Do I Need to Switch to the new ACE Group Fitness Instructor Manual (3rd edition) and Materials?
This is a good question asthe ACE Group Fitness Instructor Manual (3rd edition) and supporting materials were just released in early July 2011. Many candidates currently have the 2nd edition materials and are wondering if this is sufficient to help them prepare for their certification exam. Here are some items that can help you to determine if you can continue to prepare using the 2nd edition of the ACE Group Fitness Instructor (GFI) manual, or if you would be better off with the 3rd edition manual.
First, when are you taking your exam? The 2nd edition of the ACE GFI Manual and supporting materials can still be used to prepare for the ACE GFI exam. If your exam is already scheduled, or if you plan to schedule it in 2011, then you should be fine using the 2nd edition manual.
How long have you been studying? If you’ve been working with the 2nd edition Group Fitness Instructor Manual for a while, I’d encourage you to finish up your studies and sit for the exam. As time goes by, more of the updated information in the new manual will appear on the exam.
When will the exam change to reflect the new manual? The exam does not make a dramatic switch from one manual to another. Instead, new questions are regularly rotated into the certification exams each year, even when the manual remains unchanged for several consecutive years. This is something ACE does with all of our certification exams.
ACE certification committees regularly write new exam questions, which are first rotated into exams as experimental (unscored) items to see how they perform, with those that perform well used to replace older and outdated items on future exams. These new questions may focus on updated guidelines or research on exercise programming guidelines, or they might simply focus on topics in the ACE GFI exam content outline that have not been addressed in previous questions. The closer we get to 2012 and beyond, the more the certification questions are likely to reflect the updated standards and guidelines referenced in the 3rd edition ACE GFI manual and materials.
Why switch to the 3rd edition ACE Group Fitness Instructor Manual and supporting materials? The new manual has some important updates that include:
· New chapter 1 titled “Who is the ACE-certified Group Fitness Instructor?” focusing on scope of practice.
· New chapter 2 titled “Principles of Pre-class Preparation and Participant Monitoring and Evaluation” focusing on the steps every ACE GFI should take when teaching any class to evaluate the safety of the environment for the planned exercises and class format and monitor participants to determine the need for modified exercises and intensities. This chapter also covers some of the critical risk factor assessments; however, the more personal trainer specific assessments have been removed (e.g., muscular endurance, cardiorespiratory fitness).
· Greatly enhanced chapter 3 titled “Group Exercise Program Design” that provides a systematic approach to class design that can be used to develop lesson plans for all formats and fitness levels, while incorporating options for progressions and regressions to each exercise.
· New chapter 10 titled “The Business of Group Fitness” covering topics that include group fitness specialization, increased class participation and success, member retention and new business, and class value.
· New “Essentials of Group Fitness Instruction” DVD, featuring Lawrence Biscontini, with more than three hours of practical instruction, demos, and drills to help you learn how to utilize a variety of teaching methods, cues, and motivation to develop and deliver quality group fitness classes in any format.
· It is sold as a set with “ACE’s Essentials of Exercise Science for Fitness Professionals”, which covers human anatomy, exercise physiology, applied kinesiology, nutrition, and the physiology of training. The “Essentials’ manual includes a 2 hour DVD focused on applied kinesiology, and comes with flashcards in some of the study bundles.
· New GFI online exam review course with learning activities designed to get you to apply what you have studied to enhance learning.
In summary, the 3rd edition ACE GFI Manual contains new information, expanded tools for class development and delivery, and updated exercise science guidelines, methods, and research with a 2011 copyright vs. 2007 for the 2nd edition. At this time, you can still prepare for and have success on the ACE Group Fitness Instructor certification exam using the 2nd edition ACE GFI Manual and materials.
Do you still have questions about the exam or your preparation? Contact an Education Consultant at 1-888-825-3636x782.