Mentors at Arnold Schwarzenegger’s After-School All-Stars will complete the NASM’s Youth Exercise Specialization, gaining practical tools to help young people improve their fitness, develop healthy habits, and build confidence and resilience.
Key Highlights:
- NASM has partnered with After-School All-Stars (ASAS), the nonprofit founded by Arnold Schwarzenegger, to give mentors fitness and wellness knowledge and tools that help young people build health, confidence, and resilience.
- ASAS mentors nationwide will complete the NASM Youth Exercise Specialization, preparing them to lead youth exercise and wellness programming safely and effectively.
- NASM’s 2026 State of the Personal Trainer report ranks youth sports performance among the top five growth areas fitness professionals plan to pursue over the next three years, positioning this partnership at the forefront of an industry trend.
Fewer than one in four U.S. high school students meet the recommended 60 minutes of daily physical activity, a rate that has changed little in a decade, according to the CDC’s latest Youth Risk Behavior. Against that backdrop, the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM), a global leader in evidence-based fitness and wellness certifications, today announced a new partnership with After-School All-Stars (ASAS), a national nonprofit expanding opportunities for students outside of school hours, founded by Arnold Schwarzenegger. ASAS mentors nationwide will complete NASM’s Youth Exercise Specialization, enabling them to use fitness and wellness tools to support students’ physical health, mental well-being, healthy habits, confidence, and resilience.
The collaboration follows Schwarzenegger’s recent recognition of the 2026 NASM Don Wildman Commitment to Excellence Award, presented earlier this year for his decades of leadership in fitness and public health. Since then, NASM and ASAS have worked to bring NASM’s science-backed training model to ASAS programs nationwide, which provide academic support, enrichment, and wellness programming to nearly 150,000 students annually across 77 cities.
As part of the partnership, NASM experts led dedicated sessions at ASAS’s Annual Leadership Summit. Sessions with students explored the connection between fitness and wellness, leadership, and future careers through discussion, movement, and personal storytelling. ASAS mentors explored how fitness and wellness underpin confidence, fortitude, and long-term success, and left with actionable tools for fostering health, well-being, and connection with the young people they support.
“At NASM, we believe fitness and wellness are one of the most powerful tools we have for helping young people build resilience,” said Mehul Patel, CEO of NASM. “Through our partnership with After-School All-Stars we can equip mentors with the training and confidence to support the students they work with every day, honoring everything Arnold Schwarzenegger has built with this organization.”
“At After-School All-Stars, we know that highly trained and supported staff are at the heart of delivering high-quality programs for young people. Through our work with NASM, we are equipping our team with the tools they need to expand what is possible for the students we serve. We are grateful to collaborate with NASM to empower the people who bring our mission to life,” said Ana Campos, Senior Executive Advisor of After-School All-Stars.
Learn More
Fitness and youth-development professionals interested in the NASM Youth Exercise Specialization can learn more at https://www.nasm.org/products/youth-exercise-specialization. To learn more about After-School All-Stars and its national after-school programming, visit https://afterschoolallstars.org/.
About National Academy of Sports Medicine
NASM® is a global leader in evidence-based learning and certifications for fitness and wellness professionals. Building on over 35 years of expertise, NASM programs create a roadmap for fitness and wellness professionals to help their clients achieve better physical and mental performance in athletics and everyday life. NASM provides an industry-first training system, with the Optimum Performance Training (OPT™) model, creating robust courses and content based solely on science-backed research. Learn more at www.nasm.org.
About After-School All-Stars
Founded in 1992 by Arnold Schwarzenegger, After-School All-Stars is one of the nation’s leading nonprofit providers of free, comprehensive after-school and summer programs. Serving nearly 150,000 students annually across more than 750 schools and community sites in 77 cities, ASAS provides academic support, enrichment, health and wellness, and leadership opportunities that help young people succeed in school and in life while giving working families peace of mind during the after-school hours.