ACSM's Resources for the Personal Trainer

This is the book the commercial gym industry DOES NOT WANT YOU TO KNOW ABOUT.For initial orientation, there is a critical distinction in health-related "physical therapy" provided by "personal trainers" and, alternatively, by "physical therapists" - federal Medicare insurance will reimburse a person's costs for physical therapy provided by "physical therapists," but not for physical therapy provided by "personal trainers," such as are employed by a commercial gym.Need I go on?This review is not a blanket condemnation of "personal trainers," but is a cautionary note to prospective consumers of "personal trainer" services, particularly as obtained from a commercial gym. I do not want to offend the entire profession of personal trainers. In fact, I blame malignantly errant commercial gyms, rather than the personal trainers these commercial gyms employ. The fitness industry "standards" set forth in ASCM's book should be of great assistance in implementing these industry standards, and bringing wayward commercial gyms into line with these industry standards - if these standards are enforced.My sincere apologies to those personal trainers who are sincerely dedicated to helping their clients. For example, I have recently attended a series of group aquatic exercises sponsored by my County government (ten 1-hour sessions for $ 48) - and the workout leaders have been incredibly effective, and the one hour sessions are actually 60-minutes long, nonstop exercises, that don't miss a beat."Personal trainers" and "physical therapists" basically perform the same type of physical therapy or physical training - in fact, physical therapists can be employed by commercial gyms. However, while physical therapists are licensed and regulated by State or local governments, and require a high level of formal education in order to become licensed, "personal trainers" are typically neither licensed nor regulated, and are not required to have much if any formal education or practical experience, to become "certified."Commercial gyms often seek to induce neophyte gym members to purchase "PACKAGES" of "personal trainer" services, at very expensive prices - this is real financial gravy for commercial gyms.The American College of Sport Medicine (ACSM), which produced ACSM's RESOURCES FOR THE PERSONAL TRAINER, is the premiere fitness organization in the U.S. (if not the world). ASCM's books in the field of fitness and exercise are not only authoritative, but are the "GOLD STANDARD" - not only for, e.g., "personal trainers" in the fitness industry (including, e.g., commercial gyms), but also for the separate but similar profession of "physical therapists."The text of ASCM's RESOURCES FOR THE PERSONAL TRAINER is of the highest caliber - I have since purchased other ACSM books, the content of which are of equal high quality.In my searing and costly personal experience, any previously uninitiated person interested in becoming a member of a commercial gym, and has no experience with either a commercial gym or with "personal trainers" on the staff of a commercial gym, the customer of a commercial gym will most likely be pressured by the gym to sign a contract for a "personal trainer" on the staff of the commercial gym, for an expensive "package" of individual training sessions - this is a RACKET."Package" contracts with a commercial gym's "personal trainer" is an extremely lucrative area of a commercial gym - they are also an area with enormous - indeed, wide-open - potential for abuse, economic exploitation and economic crime, as I have personally experienced or have been exposed to, at four different commercial gyms of three different national commercial gym chains.This ACSM book provides the fitness industry "STANDARDS" applicable to "personal trainers," whether in the commercial gym industry or elsewhere. This is the book which can help anyone be in charge of not only their relationship with a "personal trainer," but also with the quality of improvement in one's fitness as a result of that relationship.CAVEAT: Customers cannot bring their own personal trainers into a commercial gym, but are required by the commercial gym to hire the commercial gym's own on-staff personal trainers.This ACSM book also provides a prospective customer of a commercial gym, who intends to employ the services of a personal trainer, to know what to expect - according to ASCM industry standards, from a personal trainer, as well as to criteria by which a personal trainer's performance may be measured. Ergo, personal trainer accountability.Parenthetically, there are "good" personal trainers (indeed, excellent personal trainers) out there - see, e.g., the "Healthy Learning" DVD entitled CRITICAL ROLE OF RESISTANCE EXERCISE FOR FAT LOSS AND FITNESS, by Wayne L. Westcott, or the book entitled MORNING STRENGTH WORKOUTS by Annette Lange, a certified personal trainer as well as, ironically, a consultant to the commercial EQUINOX fitness clubs. I own both.This ACSM book is expensive, but it's worth its price to people are new to commercial gyms; who want to be in the driver's seat in dealing with "personal trainers" in particular, but also commercial gyms; and who want to maximize their return on their investment to improve their physical fitness.

I purchased this book first and foremost to help myself and then hopefully to assist others via personal training. This resource guide is slightly cheaper on Amazon then having to buy through ACSM. Quite frankly, in the anatomy sections of this text, many of the images that show various muscles are far higher quality than the lousy Anatomy & Physiology textbook I shelled out $200 for this semester at college. And while muscle origins and insertions are always difficult to learn, I find that ACSM addresses the material in a practical way that, while still hard, I think will ultimately teach me these critical muscle components more effectively than the inaccurately labeled anatomical models at my college and their rote memorization.I've read from several online sources that those planning to attend the 3 day ACSM CPT workshop should read this text before going, so that's what I'm doing. I'm only a little over 100 pages in, but am very impressed not only with the layout and structure of the material and the images, but the text itself is a good quality hardcover which will stand up to a lot of wear, which is good since I'm sure I'll be consulting it again and again.I confess I'm flabbergasted at how little the real-world personal training industry resembles the standards espoused in this and other teaching texts on personal training. But that's what accountability and steady growth are for.The only downside is I would like to also have the Kindle version of this text, but the e-book is exorbitantly high--much more than should be necessary for an e-book format. Maybe if I win the lottery....

This is insane and who would buy it unless they were studying for their CPT w/ ACSM? I knocked a star off due to the complexity because I am no longer geared toward medical school and I'm having a hard time re-calibrating my brain in that direction. BUT if my brain were still calibrated in that direction, I'd give it 5 stars for the thoroughness of the material. But don't let this be your only resource. Two more books at least: ACSM's 1.) Guidelines for Exercise Testing & Prescription and also 2.) Certification Review. These other two books will reinforce the material in this book and will guide you toward what's important rather than your having to hurt yourself trying to learn everything this book has to offer.

ACSM holds the "gold standard" for information about exercise training and testing. I had first heard of them in college, and ordered this book when I was a few years out of grad school, but needing an updated source. ACSM came through, as always. They bring up some really good points and things to consider when you're working together with someone to train him or her. And, it has updated information, according to what's been brought forth to the health and fitness world via studies, that they back. For instance, there's a part in the book about stretching. When I was first going to school and then when I got out, you always would have your trainees stretch after they had warmed up. This book brings to light some new information about stretching and its benefits (and there are other topics that they bring up in the book, like this). Very interesting, up-to-date, and I know I'm always getting the best information on training and fitness when it comes to buying something from ACSM. Highly recommended!

I wanted a hard copy of book so I could flip through pages quickly. Fair price and information is same as newer edition.

The book has out of date information for the current ACSM exam, but it was more than enough for me to pass the exam, and I paid next to nothing for it. The information in the book is still good to know for personal training, and the format and layout are appealing.