Preparing for the Acsm Health/Fitness Instructor Certification Examination | 
 enlarge | Authors: Larry D. Isaacs, Roberta Pohlman
Publisher: Human Kinetics Publishers
Category: Book
List Price: $24.00
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Avg. Customer Rating:  1 reviews
Sales Rank: 1379932
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 271
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.7
ISBN: 0873227328
Dewey Decimal Number: 613.711076
EAN: 9780873227322
ASIN: 0873227328
Publication Date: October 1997
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Book Description
Preparing for the ACSM Health/Fitness Instructor Certification Examination, Second Edition, is the only comprehensive text written specifically for those preparing for the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) Health/Fitness Instructor Certification Exam. It is now updated with the latest exam requirements and full of valuable review tips, practice opportunities, and test-taking strategies. The book makes the most of your study time by providing important background information on the ACSM certification process. With nearly 600 practice questions and a full practice exam, this book is a practical study guide for those aspiring to obtain ACSM certification. The guide will help you
develop confidence in using test-taking strategies to obtain ACSM certification,
learn your strengths and weaknesses before you take the exam, and
know what to expect and avoid surprises on exam day. Preparing for the ACSM Health/Fitness Instructor Certification Examination, Second Edition, is divided into two parts and a series of appendixes. Part I contains valuable information about test certification, applying and preparing for the exam, test administration, and the test format. The book presents the 10 content areas of the written test and the approximate number of questions in each area, along with specific tasks you can expect to perform during the practical test. You'll also find test-taking suggestions and special precautions that will help you avoid mistakes and increase your chance of passing the exam. Part II presents nearly 600 study questions. One chapter is devoted to questions from each of the exam's 10 content areas to help you pinpoint your areas of strength and weakness. Each study question is designed to assess your knowledge, skills, and abilities as measured against ACSM's standards for certification. At the end of each study question chapter, you'll find a detailed answer sheet with the answers to the questions and a list of references, complete with page numbers telling you where to go for more information. Two special chapters also prepare you to solve metabolic equations and answer questions when exam information is presented as a case study. In the appendixes, you'll find a complete 115-question practice exam that tests your readiness for the actual exam. It simulates the exam in terms of length, time limit, and content. With Preparing for the ACSM Health/Fitness Instructor Certification Examination, Second Edition, you have everything you need to prepare for, practice, and succeed at obtaining ACSM certification.
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| Customer Reviews:
Full of Errors! May 8, 2001
33 out of 34 found this review helpful
Edit 4/19/05 - My review below was for the FIRST edition of this book, published in 1997. I just discovered today that there's a second edition, published in 2004. I see that Amazon put this review with the new (second) edition. I don't know whether the errors mentioned below were corrected in the second edition. Thus, please only take this review to apply to the first edition. ~Groovy Vegan
This book is study guide for ACSM's Health/Fitness Instructor (HFI) certification exam, considered the "gold standard" certification for personal trainers. I'm quite familiar with this book, because I used it as a study aid in my HFI exam study group. The bulk of this guide is practice multiple choice questions, organized in categories found on the exam: functional anatomy, exercise physiology, emergency procedures/safety, etc. The authors developed these questions from the same references ACSM used to construct the exam. For each multiple choice question, Isaacs and Pohlman provide the "correct answer" and the reference + page number from which they developed the question.
Unfortunately, this book is a poor execution of a good idea. Although it has some positive qualities, such as an explanation of how the ACSM exam works, the reasons not to buy outweigh the reasons to buy.
Reasons not to buy in order of importance:
(1) The book is full of errors. Two dedicated HFI students checked EVERY reference of every question. Many of the questions in this book give the wrong answer and in other cases, all the answers are correct or the authors' choice is highly debatable. About 20 to 25% of my book is marked up with corrections. The error rate is too high to be acceptable.
(2) Some of the material is out of date. In 1998 when this book was published, ACSM's primary exam reference was "ACSM's Guidelines for Exercise Testing and Prescription, 5th edition," 1995. ACSM now uses the 6th edition, year 2000, and has revised the exam accordingly.
(3) This is an independent book, not produced by ACSM, as the authors state on the copyright page. That is not necessarily a bad thing, given that Human Kinetics generally produces quality material. But all things being equal, I would prefer a study guide prepared by the certification agency that constructed the exam.
Please note that the book is a study guide for the written portion of the exam only. They give an overview of the practical portion and tell where to find the study information, such as the correct bike test protocols. But this book does not provide the detailed information necessary to pass the bike test nor the other practical stations.
Due to the 3 reasons above, I recommend that you don't buy this book. The HFI exam is too important and expensive to take your chances studying from so much incorrect information.
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