Jana or Carolyn

[beth6395]

Can you tell me how to PM you? I just wanted to say Thanks and ask a few more questions?

You both mentioned AFAA first and then ACE. What if I take the weekend course only through AFAA and then take ACE Exam? Do I need to take both? Can I get certified through both? What if I put the 6 months or so into studying for ACE and just taking one can I do it?

I have been doing tons of research on this because I am 35 and I want to make the right decision. I looked into NSCA I am very interested in Certified strength and Conditioning Specialist working with athletes which means I need to have a bachelors degree or a chiropractic Medicine Degree. I want to work with athletes so If I start off getting my personal trainer cert I can get into school in the fall. I also have to get cpr cert which I can do anytime. Anyhow. I welcome any and all input on this I am so thankful for any advice and guidance.

beth6395

 

[pixie9]

Beth, to PM someone, just click on their user name in red above the post. It should lead you to a screen where you can email or PM someone.

The only reason I mentioned the AFAA cert is because it offers you hands on experience and you don't get that with ACE or any other cert in which you sit for an exam. It's not necessary and I didn't do it. You can be certified with as many groups as you like too. I'm thinking about taking the CPT exam with the NSCA and keeping my ACE cert as well. It is true that you need some sort of advanced degree to sit for the Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist(CSCS). My husband has his and he's a Physical Therapist.

if you want to work with athletes, you may want to consider becoming a Physical Therapist or an Athletic Trainer. Becoming a Physical Therapist is a master's program (and they are moving more and more to a doctoral program), so that may be too much education for what you would like to do. ATCs(Athletic Trainers) usually have a bachelor's (sometimes a master's) and have to pass a certification exam upon graduation. Athletic trainers work a lot with athletes and do some rehab as well. A good place to start is to become certified as a personal trainer and work up from there.

I studied for about 3-4 months for my ACE exam and took a 2 day review course from Exercise Etc. It was about $200 but covered tons of material and was very helpful for me. Looking back, I probably could have gotten away with studying for about a month and taking the course and passing just fine. You may not need/want the course but I was scared of the exam so I think it helped me become more confident. I actually scored very high on the exam and I really think it was because of that course. Also, I only ended up using the manual to study from. I know ACE offers tons of study materials and you can spend loads of money on that. All I needed was the manual and I was fine.

PM me if you have more questions or we can continue with this thread if you like.;-)

Carolyn