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Additional Certifications

Certifications

ACE Certifications work together to help make you a hybrid professional

Holding an ACE Certification can open the door to a rewarding health and fitness career, and earning multiple certifications can be even more beneficial. For ACE Certified Personal Trainers, pursuing an ACE Group Fitness Instructor Certification can offer opportunities to reach more people at a time. For Group Fitness Instructors, becoming an ACE Certified Personal Trainer can mean additional income. ACE Certified Health Coaches can more effectively serve clients with chronic medical conditions by earning an ACE Medical Exercise Specialist Certification, and so on.

In addition to the benefits of a diverse career, earning another ACE Certification allows you to fulfill continuing education requirements, including study of Professional Conduct & Ethics, at a discounted rate of 20% off*.

*Cannot be combined with other offers. Valid only for currently certified ACE Professionals.

ACE Pro Exclusive

20% off an additional ACE Certification.*

Ethics Course

Group Fitness Instructor Certification

Participation in group fitness has grown by leaps and bounds recently, so it's no surprise demand for instructors has exploded. Our ACE Group Fitness Instructor Certification gives you the knowledge and confidence you need to teach all formats and levels, delivering unforgettable experiences to keep students coming back for more.

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ACE Pro Exclusive

20% off an additional ACE Certification.*

Ethics Course

Health Coach Certification

Becoming an ACE Certified Health Coach will better prepare you to lead people through behavior change by increasing your expertise in weight management psychology, the physiology of obesity, techniques for lifestyle coaching, and the development of custom exercise programs. In addition to a growing demand among healthcare providers, workplace wellness programs have begun to employ Certified Health Coaches as a way to decrease healthcare costs.

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ACE Pro Exclusive

20% off an additional ACE Certification.*

Ethics Course

Personal Trainer Certification

Becoming an ACE Certified Personal Trainer can prepare you to lead clients in one-on-one and small-group exercise using the ACE Integrated Fitness Training® Model. Earning our NCCA-accredited certification can help you deliver the type of individualized programs people need to adopt long-term, healthy behaviors.

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ACE Pro Exclusive

20% off an additional ACE Certification.*

Ethics Course

Medical Exercise Specialist Certification

Becoming a Certified Medical Exercise Specialist will help you best serve the client of today, a client who often suffers from a variety of chronic medical conditions. It will also position you to serve as a critical link between community and the healthcare team by ensuring you hold the specialized, comprehensive expertise necessary to provide medical exercise and post-rehabilitative fitness programs for clients with cardiovascular, pulmonary, metabolic and musculoskeletal issues.

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ACE Professional Conduct & Ethics Continuing Education Requirement FAQs

ACE wants health and fitness clients to receive safe exercise instruction and health coaching from well-qualified professionals, while at the same time helping ACE Certified Professionals to limit their own professional liability. To achieve these goals, it is important that ACE Certified Professionals remain current on topics related to risk management, professional liability, ethical and legal business practices, scopes of practice and professional boundaries, client confidentiality and protected health information, and best practices for fostering equity, diversity, inclusion, and culture.

By requiring at least 0.1 CEC (1 hour) of education every two years be focused on topics in the Professional Conduct & Ethics category, ACE is helping ACE Certified Professionals to stay current on these topics.

The topics in the Professional Conduct & Ethics continuing education category are pulled directly from the "Professional Conduct and Risk Management" Domain in the exam content outlines for each ACE Certification.

Relevant topics include ethical and legal business practices, risk management and liability procedures, client confidentiality and protected health information, and best practices for fostering equity, diversity, inclusion, and culture.

ACE requires all ACE Certified Professionals to complete one hour (0.1 CEC) out of the total 20 hours (2.0 CECs) of continuing education focused on Professional Conduct & Ethics during every two-year certification period to become eligible to renew their ACE Certification(s).

Complete renewal requirements include:

  • 20 hours (2.0 CECs) of ACE-approved continuing education
  • 1 hour (0.1 CEC) out of the total 20 hours (2.0 CECs) must be from the Professional Conduct & Ethics category
  • A current CPR/AED certificate
  • A renewal fee

ACE reviews its certification and recertification requirements on a regular basis to ensure that they are current for the specific job role (e.g., personal trainer) and aligned with industry-wide best practices for professionals to remain competent. Questions specifically addressing scope of practice, ethical and legal business practices, risk management and liability procedures, client confidentiality, privacy and protected health information, and best practices for fostering equity, diversity, inclusion, and culture make up 15-19% of all ACE Certification exams. Knowing that competence in these areas is required to earn an ACE Certification, staying current in them is important to maintain an ACE Certification.

ACE implemented this certification renewal requirement to help ACE Certified Professionals stay current with these key professional conduct and risk management topics. The decision was made with input from ACE's certification committee members and feedback from employers that the change was both reasonable and appropriate for the professions for which ACE offers certifications.

You may choose from any of the following options to meet the requirement:

  • Complete an ACE-approved course from the ACE Continuing Education catalog here. Eligible courses are denoted with an Ethics Course icon.
  • Complete an ACE-approved course from a trusted provider listed here. Eligible courses are denoted with an Ethics Course icon.
  • Petition a non-ACE approved course that you believe meets the requirement for education on Professional Conduct & Ethics. Learn about the petition process here.
  • Earn an additional ACE Certification.

ACE Certified Professionals are able to petition education they completed on topics in the Professional Conduct & Ethics continuing education category. Learn about the petition process here.

The cost of courses varies. View a list of eligible courses here.

If you complete one eligible course within the timeframe when all ACE Certifications are current, it will count toward all certifications.

Eligible courses taken within your current certification cycle will fulfill this requirement and be reflected in your My ACE Account. Any eligible courses taken during a prior certification cycle would not apply to your current certification renewal.

Eligible courses will be automatically recognized in your My ACE Account as fulfilling this requirement. You can track your status in the Manage My CECs section of your My ACE Account.

Yes! You can easily recognize eligible courses in the CEC Power Pass course catalog by looking for the Ethics Course icon next to the course.

Give us a call at 888-519-9845 or email us at support@acefitness.org and we'll be happy to help you out.