Additional Certifications

ACE wants health and fitness clients to receive safe exercise instruction and health coaching from well-qualified professionals, while at the same time helping ACE Certified Professionals to limit their own professional liability. To achieve these goals, it is important that ACE Certified Professionals remain current on topics related to risk management, professional liability, ethical and legal business practices, scopes of practice and professional boundaries, client confidentiality and protected health information, and best practices for fostering equity, diversity, inclusion, and culture.

By requiring at least 0.1 CEC (1 hour) of education every two years be focused on topics in the Professional Conduct & Ethics category, ACE is helping ACE Certified Professionals to stay current on these topics.

The topics in the Professional Conduct & Ethics continuing education category are pulled directly from the “Professional Conduct and Risk Management” Domain in the exam content outlines for each ACE Certification.

Relevant topics include ethical and legal business practices, risk management and liability procedures, client confidentiality and protected health information, and best practices for fostering equity, diversity, inclusion, and culture.

Effective 9/13/23, ACE is requiring all ACE Certified Professionals to complete one hour (0.1 CEC) out of the total 20 hours (2.0 CECs) of continuing education focused on Professional Conduct & Ethics during every two-year certification period to become eligible to renew their ACE Certification(s).

• ACE Pros renewing their ACE Certifications before 9/13/23 may renew without meeting the requirement, regardless of their certification expiration date. These ACE Pros will need to meet the requirement on all subsequent certification renewals.
• ACE Pros renewing after 9/13/23 will be required to complete one hour (0.1 CEC) of qualifying Professional Conduct & Ethics continuing education, whether their certification expiration date falls before or after 9/13/23.

Complete renewal requirements starting 9/13/23 include:

• 20 hours (2.0 CECs) of ACE-approved continuing education
• 1 hour (0.1 CEC) out of the total 20 hours (2.0 CECs) must be from the Professional Conduct & Ethics category*
• A current CPR/AED certificate
• A renewal fee

*This is the only change in the requirements to renew an ACE Certification.

ACE reviews its certification and recertification requirements on a regular basis to ensure that they are current for the specific job role (e.g., personal trainer) and aligned with industry-wide best practices for professionals to remain competent. Questions specifically addressing scope of practice, ethical and legal business practices, risk management and liability procedures, client confidentiality, privacy and protected health information, and best practices for fostering equity, diversity, inclusion, and culture make up 15-19% of all ACE Certification exams. Knowing that competence in these areas is required to earn an ACE Certification, staying current in them is important to maintain an ACE Certification.

ACE decided to make this small change to its certification renewal requirements to help ACE Certified Professionals stay current with these key professional conduct and risk management topics. The decision was made with input from ACE’s certification committee members and feedback from employers that the change was both reasonable and appropriate for the professions for which ACE offers certifications.

You may choose from any of the following options to meet the requirement:

• Complete an ACE-approved course from the ACE Continuing Education catalog here. Eligible courses are denoted with an Ethics Course icon.
• Complete an ACE-approved course from a trusted provider listed here. Eligible courses are denoted with an Ethics Course icon.
• Petition a non-ACE approved course that you believe meets the requirement for education on Professional Conduct & Ethics. Learn about the petition process here.
• Earn an additional ACE Certification.

Starting in May 2023, ACE Certified Professionals will be able to petition education they completed on topics in the Professional Conduct & Ethics continuing education category. The online petition process is currently being updated to allow for courses that include one or more hours of education in this category.

The cost of courses varies. View a list of eligible courses here.

If you complete one eligible course within the timeframe when all ACE Certifications are current, it will count toward all certifications.

Eligible courses taken within your current certification cycle will fulfill this requirement and be reflected in your My ACE Account, whether they were taken before or after the 9/13/23 effective date. Any eligible courses taken during a prior certification cycle would not apply to your current certification renewal.

Eligible courses will be automatically recognized in your My ACE Account as fulfilling this requirement. You can track your status in the Manage My CECs section of your My ACE Account.

Yes! You can easily recognize eligible courses in the CEC Power Pass course catalog by looking for the Ethics Course icon next to the course.

Give us a call at 888-519-9845 or email us at support@acefitness.org and we'll be happy to help you out.