AFAA Certification Test Update

Greeting ladies and gentlemen, this brief post is for those of you who are interested in becoming a NASM AFAA Group exercise instructor. This brief AFAA certification test update will detail the process as it is now that NASM has taken over AFAA.

If you read the more prevalent posts on the interwebz about the process, though extremely helpful, you will be misinformed regarding the current procedure. I decided that prior to testing I would get on a phone call with an AFAA representative to acquire any details that may have changed.

As of this moment, I am not yet a certified group ex instructor. I’m about to take the test, and I learned some new information that will prove helpful to those of you who are going to take the test for the first time as I am.

One very important fact to note, a piece of information that will be greatly helpful to someone like me is that the test is entirely multiple choice. I asked this several times, and the representative stated “Yes, it is all multiple choice.” Multiple choice tests are most often the best case scenario. Assuming that you don’t have a freaking clue what an answer is, you always have the option of using “process of elimination.” The other great thing is that you can always come back to a question later. This is helpful because sometimes one of the later questions you run into may trigger you remembering the answer to an earlier question. However, if you have to remember and write terms and long sentences, as in the practice sheet, that can be more challenging.

The test is still administered online, and a proctor will be watching you take the test via a webcam. You have one hour to answer the 100 multiple choice questions. I have taken the practice test several times, and out of the 30 questions, I had 2 wrong the first time around, and I finished in 7 minutes. Now, I get them all right, and finish in about 5 minutes. If this practice test is any indication of what will be on the real test, I’m going to smoke this thing!

Another important fact to be aware of is that they WILL allow you to retest if you bomb on the exam. However, it’s going to cost you! You’ll be dropping a pretty dime to the tune of half the original cost of the material. $149 is what it will cost you to retest. I was going to take the test right away, that is how confident I am in my ability to use logic and reason in figuring things out, especially when multiple choice questions are involved. However, this minor detail has prompted me to study a bit more. Haha. You might want to do the same.

The final piece of information that I want to share with you guys is that the practical portion is no more. In the past, they’d have you do some demonstrations, lead a class, etc. However, since NASM took over, that is no longer the case. I suppose that since we have to audition for the gyms, it makes no sense to them in keeping this aspect of it. It takes time, cost money, and in today’s world, cost cutting is everything. This is sort of good news as it eliminates one of the portions you need to prepare for, and allows you to focus solely on the knowledge portion.

I plan to take the test in the next couple of weeks, and I will further update this article with any other important details that may help you on your journey to becoming a NASM AFAA certified group exercise instructor!

I took the test a day or two later, on a whim. I passed! Read more about that here!