Revised and updated to reflect the most current information from the American College of Sports Medicine, ACSM's Health/Fitness Facility Standards and Guidelines, Third Edition, outlines the proper standards and guidelines to follow for designing and operating health and fitness facilities. The book provides facility managers with the tools necessary for evaluating the quality of their facilities, staff, and programs, and it shows them what they must do to maintain the standard of care that they offer their members and users. Facility managers will also get tips on what services, equipment, or programming they should provide to enhance the overall experience at their facility, thereby increasing and retaining membership.

By incorporating the views of industry trade organizations and fitness associations, this new third edition represents an up-to-date industry consensus on accepted standards (the minimal performance expectations each facility must meet) and guidelines (recommendations for each facility achieving higher than minimal expectations) for staffing, programming, safety, design, and equipment. The following are updates and enhancements to this new edition:

• A thorough presentation of standards and guidelines addressing all aspects of facility management, such as risk management and emergency planning, pre-activity screening, orientation, education, supervision, staff qualifications, facility design and construction, facility equipment, signage, and operational practices
• Explanations about why compliance to the standards is beneficial to health and fitness facilities
• Recommendations concerning the development of technological advances, such as automated external defibrillators (AEDs)
• Related federal laws, including the OSHA blood-borne pathogen rule, employment laws, and the Federal Privacy Act, so that facility managers can protect their members as well as their businesses
• ACSM position statements and information from the most recent ACSM's Guidelines for Exercise Testing and Prescription (2006)
• A substantial increase in the supplemental materials and forms featured in the appendixes, providing even more specific detailed information for various types of facilities

ACSM's Health/Fitness Facility Standards and Guidelines, Third Edition, is far more applicable than previous editions. By organizing the content into chapters that feature reviews and discussions of specific focal points as well as many practical applications, the material is easy to apply in real-world situations. Each chapter is focused on a specific issue and addresses both the standards and guidelines that pertain to that issue.

As a result, facility managers in every setting can gain a clear understanding of how to put the recommendations into practice, whether in a community or workplace facility, school, hotel, or spa. By measuring their facilities against the recommendations, managers can enhance the services they deliver to facility members.