The ACE
Mover Method ™
Facilitating behavior change to empower people to make healthier lifestyle choices.
Empower lasting behavior change
The ACE Mover Method equips health and fitness professionals with an evidence-based framework to build client self-efficacy and support sustainable healthy lifestyle habits, not just short-term results.
Build stronger client connections
By emphasizing empathy, trust, communication, and collaboration, the ACE Mover Method helps pros guide clients along individualized paths that meet them where they are in their health and fitness journeys.
Set the standards for responsible coaching
Rooted in our long-standing philosophy and evidence-based strategies, the ACE Mover Method sets a trusted standard for responsible behavior-change coaching in a crowded marketplace.
What is the ACE Mover Method?
The ACE Mover Method is a philosophy that states facilitating healthy lifestyle behaviors begins with empowering clients to take a personalized journey during which they achieve self-efficacy because the exercise professional or health coach practices empathy and trust, communication and collaboration.
Through actionable steps, the ACE Mover Method offers a way for health and fitness pros to get people moving toward a better quality of life. It is evidence-based and thus is what sets us apart in a space often crowded with promises of immediate results and short-term successes.
This philosophy represents and underscores the respected role ACE plays as a leader in making evidence-based behavior-change facilitation the center point of programs, interventions, and other work to get people moving.
ACE Mover Method in Practice: The ABC Approach
Applying the ACE Mover Method starts with recognizing that a client-centered approach means believing individuals are the foremost experts on themselves. Application of the method means upholding the idea that powerful, open-ended questions and active listening should be the anchor of every conversation. Empowering people to achieve that change is made possible through application of the ACE ABC Approach:
Ask open-ended questions
Step 1 — Ask powerful starter questions to identify what the client hopes to accomplish by working with you.
Break down barriers
Step 2 — Ask probing questions to discover what potential obstacles may get in the way of the client reaching their specific goals.
Collaborate
Step 3 — Collaborate to set SMART goals and establish specific action steps toward those goals.
By applying the scientific evidence for what works in behavior-change coaching, the ACE ABC Approach helps health and fitness pros guide clients to be active participants on their paths to lifestyle change.
Why the ACE Mover
Method Works
The ACE Mover Method combines motivational interviewing, active listening, and other behavior-change strategies to support lasting lifestyle change. Research demonstrates that even vulnerable populations can achieve meaningful improvements in physical activity, confidence, and adherence when these skills are applied systematically.
For example...
A study of participants facing multiple barriers showed that those who received ACE Mover Method coaching significantly increased their weekly physical activity and reported higher self-efficacy, illustrating how behavior-change strategies translate into real-world results.
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ACE Mover Method in action
Today, you will find the ACE Mover Method integrated into our Personal Trainer and Health Coach Study Programs as well as ACE Specialist Programs and online courses that relate to behavior-change coaching. This includes:
More ACE philosophies and frameworks
A complete, systematic approach to exercise programming that combines assessments, behavior-change strategies, and fitness improvements, built on strong client rapport and connection.
Empowers participants to improve health, fitness and overall quality of life by creating a climate that fosters success.
A research-backed framework designed to help your clients build sustainable habits that support long-term well-being.