The ACE 7 core drivers for healthy living

In the January 2026 issue of CERTIFIED we have the ACE 7 Core Drivers for Healthy Living and started an ongoing series of articles exploring the role physical activity plays as a starting point for lifestyle change. The days of the personal trainerS focus solely on cardiorespiratory and resistance training are long gone as many customers take more holistic approach for their health and wellbeing, including things like stress management and get a better night’s sleepand want their trainer’s help in achieving those goals.

The ACE 7 Core Drivers of Healthy Living is a framework to help you and your clients better understand the lifestyle behaviors that support overall health and well-being.

Perhaps most importantly, this framework provides a practical guide that can help clients make meaningful, lasting changes to their lifestyle.

ACE 7 Core Drivers for Healthy Living

1. Move more, move well – Engage in regular physical activity and exercise that supports strength, mobility and vitality in the long term.
2. Feed your body – Choose balanced, healthy diets that promote daily life and overall well-being.
3. Prioritize restorative sleep – Get a good night’s sleep that promotes recovery, cognitive function, emotional balance and immune health.
4. Strengthen your stress resistance – Use effective coping skills and strategies that support emotional well-being and adaptability.
5. Build supportive connections – Cultivate positive relationships, community and connection that improve motivation and health.
6. Make safer, informed choices – Make decisions that reduce health risks and promote long-term well-being.
7. Develop purpose and a growth mindset – Clarify personal purpose and values ​​and encourage a mindset that supports consistency, resilience and lasting behavior change.

For many clients, a real breakthrough occurs when they realize that these seven behaviors are deeply connected. Improvements in one area often lead to improvements in other areas, even if that is not the client’s original intention. For example, quitting smoking can lead to the ability to perform more intense workouts, which can lead to better sleep, which can strengthen stress resistance, and so on.

Initially, the role of the personal trainer focuses on determining where to start with each client, as each individual is different. A client may already be exercising consistently, but needs strategies to make better food choices and manage their stress. Another example might focus on drinking less alcohol and using physical activity as a way to reconnect with the partner.

In the physical activity article linked above, you will find a sample conversation between a trainer and the client, in which they work together to discover what is most important to the client. Additionally, a downloadable worksheet is included that you can use with clients (or for yourself) to develop strategies to pursue those initial goals.

In addition, each article in this series will include a “menu of options,” for ACE-certified professionals only, that you can use to help clients self-select personally meaningful behaviors to initiate lifestyle change.

Be sure to check out each issue of CERTIFIED as we review the ACE 7 Core Drivers of Healthy Living!

Final thoughts

One of the most important things you need to communicate to your customers is that they don’t have to achieve perfection to benefit from this. The seven core drivers are about progress, not pressure, and about building sustainable habits rooted in self-care. Remind your clients that small changes add up over time: meeting a friend for morning coffee, choosing baby carrots instead of chips as a side dish at lunch, eating fruit as an afternoon snack, taking short walks after dinner, tracking your values ​​and progress every evening, reading for 20 minutes before bed: every healthy behavior counts and improves your health and well-being.

If you are If you want to know more, be sure to read The ACE 7 core drivers for healthy living: physical activity as a starting point. In this first article In an ongoing series we investigate how the 7 core drivers are connected and why physical activity can be the ideal starting point for many clients. This article also contains a worksheetS that you can use with customers to discover where they feel most ready to make meaningful changes.