[C Lenart]

I recently took and passed the HFI exam during the week of November 12-16, 2007. If anybody is thinking about taking this particular exam, here are my thoughts and recommends.

As a point of reference, the ACSM Health Fitness Instructor certification is one level above the Certified Personal Trainer designation from ACSM. The basic difference between the Certified Personal Trainer and the HFI certification is that the HFI cert covers individuals with "controlled" levels of cardio and/or pulmonary disease.


As for the HFI exam, the review certification material that ACSM sells in the form of two books is nowhere near as difficult as the actual exam itself. For example, it took me 45 minutes to take and complete the "comprehensive" practical exam at the end of the review materials. The actual exam took me over 3 hours and the questions on the real exam were several times more difficult than the review materials that ACSM sold me.

In addition, the review materials that ACSM sold me for the HFI exam also cover the Clinical Exercise Specialist exam which is for trainers dealing with unstable cardio and/or pulmonary patients in a cardiac rehab or hospital setting. When you take the review test at the end of each chapter of the review materials, you're never quite sure whether the info covered is for the HFI or the Clinical Exercise Specialist exam. With very little exception in the review guides, ACSM makes no attempt to separate the material for the HFI exam versus the material for the Clinical Exercise Specialist exam. The review guides just tell you to go to the back of the ACSM Exercise Prescription guide and sort it out for yourself based on ACSM's arcane list of KSA's (Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities).

The most valuable tip I can give somebody taking the ACSM Health Fitness Instructor exam is to make sure that they know the "fine" details of the Seventh Edition of ACSM's Guidelines for Exercise Testing and Prescription as it pertains to the HFI exam. The ACSM Guidelines book is loaded with medical terminology and frankly not easy to get through, but it is vital to success on the actual test itself.

In addition, the review materials did not go over all the details on skin-fold measurements but the actual exam covered the details in depth. The practice exams also don't go into too much detail on the smaller muscle groups and muscles and the movements and problems that can occur through poor technique and subsequent misuse of these small muscles. I think my favorite question on the real exam was a client comes into your facility complaining of difficulties with her piriformis muscle. What are your recommended courses of action? If you remember that the piriformis muscle performs lateral rotation of the hip, that's a good thing, how to treat the problem is another.

Make sure you know the ACSM coronary risk factors down cold and know how to use the risk factors as they apply to a real case study. You will be asked on the exam about whether or not a client should proceed with a given exercise program based on test results which are given to you. In addition, be sure you know the ACSM walking, running, and cycling formulas down cold for the HFI exam. Know your ACSM relative and absolute contraindications for exercise testing as well. You will be tested on them.

I spent a lot of time on my own learning the details of EKG analysis and learning the different classes of drugs that cardiac patients take and how they influence the exercise response (Heart rate, BP, cardiac output, myocardial oxygen demand) in the body. Good thing, the actual HFI exam is loaded with these questions. I also learned that I'm very proficient when it comes to the finer details of pathophysiology but I have a lot of work to do on clinical exercise testing. .

Good luck to all.

Curt

[Christina]

Hey Curt! Congratulations! I know you studied hard for your HFI certification so you must be very proud.

What are your plans now that you are certified? Are you still going to do in home training?

Christina

[jackson]

Congrats on passing the exam. Anyone who does so in my book deserves it because from my understanding these test arent the easiest to pass.

Best,

Jackson

[C Lenart]

Yes,

I will be doing in-home fitness. Time to take out and execute my "business plan" that I designed last year. I will also look for a little part-time work in the fitness biz as I ramp up my client base. I received several leads through UCLA for part-time work which is where I got my fitness training from.

This week, I'm putting the final touches on my business cards and making the final selection on what insurance company to go with as part of my liability coverage.

Curt