Need Advice...and Fast!!! Take the Exam Cold or Study before Time Runs Out?

**Dinah** · 12-17-2010 03:45 PM

(this is a post for member: biosol2)

I'm pursuing a job opportunity that requires the ACSM-CPT certification. I don't think I'll have trouble passing this test, but it's the time frame that concerns me. I may have only 2 or 3 weeks to do it. I think I just need to be brought back up to speed. I have a BS and MA in Physical Ed./Human Performance we called it. I passed the ACSM HFI in 1991 and renewed it once I think, I passed the NSCA CSCS in 1993 and renewed it once. I've been training people for over 15 years, but this company still wants me to have a currrent cert., so there you go. I've already ordered the 3 item personal trainer kit.

The bottom line is -- due to my extensive experience, how difficult should this test be? I'm tempted to just go in cold and take it, but since there's work riding on it I don't want to take any chances.

Thanks for any advice or suggestions!

**Dinah** · 12-17-2010 04:01 PM

My two cents: Since ACSM is the most clinical of certifications and the exam ranges from the broad to the fairly obscure, I don't know if I would trust my working everyday knowledge to get me through the actual exam.

Here's what I would do with three weeks -- I would review the current KSAs making sure that you are squared away with each one. Maybe scan the major textbook (Resources for the Personal Trainer) -- you can do this along with your review of the KSAs. Then I would crack open the Cert Review -- reading Chapters 1 - 10 and doing the tests at the end of each chapter. Then take those tests again and again -- until you're hitting above 90%. Then move on to the 100 comprehensive exam way in the back. Do that again and again until you're hitting above 90%. IMO, the Cert Review was one of the best tools for preparing to TAKE the exam vs. the textbooks that actually lay the foundation of knowledge.

Of course, I don't have as much as experience as you do in the industry or even college background (I come from a Marketing/English education and corporate America experience), but I'm not a gambler either.

Good luck!

**biosol2** · 12-28-2010 03:16 PM

Ok, a couple questions in the Comprehensive review seem wrong to me. I mean the answers seem wrong. Do you agree?

#29. Which of the following health history combinations would place an individual into the MODERATE RISK category for CAD?
A) HDL <40, current smoker, female waist-hip ratio <.86.
B) HDL >60, current smoker, male waist girth > 102cm.
C) HDL <40, current smoker, BMI <28.
D) HDL >60, current smoker, fasting blood glucose > 100.

My take, Moderate Risk is 2 or more risk factors, and we know HDL >60 is -1.
So,
A) HDL = 1, smoker = 1, waist/hip = 0. Total = 2 = Moderate Risk
B) HDL = -1, smoker = 1, waist = 1. Total = 1 = Low Risk
C) HDL = 1, smoker = 1, BMI = 0. Total = 2 = Moderate Risk
D) HDL = -1, smoker = 1, glucose = 0. Total = 0 = Low Risk.

My answer is either A or C. The guide's answer is B. ???

Next, #31
Which of the following water-soluble vitamins must be consumed on a daily basis?
A) A and C
B) A, D, E, and K
C) B complex and C
D) A, B complex, D, and K.

My answer A, D, E, and K are fat soluble, so the only water soluble are B and C, answer = C. The guide says B.

Am I off track here?

Also what's the best source of study for the Asthma questions?

**biosol2** · 12-28-2010 05:16 PM

What material(s) can you take with you into the exam room? Do they provide scrath paper, pencil, etc.? Do the CBT have a basic calculator in it?

**Dinah** · 12-28-2010 10:49 PM

Oh geez, I remember these questions -- in fact, I wrote to the ACSM workshop teacher about #29. He never got back to me, but my study buddy assured me that the book was in fact wrong, and that I needed to move on (apparently I was like a dog with a bone.)

It was actually kind of frustrating 'cause there were some real glaring errors like this even in the textbook that we found along the way.

So re-visiting these questions again, you are right. The book is wrong. The explanations along with the answers aren't much help either. It just restates the risk categories for the first question and differentiates between fat and water soluble for the second. Grrr!

As far as material on asthma, I just referenced some study notes and it says that the Cert Review and the Guidelines for Exercise Testing were primary sources.

RE: what you can and can't take into the exam room -- you can't take ANYTHING into the exam room with you. They provide you with a laminated board and marker. If I can remember back that far, I believe there is a calculator on the computer that you have access to.

The woman who was proctoring the exam wouldn't even let me have my hair band on my wrist. She told me to put it in my hair before I go in the room or leave it in my locker.

**biosol2** · 12-29-2010 12:00 AM

Are there many All of the above/None of the above questions on the exam? It seems when they show in in the Cert. Review, they ARE the correct answer.

**Dinah** · 12-29-2010 11:02 AM

My memory is a little fuzzy (it's been over a year now), but no, I don't remember that "all of the above" or "none of the above" were offered up a lot as answer options. I do remember my workshop teacher saying, who had contributed to helping shape and edit the exam, they tried to stay away from those types of answers.

**biosol2** · 12-29-2010 08:12 PM

How well does scoring 90% + on the review tests and the comprehensive test in the Cert. Review book correlate to being ready for the real test? I don't necessarily feel like I know all the tables/lists like all the absolute or relative contraindications or all the signs and symptoms for Risk stratification.

Is it necessary to memorize all this type of data?

Also, I'm not finding very much info on this topic that several posters have said was on their test.
"Physiology of running (what muscles are doing during the eccentric and
concentric phases, what happens when a person starts running on an
incline)" There's also been something about downhill running.

Aside from the quadriceps getting more eccentric work during downhill running and the soleus needing more flexibility during uphill running is more info needed?

Also #2, is it necessary to know the testing procedures and exercise prescription for all special groups; aged, children, with diabetes, Obese, with high BP, with Asthma, etc.? I guess the fastest way to approach it is to identify which groups are no different than the normal situation, thus leaving the groups with differences.

There's just so much possible stuff, I kind of want to take the test soon just to see how close/far I am from it. What's the closest practice test to the real thing in terms of details and difficultly level?

I'd like to try the ACSM's online practice test soon, maybe this weekend.

**Dinah** · 12-30-2010 10:10 AM