Fitness Therapy Certification (FT)

Fitness Therapist Certification (FT)

Every day, thousands of health club members and clients of personal trainers are discharged from prescriptive medical care and need to undergo a supervised fitness therapy program, specifically designed around their condition.

The ISSA's Fitness Therapist certification course takes the best technologies from the health care and fitness realms, and combines them into a course that helps personal trainers and health care specialists take over when medical treatment is over. Whether you're a fitness trainer wanting to expand your clientele to include individuals with medical conditions that require special care when exercising, or a health care professional desiring to go beyond the often ridiculous restrictions imposed by insurance companies, the ISSA Fitness Therapy Program opens up many new channels in which to provide your skills.

Spearheading the drive to fill this need, the ISSA's Fitness Therapy program takes the best technologies from both the health care and fitness realms, and combines them into a program that helps personal trainers and health care specialists to take over when the prescribed medical treatment is over.

Your course materials will also include your Home Study Section Quizzes. Once you have submitted at least 66% of your course quizzes, you will be sent your official Home Study final examination. You may also choose to complete your Section Quizzes online, if you would prefer. Should you choose to complete your quizzes online, once you have submitted at least 66% of them, you will be sent your official final examination.

• Post-Rehab Orthopedic Exercise
• Therapeutic Flexibility
• Stress Management
• Industrial Fitness/Workers Compensation
• Avoiding Injury Recurrence
• Drug Interaction With Exercise
• Sports Medicine and Health Care
• Achieving Maximum Insurance Reimbursement In A Managed Care Environment

Learn to work with and develop exercise programs for individuals suffering from:

• Arthritis
• Osteoporosis
• Stroke
• Cardiac Problems
• Asthma
• Diabetes
• Hypertension
• Cancer Wellness
• Muscular Dystrophy
• Post Menopause

Learn how to help clients suffering from orthopedic problems and conditions of the:

• Neck
• Shoulders
• Upper Back
• Low Back
• Hips
• Knees
• Ankles
• Elbows and Hands

This course is recommended for personal trainers, physical therapists, occupational therapists, chiropractors, nurses and other health care professionals.

Included in the Fitness Therapy (FT) course

The easy-to-follow course book (256 pages) is enhanced by a workbook & study guide with detailed learning objectives to help you get the most out of your studies.

The FT Course has prerequisites. Please call to enroll or learn more! 800-892-4772 or International 805-745-8111

20 Years of Personal Training Certification

Since 1988, the ISSA has certified and provided continuing fitness education to nearly 100,000 people just like you who want to help others feel better, look better and improve the quality of their lives.

We are unconditionally committed to providing expanded access to the highest quality personal training certification and continuing fitness education programs available, advancing our industry as a whole, and developing greater access to career opportunities for those who share our vision of Creating a Stronger, Healthier World™.

Try our Career Calculator to calculate how much extra money you could earn this year by turning your passion for fitness into profit as a personal trainer with just a few clients a week.

ISSA Fitness Therapy Course Study Options

It all starts with home study materials. Our course is self-paced, so you can take as much or as little time as you need to complete it, up to two years. The home study materials you receive are all that is necessary to pass your exam. We also provide one-on-one toll-free phone support Monday through Friday to our students at no additional charge.

Enhance Your Studies With Online Learning

We also provide the ability to enhance your home studies with online learning at no additional charge. ISSAtrainer.com, our exclusive members-only site, includes interactive quizzes, online educational support, as well as audio muscle and supplement glossaries (so that you know how to pronounce the new terms you learn) and a video exercise library that demonstrates proper form for some of the most common and most effective strength exercises.

You receive the home study materials, section quizzes, and online access when you enroll in ISSA.

Your certification exam is open book and untimed. We will mail your final exam once you have completed/submitted at least 66% of your course quizzes. You may choose to complete your Section Quizzes either online or via mail--whichever direction works best for you.

ISSA Fitness Therapist Certification Exam

Your final examination consists of four sections:

• SECTION I: The first part of your Fitness Therapist Examination is worth 140 points and consists of 35 short essays
• SECTION II: The second part of your examination is worth 60 points and consists of 30 anatomy-related questions
• SECTION III: The third part of your Fitness Therapist Examination includes four case studies, worth 100 points
• SECTION IV: The fourth part of your examination is worth 100 points and consists of 5 learning experiences

How long does it take to complete the certification?

You have up to two years from the date of enrollment to complete your course. However, you may complete the course as quickly or as slowly as you would like within that 2 year period.

Help us Create a Stronger, Healthier World.™

Enroll Online or call us toll free at 800-892-4772 to speak with one of our enrollment representatives.

Student Support

We are most proud of the fact that ISSA's personal training course offerings do not just begin and end with a book and a piece of paper. While we are committed to providing top-quality course materials to potential fitness trainers, our course offerings do not stop there.

We also provide unlimited one-on-one support to all ISSA students as they study for their personal training certification exam—both online and LIVE via our toll-free help line—at no additional cost.

But, best of all, the ISSA's support doesn't end once you pass your exam. Included with your course fee is unlimited access to our ISSAtrainer.com web site, where you can access hundreds of job listings, ISSA exclusive opportunities and discounts, and our online forum where you can post client or business challenges and receive guidance from members of the ISSA family worldwide.

And access to this site is available for as long as you remain an ISSA personal trainer in good standing.

Course Index - Fitness Therapist

Fundamentals of Exercise Therapy

1. Therapeutic Exercise
   • History
2. Understanding the Disabled
   • Evolution of Adaptive Physical Education for Adults with Disabilities
   • Changing Attitudes Towards Disabled Persons
   • Role of Exercise for the Disabled
3. Fitness as Therapy
   • Proper Exercise Is Therapeutic
   • Designed for Action
   • Fitness as Medicine
   • Use It or Lose It
   • Exercise and Disease
4. Functional Fitness
5. Fundamentals of Fitness Therapy
   • Benefits of Fitness Therapy Programs
   • Designing a Fitness Therapy Program
   • Exercise Participation Flowchart
   • Fundamental Terminology for Fitness Technician
   • Proper Body Mechanics for the Instructor
   • Effective Teaching Considerations
   • Effective Communication Skills
6. Muscles and Movement
   • Anatomy for the Fitness Therapy Educator
   • Fitness Therapy Kinesiology
   • How Muscles Work Together
7. Contraindicated Exercises
   • Doing It Right
   • Facts and Myths about Exercise
   • Risks vs. Benefits
   • Beyond the Core
   • Exercises to Avoid
   • Fitness Therapy Exercise Considerations

   Part 2: Fitness Therapy for Chronic Conditions

8. Overview of Chronic Conditions
   • Exercise Is for Everyone
   • Common Physical Health Problems Seen Among Older Adults
   • Thoughts to Share with Clients
9. Cardiorespiratory Conditions
   • High Blood Pressure
   • Low Blood Pressure
   • Heart Disease
   • Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
   • Asthma
10. Metabolic Conditions
    • Diabetes
    • Obesity
11. Neurological Conditions
    • Acquired Brain Injury
    • Cerebral Vascular Accident
    • Epilepsy
    • Peripheral Vascular Disease
    • Spinal Cord Injury
    • Learning Disabilities
    • Multiple Sclerosis
    • Parkinson's Disease
12. Orthopedic Conditions
    • Arthritis
    • Fibromyalgia Syndrome
    • Neck Problems
    • Low Back Problems
    • Shoulder Problems
    • Hip Problems
    • Knee Problems
    • Ankle Problems
    • Osteoporosis
    • Amputations
13. Sensory Impairments
    • Auditory Disorders
    • Visual Impairments
14. Other Health Conditions
    
    • HIV/AIDS
    • Cancer
    • Pregnancy

    Part 3: Adaptive Programming

15. Programming for Ambulation
    • Transfers and Ambulation Aids
    • Progressive Mobilization
    • Ambulation Aids
    • Gait Training
16. Programming for Aquatics
    
    • Water Exercise for Special Population
    • Fitness Aquatics: Hydrogymnastics
    • Assessment of Aquatic Skills
17. Programming for Balance and Perceptual Motor Skills
    • Balance Progressions
    • Perceptual Motor Skills
    • Fine Motor Tasks
18. Programming for Cardiovascular Fitness
    
    • Cardiovascular Exercises
    • Karvonen's Formulas
    • How to Take a Pulse
    • Determining Target Heart Rate
19. Programming for Flexibility and Range of Motion
    
    • Flexibility
    • Range of Motion
    • Programming for Flexibility
    • Range-of-Motion Exercises
    • Active Range of Motion Worksheet
20. Program for Muscular Strength and Endurance
    • General Progressive Resistance Guidelines
    • Strength Training
    • Terminology
    • General Guidelines for Adaptive Weight Training
    • Sample Strength Training Program and Exercises
21. Programming for Posture
    • Assessment of Posture
    • Procedures for Spinal Screening
    • Posture Exercises

    Part 4: Fitness Therapy Support Materials

    • Appendix
    • Abbreviations
    • Support Materials
    • Forms
    • Glossary
    • Index

Course Author

Dr. Karl Knopf

Dr. Knopf began his teaching career at Foothill College in Los Altos, California in 1976 as the coordinator of Adapted Physical Education. The program has evolved into the largest in California. Dr. Knopf has been instrumental in developing programs for mature adults, persons with arthritis and chronic pain, persons with disabilities, and the developmentally delayed. He has written three books: Water Workouts, Fitness Over Fifty, and his most recent, Senior Fitness for the ISSA. Dr. Knopf has been writing, consulting and speaking professionally throughout his career and is a frequent guest on television and radio talk shows. Since 1986 he has been a consultant with Stanford School of Medicine for older adult research projects and is a recent recipient of the respected NISOD, Excellence in Teaching Award. The ISSA is proud to have Dr. Knopf join our growing staff and lend his expertise in the field of Adaptive Physical Education and Older Adult Fitness.

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