its the most widely accepted certification? its like all the people who talk **** about microsoft..

im not yet certified, but having just began reading the book, it seems to be FILLED with some serious in depth information. in the field you may not refer to the book every week, but it seems to me that it covers some important info.

[Mr.ILL]

Why are you getting the ACE cert if you think its worthless? That's not very logical. I found ACE very useful and I thought the test was hard but I had no previous education.

[Lasharm]

Why are you getting the ACE cert if you think its worthless? That's not very logical. I found ACE very useful and I thought the test was hard but I had no previous education.

Everyone seems to have their opinion on what certifications are worth their salt. I'll admit some certs are better than others (obviously the cert that costs $50 isn't worth the paper it's printed on). The reasons I chose ACE is not only is it a good "Starter" cert (less upfront cost while still being respected) but if you read their study guides most of their information comes directly from the gold standards of the certification world (ACSM mostly).

As a trainer you will have to get used to people thinking certs (as well as Personal trainers themselves) to be useless. I personally have been told over and over at my gym that PTs are useless. Sometimes this is true, but the trainer themselves does not reflect the certifying organization (I know ACSM trainers that are the worst trainers you can think of).


And Yanks26, you should check out craigslist and ebay for the ACE study book. Occasionally you can find someone selling their package there. With your background this will be all you need. Good luck.

[leishmanjc]

ACE is not even close to useless bro. It actually focuses mostly on client assessment and dealing with special populations which in all reality as a trainer, (unless you're doing sports specific training) you're going to run into 80% of the time. The majority of our population has health problems...sad to say but it's true. ACE prepares you pretty well for these kinds of cases. As far as ordering any materials, the text wouldn't be useless but with your background you could do ok on it. You only have to get like a 70% to pass the certification exam. Hope that helps ya out man!

First off, I realize ACE is a pretty useless certification. Unfortunately, I need it so I can rent space at a mroe conveniently located gym. In any event, in order to pass this test, I'm wondering exactly what I need to buy - study material wise; I'd like to keep costs to a minimum.

Just a quick background on myself, I have a 4 year degree in health sciences, which had an emphasis on nutrition, physiology, bio, etc. I have worked as a trainer before at a Fitness Together, and have been an athlete and have weight trained and ate right for most of my life...so I'm not a complete newbie. Is simply purchasing that 59.99 study material book enough for someone in my position? Or do I really need to buy the package, I believe it costs like 150....Any help is greatly appreciated.

[Nclark44]

I have never understood all the emphasis on the certs and which ones are the greatest- or the fact that some certs are constantly bashed. While I understand that some programs may be more in-depth or offer more difficult tests, I dont see how there would be much difference for the clients the average trainer would be dealing with- if that trainer knew what he/she was doing.

My point is, most trainers arent going to be working with world-class athletes or top-notch bodybuilders. How many clients are truly going to stick with a program, be very disciplined, and stay motivated? The clients that most trainers will encounter will likely have a lot of other things to worry about in life aside from their fitness program. With this in mind, knowing how to keep a client safe and design a functional/beneficial program for clients would seem like the most important thing.

I agree with what Lasharm said about some people feeling that PT's and certs are useless. Obviously this isnt always true, but all of the debate over certs and labeling certain ones as useless just seems like a waste of time. You either know what you are doing or you dont, and most of the time, it doesnt seem like anything extra gained from a cert will make that big of a difference to a client.

[Lasharm]

One can look at a Personal Trainer Certification like a Drivers License.
1: You need one to get insurance.
2: You can be bad at it and still get one. If you are bad at it, you are dangeous to other people.
3: You don't need one to be good at it. But if you are good at it, why not improve your credentials.

As long as you know your stuff, don't have a fake certification hung on your wall, and are not hurting anyone you're alright in my book.

[yanks26dmb]

Why are you getting the ACE cert if you think its worthless? That's not very logical. I found ACE very useful and I thought the test was hard but I had no previous education.

We'll ACE seems to be the quickest, cheapest, and easiest certification to get....And I need a certification, so it just seemed to make sense.

I'm not trying to trash ACE or people with the cert. Perhaps I'm way off base on my ideas about ACE, and I'll see its not worthless when I actually read the material. I had just heard from people, perhaps incorrectly, that ACE was pretty useless. But in any even, would something like this be all I need?

ACE Personal Trainer Manual: The Ultimate Resource for Fitness Professionals, 3rd Edition (Hardcover)

Thanks.

[JulianBee]

[QUOTE=Lasharm;337052601]One can look at a Personal Trainer Certification like a Drivers License.
1: You need one to get insurance.
2: You can be bad at it and still get one. If you are bad at it, you are dangeous to other people.
3: You don't need one to be good at it. But if you are good at it, why not improve your credentials.
QUOTE]

lol i never looked at it that way..

[Mr.ILL]

We'll ACE seems to be the quickest, cheapest, and easiest certification to get....And I need a certification, so it just seemed to make sense.

I'm not trying to trash ACE or people with the cert. Perhaps I'm way off base on my ideas about ACE, and I'll see its not worthless when I actually read the material. I had just heard from people, perhaps incorrectly, that ACE was pretty useless. But in any even, would something like this be all I need?

ACE Personal Trainer Manual: The Ultimate Resource for Fitness Professionals, 3rd Edition (Hardcover)

Thanks.

Basically all I used was the manual. Well I did use the flash cards as well those did help on a couple questions. But I mostly just used the manual. I read it twice and high-lighted as I read.