ACSM’s credentialing programs encourage ongoing competency and continuing education and strive to maintain a high standard for our certified and registered professionals. Therefore, all ACSM credentialed professionals are required to recertify or renew their credentials.
The requirements for maintaining an ACSM credential vary by level, but all professionals who are ACSM certified are required to earn a specific amount of continuing education credits (CECs) during their 3 year certification cycle. Along with this educational component, ACSM charges a nominal administrative fee for recertification/renewal.
If one chooses not to earn CECs, the option to retake the credentialling exam is also available.
ACSM does NOT award CECs for auditing college courses, job role duties (personal training or teaching a group exercise class), job shadowing, reading books/articles, CPR/BLS courses, EMT training or lifeguarding.
Unfortunately, ACSM does not have a listing of all fitness/health organizations and all of the programs that they offer. We have a general rule: We accept CECs that are directly related to your ACSM certification and if another certifying body (fitness/health organization) offers CECs for that event, we will match that amount. For us to accept them, they must have some ‘governing body’ or major fitness organizations’ stamp of approval (ACE, NASM, NSCA, etc.), even if ACSM is not listed.
Please contact the organization to inquire about how many CECs they award or how many contact hours it is worth. Typically, there is a listing of organizations that award CECs for the event, or the organization that puts on the event will award CECs, we will match that amount. The CEC equivalency is always 1.0 = 1.0, but if the organization uses the decimal system then its 0.1 = 1.0. If there is any doubt, it typically equates to 1 CEC per hour of participation.
Please keep a copy of CEC documentation for your records. We do not post any of your CECs earned through other organizations in your CEC Dashboard, you must keep track of them on your own. Certificants are responsible for self-reporting and uploading (including support documentation of participation, attendance, etc.) their continuing education and professional development activities in their CEC Dashboard.
When it is time for you to renew your certification, access your CEC Dashboard to self-report and upload CECs, complete recertification online and pay the recertification fee. To ensure high standards of competency and continuing education, ACSM will audit 10% of recertifications submitted for each certification.
You do not need to contact ACSM for an extension.
There is an automatic six-month grace period, but your certification is considered INACTIVE and you will not receive any benefits of being certified during this time.
Your certification will be re-instated once the CECs are self-reported and uploaded in your CEC Dashboard, the recertification fee paid, and the $80 late fee paid. Your next recertification cycle will continue on the original schedule.
If you do not recertify within the six-month grace period (which ends June 30 each year), your only option to recertify would be to retake the examination. However, you must meet the current minimum requirements to take the exam.
If you do not meet the current minimum requirements, you can opt to take another ACSM certification. For example, if you let your ACSM-EP certification expire, and you do not have a bachelor’s degree in Exercise Science, Exercise Physiology or Kinesiology, you would not be able to take the ACSM-EP exam for recertification. You would meet the minimum requirements for the ACSM-CPT or the ACSM-GEI.
Once you have earned your certification, you will have three (3) years to accumulate the required number of Continuing Education Credits (CECs), Continuing Education Units (CEUs), Continuing Medical Education (CMEs), and/or the equivalent based on your certification.
In addition, you must pay the required recertification fee and maintain CPR certification. See below for credit and fee requirements.
Level of Certification | CECs | Fee | |
ACSM Group Exercise Instructor | 45 CECs | $60 | |
ACSM Certified Exercise Physiologist | 60 CECs | $70 | |
If you do not recertify by the expiration date on your certificate, you are automatically granted a six (6) month grace period. When you recertify during this grace period, your certification is considered inactive and you will be charged a $80 late fee.
ACSM offers many opportunities to earn CECs. One option would be through Approved Providers. ACSM’s Education Department reviews programs that meet specific educational guidelines and then recognizes the programs as ACSM Approved Providers. Visit our Approved Providers to earn additional CECs from home, workshops, meetings or conferences.
** If you earned CEC’s from an ACSM Approved Provider, these CECs will not appear on your CEC Dashboard. You should obtain documentation of these CECs from the program organizer and keep the documentation for your records. Please upload and self-report your CECs and do not send your documentation to ACSM.
An organization DOES NOT have to be listed on the Approved Provider list for us to accept their CECs. If the ‘event’ is directly related to your certification, we will accept it. Typically, there is a listing of organizations that award CECs for the event, OR the actual organization that puts on the event will award CECs, we will match that amount.
The general rule is that the CEC equivalency is always 1 = 1, but if the organization uses the decimal system, then its 0.1 = 1.0.
If there is any doubt, it typically equates to 1 CEC per hour of participation. Please be sure to keep a copy of the documentation proving your attendance and upload and self-report in your CEC Dashboard.
ACSM tracks all continuing education credits (CECs) and continuing medical education credits (CMEs) earned from ACSM Online Learning and ACSM meetings (International Health & Fitness Summit, Annual Meeting & World Congress, Integrative Physiology of Exercise, Sports Medicine Essentials, and Advanced Team Physician Course).
All other CECs must be tracked through the Self-Reporting tool in your CEC Dashboard.
ACSM tracks all continuing education credits (CECs) and continuing medical education credits (CMEs) earned from ACSM Online Learning and ACSM meetings (IDEA & ACSM Health & Fitness Summit, Annual Meeting, Integrative Physiology of Exercise, Sports Medicine Essentials and Advanced Team Physician Cours) automatically within your CEC Dashboard.
All other CECs must be tracked through the Self-Reporting tool in your CEC Dashboard.
ACSM awards 10 CECs per college credit hour if the course meets the following criteria:
Examples of acceptable courses are: exercise science, kinesiology, exercise physiology, human performance, physical education, athletic training and anatomy.
Please refer to the exam content outline of your certification to determine if your course content is related.
College course CECs must be tracked by logging in and accessing your CEC Dashboard. Please enter your CECs at the converted rate (x10) as the self-reporting tool does not automatically convert it for you. Please upload and self-report your CECs and do not send your documentation to ACSM.
If you have questions regarding college courses and recertification, please contact the ACSM certification department.
Up to 15 CECs can be earned by teaching and lecturing per recertification cycle, with a maximum of 5 CECs per year. Support documentation examples include course catalog, course syllabus, letter from supervisor or meeting brochure showing the certificant as a lecturer.
Teaching: academic teaching at the college level if the content is consistent with the knowledge and/or skills of the ACSM certification(s) and the course is taught at an accredited institution.
Lecturing: lecture given at the state, regional or national level and/or if CECs are offered for the lecture attendees.
You can earn 10 CECs for publications in peer-reviewed professional journals, books, or accepted abstracts; authored or co-authored.
ACSM does not award credits for CPR or BLS, as they are required for ACSM specific credentials. Educational courses for ACLS may be applied towards your recertification. The number of educational contact hours for ACLS training are equivalent to the number of CECs awarded (e.g. 3 contact hours = 3 ACSM CECs). Note: This does not include the actual completion of the ACLS certification exam.
ACSM CECs can be applied if you earned the new ACSM certification during your renewal period.
ACSM CECs are awarded as follows
Certifications earned from other certifying organizations cannot be used for ACSM certification renewal. Also, to earn credits for gaining an additional ACSM credential, it must be higher than the original credential.
Please upload your documents and self-report CECs through the CEC Dashboard. Do not send your documentation to ACSM.
Save all CEC documentation for one calendar year following the renewal of your certification in case you are audited.
No, CECs are continuing education credits and, as such, do not carry over from one recertification time frame to another. Once you renew your certification, you will begin again at zero earning CECs for your next cycle. Your progress will also reset to 0%.
Certificants must retain evidence of all CECs earned for the reporting cycle. Examples of documented proof include certificate copies, letters of attendance with CEC verification, transcripts, first page of an article or manuscript showing author, title, publication name, etc. To ensure high standards of competency and continuing education, ACSM will audit 10% of recertifications submitted for each certification. Audited certificants are required to provide documentation of all CECs to the ACSM National Office within 30 days of notification.
ACSM automatically adds CECs earned from ACSM Online Learning and ACSM meetings to the cerificant’s record, including, IDEA & ACSM Health & Fitness Summit, Annual Meeting, Integrative Physiology of Exercise, Sports Medicine Essentials and Advanced Team Physician Course. Audit documentation is reviewed for validity by the CCRB Continuing Professional Education (CPE) Subcommittee. If the recertification is complete and the appropriate number of CECs are self-reported, the professional will be notified that the credential is valid until the next recertification due date. If the submission of CECs is determined to be insufficient, an appropriate amount of time will be allowed for the professional to earn additional, acceptable CECs. If the certificant is unable to provide documented proof within 30 days, certification will be considered inactive, and the individual will have six months to complete the recertification process by providing the documentation or by obtaining new CECs.
Certificants who fail to complete recertification during their scheduled period are automatically granted a six-month grace period. During the six-month grace period, the certification is considered expired and inactive. These certificants are exempt from receiving any benefits of being certified. During inactive status, do not market yourself as ACSM certified. Once the late reporting certificant successfully completes recertification and pays the $80 late fee, the next recertification cycle will continue on the original schedule.
Inactive certificants can earn CECs during their grace period. CECs earned during the grace period may not be applied to the next recertification cycle. The late recertification process may be completed on the CEC Dashboard. Exceptions to the grace period policy are considered on a case-by-case basis for documented cases of serious illness, bereavement, military deployment, natural disasters and other emergencies.
If you do renew during the six-month grace period and certification becomes invalid, you are no longer ACSM certified, and your certification can only be reinstated. Reinstatement is not available through your CEC Dashboard. It is only available by emailing certification@acsm.org.
Different professional organizations offer continuing education credits; most commonly called CECs (continuing education credits), CEUs (continuing education units), and CMEs (continuing medical education credits). Although each has a different contact hour requirement, most CECs require one contact hour of professional activity for one credit.
A certificate of attendance may not show CEC’s earned, you will need to obtain a CEC Certificate. ACSM only recognizes workshops or conferences that have been approved for continuing education credits (CEC), whether offered by ACSM or another organization. When a conference or workshop is approved to offer continuing education credits, the program has been evaluated by an outside professional organization and is considered to contain significant educational material.
A certificate of attendance only means that you attended a workshop, it does not guarantee that the workshop provided significant educational material or any continuing education credits.
ACSM tracks all continuing education credits (CECs) and continuing medical education credits (CMEs) earned from ACSM Online Learning and ACSM meetings (IDEA & ACSM Health & Fitness Summit, Annual Meeting, Integrative Physiology of Exercise, Sports Medicine Essentials and Advanced Team Physician Cours) automatically within your CEC Dashboard.
All other CECs must be tracked through the Self-Reporting tool in your CEC Dashboard. Please upload your documents and self-report CECs in the CEC Dashboard. Do not send your documentation to ACSM. Save all CEC documentation for one calendar year following the renewal of your certification in case you are audited.
ACSM does not distribute hard-copy certificates. Professionals may purchase a physical certificate copy or wallet card through the American Registry. Personalized links are sent in the first onboarding email to certified professionals. Certified professionals may access a free jpeg certification certificate by visiting the American Registry or emailing ACSM at certification@acsm.org.
Another option is to login on the ACSM website and click the CEC Dashboard and Report CECs link.
Look for and click on the newspaper icon in the lower right corner of the Certification dashboard.
Emeritus Certification Status allows an individual to retain a professional title without the need to meet future recertification requirements.
Completed ACSM Emeritus Certification Status applications will be reviewed by the ACSM CCRB Committee.
An emeritus status is available for those who meet the following criteria:
Certified Professionals who achieve ACSM Emeritus Certification Status will use the designation “Emeritus” in their certification credentials e.g. “ACSM Certified Personal Trainer – Emeritus” or “ACSM-CPT-E”.
If an emeritus professional re-enters the workforce, they must reinstate to active status; the cost of reinstatement is $165 USD per certification.
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