Dr. Heyward's book is highly practical and stuffed full of current, useful and scientifically validated information on exercise and fitness. The book is designed as a classroom text to prepare the student for the ACSM Health Fitness Instructor exam. While it fulfills that function, it does far more. It is a concisely written and well-organized text that thoughtfully examines the practical aspects of exercise prescription. Heyward has provided easy-to-access charts and tables of information that the reader will refer to constantly. These include the ranges of values for blood pressure, cholesterol levels, body fat percentages and much more, organized with the various assessment methods currently being used, and sound appraisals of all testing methods cited. I would recommend this book for someone preparing for the ACSM HFI exam, or seeking information to enhance knowledge and understanding of principles of exercise science and how they might apply to real people.

This book is very informative on the various protocols of exercise testing. After reading this book, I added new protocols to the assessments offered at my health club. I feel this book aided in setting higher standards in the health and fitness setting at my current workplace. The appendix is filled with tons of information like pictures of skinfold sites, MET values for different activities, metabolic formulas, etc.. An awesome reference for any fitness professional

Vivian Heyward and Lisa Stolarczyk have given every health professional the tool needed to accurately assess the body composition of virtually any population. In a single book, one can easily find the correct formulas and calculations to be used for most of today's popular testing equipment-skinfold calipers, bioelectrical impedance analysis, hydrostatic weighing, and more. Whether used by an exercise physiologist, nutritionist, doctor, researcher, or so forth, this is an incredible asset for any tester working in the health field.