Advanced Health and Fitness Specialist Certification
Millions of people every year are affected by stroke, heart attack, hypertension, osteoporosis, mobility-related injury and illness. A number of different factors, including longer life spans and the obesity epidemic, have also led to a much higher incidence of people with multiple health conditions. While our health challenges as a population have become more complex, our desire to live full, rewarding lives has remained unchanged. There are hip-replacement patients who want to run again, Type 2 diabetics who rely on medication to regulate their blood sugar levels, and people with chronic low-back pain who don’t want to live in constant discomfort.
That’s where ACE-certified Advanced Health and Fitness Specialists come in. They have the expertise to work with clients who have multiple health issues, and develop post-rehabilitative fitness programming for people recovering from cardiovascular, pulmonary, metabolic and musculoskeletal issues. They can identify imbalances that cause postural, movement, balance and other related issues, and implement exercise programs that train the body to overcome, and in some cases, prevent them from occurring.
Why Choose ACE?
In addition to being accredited by the National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA), our AHFS Certification is unparalleled in the fitness industry. Opportunities for advanced professionals qualified to bridge the gap from structured medical treatment to fitness continue to grow, especially as the number of people suffering from one or more health conditions increases. To take the AHFS exam, you must either already hold an NCCA-accredited certification or a bachelor’s degree in exercise science or a related field, and submit proof of 300 hours of relevant work experience, as documented by a qualified professional.
Fitness Fact
Medical Fitness as a Career
Put Your Expertise to Work
The expertise you’ll gain as an ACE-certified AHFS will help you guide patients from regular treatment at a medical facility to routine Saturday morning fitness classes. It will help you lead a person who has suffered from a lifetime of inactivity to permanent, healthy change. Your in‑depth knowledge of various diseases and disorders, and how you can use exercise to alleviate their effects, will give you a greater opportunity to establish meaningful relationships with medical doctors and other health-care professionals. Instead of viewing you as solely a member of the fitness industry, they will view you as a colleague. Someone they can trust to lead their overweight and diabetic patients, their chronic low-back pain sufferers, and athletes they have seen through knee surgery to real, healthy change.
Fitness Fact
ACE Advanced Health and Fitness Specialist Manual

The Advanced Health and Fitness Specialist Manual has been developed and reviewed by 23 of the leading experts in fitness, sports medicine, nutrition, corrective exercise, physical therapy, orthopedic surgery, diabetes and cardiac rehabilitation. The comprehensive resource, complete with essential information about developing rapport with clients, covers cardiovascular, metabolic, and musculoskeletal diseases and disorders most often seen by fitness professionals and helps them move beyond working with apparently healthy individuals.
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Choose Your Study Bundle
Take the first step in becoming an ACE-certified Advanced Health and Fitness Specialist by choosing a bundle of study materials to help you prepare for the exam. Our two options feature a variety of study aids.
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Professional Resources
DEDICATED TO HELPING YOU GROW
In addition to Certified News, our monthly magazine committed to providing new training techniques and research-based insight, ACE has a number of professional resources to help you grow. We offer advanced certifications and continuing education to help you learn. We test the effectiveness of fitness products and trends with independent, third-party research. We host workshops worldwide, and we bring top industry leaders from around the globe together for our annual Symposium events.
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