American Fitness Index featured on the front page of USA Today on July 23, 2025. Read the article.
In 2008, the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) launched the ACSM American Fitness Index (Fitness Index), in partnership with the Elevance Health Foundation. The Fitness Index ranks America’s 100 largest cities on a composite of health behaviors, health outcomes, community infrastructure, and local policies that support a physically active lifestyle. With the help of the Fitness Index, local officials, community groups, health organizations, and individual residents can assess factors contributing to their city’s fitness, health, and quality of life.
The Fitness Index offers tailored guidance to local officials and community leaders that are ready to make their city one of the healthiest cities in America. This assistance focuses on strategies and policies with the best evidence for improving health, increasing physical activity, and that does the most good for the most residents – with a priority on under-served populations.
The ACSM American Fitness Index Advisory Board is a standing board separate from the ACSM Board of Trustees. The Advisory Board is committed to a strong link and communications with the ACSM Board of Trustees, membership, and existing strategic initiatives.
Chair: Stella Volpe, Ph.D., RDN, ACSM-CEP, FACSM, Virginia Tech University
This session explores the physiology of hydration through an integrated lens—examining how carbohydrate, sodium, flavor, and fluid interact to influence intake, absorption, retention, and performance. We’ll review current research on fluid balance, osmotic drivers, and palatability, highlighting mechanisms that underpin voluntary intake and thermoregulation. Attendees will gain insight into individualized strategies, including sweat profiling and timing approaches, to optimize euhydration and mitigate performance decrements associated with >2% body-mass loss. Practical applications will be linked to laboratory- and field-based research, ensuring translation from bench to field. This pre-conference equips you with evidence-based tools to support athlete hydration across diverse environments and sporting contexts.
