Secrets of the ACSM Personal Trainer Exam Study Guide - Personal Trainer Community - Forum

[chandlerwinston]

Has anyone had any experience with this website ( www.mo-media.com/acsm ) that offers test prep materials for the ACSM Personal Trainer exam?
It sounds useful but didn't know if it's for real, a scam, or just a rehash of the same information in the core study materials. This is my first certification so I'd obviously love to go in confident and ready (duh) )

Just wondering. Thanks!

~chandler

[Christina]

Hi Chandler and welcome. I have seen this site and contemplated ordering from them in the past but I always wondered the same thing: Is this company legit? It looks like they have a money back guarantee so perhaps you could try it. I have a hunch this company uses the same material for all the pt certs but I could be wrong. Hopefully someone has tried this company's products and can give you some info. When do you plan on taking the exam?

Christina

[chandlerwinston]

Hi, Christina. Thanks for getting back so soon.
I think you may be right about it being the same material for all their certs. :?
I just recieved the materials and want to understand all the concepts and principles as fast as I can. I don't have a timeline of when I expect to be ready for the exam as of yet. But I figure I'll hit the books, and any other resource, as hard as I can and as soon as I am confident and can do well on the practice exams, I'll give it a go.
:mrgreen:

Thanks again,

~chandler

[Christina]

Do you have any sort of background in exercise science? Any classes? Professional experience?

If you are completely new to personal training it is probably going to take you a few months to really grasp the info (depending of course on how many hours a day or week you can dedicate to studying). Did you purchase the practice exam? In my opinion, practice exams are a must.

Christina

[chandlerwinston]

No formal training whatsoever. :?
I've been looking through the forum ( awesome site by the way! ) and might check out the Human Kinetics or UCLA courses. This is something I definitely want to take very seriously and be very successful at, so whatever it takes!

~chandler

[Christina]

Good for you for taking your certification/profession so seriously. When I lived in northern CA I had a trainer who worked at Bally. I remember asking her how she received her certification and she said she went to a weekend seminar. I was a completely ignorant consumer at that time so I just figured that was how all trainers got their certifications. As you can probably imagine her program design skills really lacked. But again, she was the first trainer I ever had so I didn't know the difference. About 6 months later we moved to southern CA and I joined a gym that was more upscale. This time I happened to get a trainer who had his BS, CSCS. I still had no idea what all the letters meant but I had amazing results working with this particular trainer. Believe me, I know from first hand experience that there is a MAJOR difference between an educated/uneducated personal trainer.

Unfortunately the only courses through UCLA that you can take online are anatomy, physiology, and 2 nutrition courses. The rest you have to take in person on UCLA's campus in order to complete their fitness instruction certificate. (By the way, you do not have to complete the certificate. You can just take these 4 classes for the sake of learning. The nutrition instructor is incredible! I think the courses can be used toward CEUs too.) Try looking into universities in your area if you want to take more than just a few classes. As far as the Human Kinetics courses are concerned, I am currently doing the anatomy course and it beats my UCLA course hands down and at a fraction of the price.

Sorry to have veered so far from your original question!

Christina

[chandlerwinston]

No, that's great! Thank you for all the information! I will definitely check out courses available in my area and any online resources.
I don't just want to be a mediocre trainer who's clients get mediocre results. Who wants to be a personal trainer just to be able to say they're a personal trainer?
I really want to make a difference and help people live long, healthy lives. And of course the more I learn the more prepared I am to do that.

Thank you again, Christina. You've been a great help. I'm psyched to get started and I'm glad there's a place where I can go for a little help and motivation. I can't wait to reciprocate!

~chandler

[C Lenart]

Christina:

It's been a while since I was on the site here, but as long as we're on the subject, i had a few questions on the ACSM exam. I'm doing the ACSM Health and Fitness Instructor exam, slightly more difficult than the ACSM Personal trainer exam.

I bought the ACSM test review books from ACSM a few weeks ago. I bought the ACSM Certification Review, Second edition plus the ACSM Resource Manual for Guidelines For Exercise Testing and Prescription. I had previously purchased the ACSM Guidelines for Exercise Testing and Prescription, Seventh edition for my coursework at UCLA that I completed a few months ago.

To make a long story short, I noticed on some of the practice exams that some of the information on some of the questions doesn't seem to be located in any of the books. I'm done with about four of the practice exams and I'm getting about 27 to 29 correct answers out of 33 but there always seems to be one or two questions that I can't reference the material for. Am I missing something?

Finally, I talked to ACSM regarding the Health Fitness Test and it seems that all the material is multiple choice and the exam is about 150 questions long. There's a local testing center in my area run by Pearson which handles the ACSM test. So it sounds like to me, that you sit in front of a computer for 2-3 hours doing an all multiple choice test. No essay questions mentioned. According to ACSM, there is no practical skills component for this test either. There used to be but that was done away with a few years ago.

Any specific trick questions or format that ACSM like to use that I should know about or is the test material just the same as the multiple choice practice questions in the test review guide?

Curt L

[Christina]

Hey Curt! How are things in Cali?

First off, how did you talk ACSM into letting you sit for the HFI? When I asked them they told me "No!" I explained that my undergrad was in psychology but that I completed the program at UCLA and that I had already passed the ACSM- CPT exam and that I wanted to sit for the HFI. Their email reply was that I do not have a degree in a health related field and that I should sit for the CPT. I sat there thinking, "I already took the CPT!" I didn't press it, but maybe I should. I am also mad that they do not count psychology as a health related field, considering they dedicate a portion of the study material and exam to psychology. (Ever heard of the field Sport Psychology?) Personally I think that psychology and personal training are a very good match considering you need to know how to motivate clients.

Anyway... I did not buy the certification review guide because I did not know it existed. I wonder if it is relatively new? I assume it contains practice exams? The only practice exam I took was the one online that I purchased for $50.

Alhough I took the CPT instead of the HFI, I am sure the testing format is the same. Yes, you go to a testing center, show them ID, they set you up on a computer, and you sit there for a couple of hours and answer multiple choice questions. (You can go back and review or change your answers at any time.) At the end of the exam you submit your answers and you find out right then whether or not you passed.

When do you plan on taking it?

Christina

[C Lenart]

Christina:

Regarding the HFI exam. I just signed up online through Pearson and they scheduled a time for the exam. I indicated that my UCLA certification was a two year program, which it is, and the system allowed me to register. I had been in touch with ACSM a few months ago and they indicated that they did not consider the UCLA certification to be equivalent to a bachelor's degree so they would not let me take the Exercise Specialist exam which is one step higher than the HFI. The HFI only requires an associates degree. Frankly, the Exercise Specialist exam and KSA's are only slightly higher than the HFI anyway. For the Exercise Specialist exam,they throw in a few more bit and pieces on how to analyze an EKG is all I can see as well as a little more clinical info. The test review materials that I purchased from ACSM directly confirm this.

I purchased the two certification review books from ACSM which they recommend on their website. I already had the third book from Randy's two classes at UCLA. These books are the latest up to date materials per ACSM. I bought them directly from ACSM six weeks ago for $120 so they better be the latest or somebody at ACSM will be getting a phone call.

I wanted to take the HFI exam at the end of this month but I still have 120 pages to go. I've been getting killed time-wise on this real estate deal for a property in Detroit that I just purchased and I haven't been putting the time into the exam preparation. First week in October at the latest no matter what. I just have to shake the non-stop calls from the real estate agents, property managers, bank reps, inspectors, and property renovators.

Curt