I've failed the ACE twice

[etherHATESether]

When I go back in ten days for the retake, I don't want to just scrape by, I want to excel. Did anyone else have trouble with this certification? If so, how did you go about improving your knowledge of the material?

Is there an effective resource out there for grasping muscle function?

[Mancacdude]

When I go back in ten days for the retake, I don't want to just scrape by, I want to excel. Did anyone else have trouble with this certification? If so, how did you go about improving your knowledge of the material?

Is there an effective resource out there for grasping muscle function?

I passed my first time a few weeks ago with a big help from this:

http://www.starting-a-personal-train...tion-test.html

33 bucks, TONS of questions, and double your money back guarantee if you fail (assuming you use the program for at least 21 days I believe). I got this literally like 22 days before I took the test (delayed the test just to make sure I would qualify for the guarantee), and passed no problem. The test is designed to trick you for sure, so you have to go in there with that mindset.

[Jorate]

We did it while getting my PT up here in Canada. ACE people came up here to administer it and shiet. I find it to be complete bullshiit how easy it is to become a PT in the states after taking that test (though I didn't pass it cause the terminology is way different on ACE compared to here). Brb just memorize all the info and take test without really studying and putting in the hands on effort of becoming a PT like I had to here. 6 month course that covered everything about the human body, acting as a PT, program training and etc.

On topic, If you've failed twice, fcuking study.

[etherHATESether]

Yes, some of the questions can be pretty tricky.

One question presented a scenario and I had to select from

A. something
B. something
C. Negligence
D. Malpractice

Had a hard time with this, because Malpractice is a form negligence <.<

[juiyuanwu]

I failed the exam once as well, and passed on my second attempt. Have you tried memorizing the exam? I know it's hard but the questions are exactly the same (or at least it was for me on my re-take), or did you check on the website to see your results to see what areas you need to improve on?

[Pjt181]

Im taking mine in about 2 months and am kind of nervous because i've heard that a lot of the questions on the exam aren't even from the manual. In your opinion, is it nessessary to read the other books ace offers or is the manual and study guide enough to pass? The reason I ask is because i only have the manual and study guide and am tight on money right now, so i don't want to spend anymore than i have to.

[ericmackcarter]

I failed the exam once as well, and passed on my second attempt. Have you tried memorizing the exam? I know it's hard but the questions are exactly the same (or at least it was for me on my re-take), or did you check on the website to see your results to see what areas you need to improve on?

Great advice for being just another clueless trainer. Yes, let's look for the cheap way out of passing one of the easiest certifications available.

[etherHATESether]

Im taking mine in about 2 months and am kind of nervous because i've heard that a lot of the questions on the exam aren't even from the manual. In your opinion, is it nessessary to read the other books ace offers or is the manual and study guide enough to pass? The reason I ask is because i only have the manual and study guide and am tight on money right now, so i don't want to spend anymore than i have to.

The manual and study guide cover the majority of the content, but 'The Essentials of Exercise Science' is, well, essential.

I failed the exam once as well, and passed on my second attempt. Have you tried memorizing the exam? I know it's hard but the questions are exactly the same (or at least it was for me on my re-take), or did you check on the website to see your results to see what areas you need to improve on?

Yes, the questions were exactly the same, just in a different order and I did check my results online. I was 5 questions away from passing.

Last night I jotted down the concepts and terminology that I need improvement in. And instead of just blankly staring into hundreds of pages of text, I'm going to be thinking more about the actual physical application of the material.

[Quistfitness]

I was lucky enough to pass at my first attempt for NSCA-CPT; however I decided that if I was going to do it I wanted to know what I was doing; so I went to college... I strongly recommend this. If I wouldn’t have gotten my associates in Exercise Science I may be in your shoes.

My recommendations, go to school, get your degree, and then take your test. It is a lot like training for a sporting event; practice hard and the game will be easy.

[carl.c]

ether: The ACE is a silly test more of a test to take a test. Several of my freinds have taking it and failed on the first attempt. They had trouble with the psycological part , they all past with flying colors the second time.
Do what was recommeded above. Find out what area you failed in and hit thought hard.
One thing that help my friends pass was getting in the mind set before the test of sespending reality and consentrating only on what ACE wanted hard but it help them greatly.
Quistfitness: Nice to see someone who relises the value of higher education in this field, to many people think all you need is a cert and your off and running.

[etherHATESether]

ether: The ACE is a silly test more of a test to take a test. Several of my freinds have taking it and failed on the first attempt. They had trouble with the psycological part , they all past with flying colors the second time.
Do what was recommeded above. Find out what area you failed in and hit thought hard.
One thing that help my friends pass was getting in the mind set before the test of sespending reality and consentrating only on what ACE wanted hard but it help them greatly.
Quistfitness: Nice to see someone who relises the value of higher education in this field, to many people think all you need is a cert and your off and running.

Thanks for this response. I don't necessarily agree with some of the ACE ideology, but for the sake of completing the certification, it makes sense to adhere to their principles for the time being. I plan to switch to a more reputable certification in the future, instead of renewing ACE.

[juiyuanwu]

Great advice for being just another clueless trainer. Yes, let's look for the cheap way out of passing one of the easiest certifications available.

Yeah, since it's so easy to pass, why is it a National Commission Certifying Agency certified certification? I'm sorry but if you assumed that it's the easiest exam just based on what you have read, you my friend have lots to learn. I'm tired of people bashing on ACE just because of what they've read on the forums/news/gossip...

[JoeCannonMSCSCS]

This review of the ace test might help http://personaltrainersunited.com/ac...g-cert-part-1/

[carl.c]

juiy: I base my opinion the pass fail ration and many of my freinds have taking it and pass with out studing and a rutimentry understanding of triaining. Also the people i have met with the ACE seem to know very little when it comes to pysiology and how to make the body grow.
Not saying a cert makes or breaks you its just a decleration of your knowedge base and your desire to imporove.

[juiyuanwu]

juiy: I base my opinion the pass fail ration and many of my freinds have taking it and pass with out studing and a rutimentry understanding of triaining. Also the people i have met with the ACE seem to know very little when it comes to pysiology and how to make the body grow.
Not saying a cert makes or breaks you its just a decleration of your knowedge base and your desire to imporove.

Hello there Carl C:

I base my opinion the pass fail ration and many of my freinds have taking it and pass with out studing and a rutimentry understanding of triaining.

So you're saying that by having just a general sense of understanding how training works, one can pass the exam easily? I have not been on this section of the Forums for that long, so I actually don't know if you're certified or not. But better yet, how about a proposal: I will PERSONALLY pay for your test just to test this theory. If you pass the test WITHOUT studying, I will personally pay for your exam(Since you said it's easy to pass), but if you do not pass, then you pay out of your own pocket). Now you might say "Why would I pay $250 to take a stupid test when I'm already certified?" or "That's just stupid, I'm not doing that", but let me just say it's not as stupid if you're as confident as it sounds when saying about the ACE exam.

Also the people i have met with the ACE seem to know very little when it comes to pysiology and how to make the body grow.

Just how many people have you met from ACE? Is it 5? 10? 15? 20? 100? Based on that statement, I can easily say the same thing if I met 6-8 people who are NSCA or NASM certfied (Assuming this is the "Gold Standard" of the fitness industry right?) that don't know anything about posture and how to handle special populations.

Not saying a cert makes or breaks you its just a decleration of your knowedge base and your desire to imporove.

Yes, I agree a certification does not make or break you. You can be NASM or NSCA certified but what are you going to do if you don't have any actual practical experience to begin with?

[carl.c]

jui: I have a B.S. in kinesiology with a minor in kinesotherapy
I have the NSCA cscs, held ACSM fitness instructor for 6 years.
If you still want to losse your money we can play. Trust me if you can pass the ACSM fitness instructor test you can pass any cert out there.
I've had around 6 freinds take the test and pass without studing, around 10 who took it and had trouble with the psycological and supplement part. not from a lack of knowledge but ACE has some really stupid ideas about supplements and psycological theories. The reason for knowing so many people takign cert test is from college many of my fellow students needed a quickly cert for jobs and I would help them study for them.
I find it strange you mention special population and posture since the ACE has nothing in it about eather that makes any sence. NSCA cscs dosn't cover special pops or posture but thats not there area.

[F1eld]

I studied the intermediate testing package for about a month, did the practice tests a few times , got an 85% on the real thing first attempt.

As with testing for anything its really just about being able to think, retain information and have a good understanding of certain concepts/ideas.

If you know the concept, you can answer any type of question related to it , regardless of .....if you've seen it before or not.



I agree with the above poster in that if you are going to be a personal trainer you need to have some legit schooling along with your cert. If not initially, then make it a priority for the near future.

[juiyuanwu]

Carl C: Never-mind, my mistake.

[KyleAaron]

I find it to be complete bullshiit how easy it is to become a PT in the states after taking that test (though I didn't pass it

It's easy but you failed?

[McJimmie]

I failed the exam once as well, and passed on my second attempt. Have you tried memorizing the exam? I know it's hard but the questions are exactly the same (or at least it was for me on my re-take), or did you check on the website to see your results to see what areas you need to improve on?

This one made me laugh.
When I sat my nutrition course here in the UK, some guy was erasing his answers and copying our at our table (multi-choice). We reported it to the invigilator after the guy left.

It was the guy's seventh or eighth attempt - and he had been sitting a different paper but was too stupid to realise.

http://www.fited.co.uk

[etherHATESether]

The psychology and social questions really can be quite tricky. They seem pretty subjective.

Here is a sample question from the study guide:

Your new client is a 47-year-old woman who wants to lose weight, but is a bit apprehensive about resistance training because she does not want to "get big". Based on this information, what response would BEST facilitate resistance-training adherence and motivation?

A. Design a program based primarily on cardiorespiratory exercise with a light (40% 1 RM) circuit with high-repetition (15-25) sets to help her comfortably meet her goals

B. Tell her that she has nothing to worry about, as women do not produce enough of the male hormone testosterone to "get big"

C. Show empathy for her concern about getting big and ensure her that you will design a program that will help her to get toned without getting big

D. Explain the average adult muscle-tissue loss of 5 lb (2.3 kg) per decade, and how resistance training can help her restore lost muscle and raise resting metabolism

What do you guys think?

[ClevageGobbler]

The psychology and social questions really can be quite tricky. They seem pretty subjective.

Here is a sample question from the study guide:

Your new client is a 47-year-old woman who wants to lose weight, but is a bit apprehensive about resistance training because she does not want to "get big". Based on this information, what response would BEST facilitate resistance-training adherence and motivation?

A. Design a program based primarily on cardiorespiratory exercise with a light (40% 1 RM) circuit with high-repetition (15-25) sets to help her comfortably meet her goals

B. Tell her that she has nothing to worry about, as women do not produce enough of the male hormone testosterone to "get big"

C. Show empathy for her concern about getting big and ensure her that you will design a program that will help her to get toned without getting big

D. Explain the average adult muscle-tissue loss of 5 lb (2.3 kg) per decade, and how resistance training can help her restore lost muscle and raise resting metabolism

What do you guys think?

If there's a way to tell her all of the above briefly then I'd do that because she has a right to hear all of the facts. But for the sake of the test, C.

[etherHATESether]

If there's a way to tell her all of the above briefly then I'd do that because she has a right to hear all of the facts. But for the sake of the test, C.

I agree with your response and I also would have selected C, but the answer is D according to the study guide D:

[KyleAaron]

Yet another example of the difference between theory and practice.

1. Pass the theory.
2. Get the certificate.
3. Forget the theory.
4. Start practice.

[carl.c]

Nice think I will use this one kyleaaron.

[etherHATESether]

Last time I was 5 out of 150 questions away from passing the exam. This time, I think I'm going to be more prepared.

[ericmackcarter]

Yet another example of the difference between theory and practice.

1. Pass the theory.
2. Get the certificate.
3. Forget the theory.
4. Start practice.

I completely disagree. I don't even know where to start a counter argument. Are you saying don't respect the science?

[FitnessPro27]

I completely disagree. I don't even know where to start a counter argument. Are you saying don't respect the science?

He is talking about the psychology. The science is fact and the psychology is theory.