Athletics and Fitness Association of America
The Aerobics and Fitness Association of America (AFAA) is a fitness education company that was established in 1983, and operates out of Sherman Oaks, California. AFAA offers education workshops and certifications internationally but mainly operates in the United States. AFAA's certifications are accredited by Vital Research and AFAA is a member of the National Organization of Competency Assurance (NOCA). AFAA also applied for an additional accreditation through an organization recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) and the U.S. Department of Education, meeting IHRSA's recommendation on accreditation for fitness certification organizations. Through its semi-annual event, APEX [1], AFAA has succeeded in attracting and certifying personal trainers year after year.
AFAA has expanded the company in Japan, and more recently China. AFAA China held their first workshops at Nirvana Gym in Beijing, China with 50 participants.[2] AFAA Japan was first introduced in 1988. There are now 180 AFAA educational faculty members in Japan.[3]
Certifications and workshops
AFAA currently[when?] offers the following certifications:
- Personal Fitness Trainer Certification
- Primary Group Exercise Certification
- Kickboxing Certification
- Step Certification
AFAA offers the following specialty workshops:
- National Board Review course for PFTs (soon[when?] to be offered online only)
- Floor, Core, & More for Personal Trainers
- Practical Pilates
- Practical Skills & Choreography
- Kickboxing Skills & Choreography
- Step Skills & Choreography
- Mat Science I
- Mat Science II
- Midlife Fitness for Women
- Aqua Fitness
- The Metabolic Connection to Obesity
- Perinatal Fitness
- Mechanics of Injury Prevention
- Resistance Training - The Class Format
- Longevity Training for Seniors
- Indoor Cycling
American Fitness
American Fitness is a division of AFAA that publishes a magazine. It is the official publication of AFAA and it has gained over 100,000 readers[4]. The topic of the articles are usually related to Health clubs, health-related fitness research, current trends, and advances in equipment and training applications. As of July 2012, Meg Jordan served as the Editor-at-large and Kevin McGuire as its Managing Editor.
AFAA music
AFAA is now distributing audio tracks for fitness workshops, as well as videos.