As a health and fitness professional, continuing education is essential to keeping your certifications current, but what are your best options? Answering these four questions is a great way to help direct your continuing-education choices: What is your goal or target demographic? When do you need to have this education completed? What is your budget? What type of education platform do you enjoy?

Based on your answers, you can determine what continuing-education options are right for you. To get the most bang for your buck, consider earning additional certifications, such as a specialty or another core certification, which will increase your credibility in the health and fitness industry and enhance your resume or professional bio. Additionally, becoming a specialist in your field offers you more tools to produce customized plans to meet your clients’ objectives. ACE’s specialty certifications include:

• Behavior Change
• Fitness Nutrition
• Sports Conditioning
• Mind Body
• Weight Management
• Orthopedic Exercise
• Youth Fitness
• Functional Training
• Therapeutic Exercise
• Senior Fitness

Each of these programs includes different materials and approaches for you to learn the content. You can find a list of prerequisites and frequently asked questions for specialty certifications here.

Specialty certifications and additional core certifications also provide the maximum number of continuing education credits (CECs) to renew your ACE certification. You can use these CECs even if you are certified through another organization. In fact, ACE certifications are approved by most other certification organizations, including the American Association of Medical Assistants, American College of Sports Medicine, California Board of Registered Nursing, Commission on Dietetic Registration, The Cooper Institute, National Academy of Sports Medicine, National Council on Strength and Fitness, and National Federation of Professional Trainers.

Need another reason to obtain a specialty certification? They don’t expire, so you won’t have to pay additional fees to keep them valid. Additionally, earning another core certification (Personal Trainer, Health Coach, Group Fitness, or Medical Exercise Specialist) will reduce your biannual renewal fee and dramatically expand your knowledge in the field.

We understand that everyone learns differently, so we offer many options for you to build your knowledge and satisfy your recertification requirements. In the end, the choice of what continuing education to pursue is yours, but remember you can always receive assistance by calling the ACE support team at 800-825-3636.