Muscle Physiology questions on test? - Personal Trainer Community - Forum

[fullthrottlefitness]

I have been studying for my NSCA-CPT exam and when looking at the exam content it doesn't apprear to have questions pertaining to muscle physiology. Does the test get into detail about topics like origins and insertions of differnt muscles, actin/myosin relation, etc? Does the test not go into this type of detail. After taking the practice exams it seems like it is wise to focus mainly on technique and program design...

Thanks,

Dan

[muscletrainerdh-NSCA CPT]

Hey Dan,

I took the test last december (2006) and cannot recall a single question about insertion or origin of muscles.

If there are questions about that there are only 1 or 2. (Out of 150)

There is a question on actin/myosin and muscle cell construction. But you are correct that the bulk of the exam is :

Exercise Technique
and
Client Programming


There are also questions on Special populations and Legal issues.

Good Luck!

Dave

P.S. - love the handle "FULLTHROTTLEFITNESS" gets me energized just reading it!

[jackson]

So Dave how long have you been a trainer? And how successful have you been if its only been since last december?

Best,

Jackson

[fullthrottlefitness]

Dave, thanks for the input. Averaging 90% on the 3 practice exams and haven't studied much physiology so I am glad there may only be a few on there. If they have 35 questions pertaining to video's, approximately how many different exercises did they cover? I am assuming not 35 different ones....

[muscletrainerdh-NSCA CPT]

Hey Jackson,

I've actually have been a certified trainer since 1996 (ACE). But last year I upgraded to the NSCA certification as the ACE Certification has lost some of it's "Golden standard" prestege. I didn't "Follow Through" on being a personal trainer until 2000 when I moved to Washington, DC from Baltimore.

I think everyone's definition of what defines a successful personal trainer is different.

Am I doing it full time? No, but I am in the fitness industry full time (Corporate fitness management), and make a decent living at it.

Do I have a client list from H&LL? No, but I've lived in Western PA for 3 years now, where the economy is depressed and the population doesn't have the expendible income to afford the luxury of a personal trainer. (But, I also will not lower my rates to what some of the local personal trainers charge, some as low as $8 a session). :shock:

Would my past clients in Washington, DC hire me again? At a drop of a hat.

My successes now come in small bursts, I've learned to adjust my expectations to fit the population in which I live, and I have added selling e-books from my website to diversify. Not sure I'm going to venture down the supplement sales path unless there is a supplement that I can clearly stand behind that gets the results it claims.

Dan,

If you are scoring 90% on all 3 practice exams you will do extremely well. (Barring any test taking anxiety). The Exercise Video portion goes like this, they will flash a person doing an exercise up on the screen for like 10 seconds and then you'll have a couple of questions about the movement being shown. From "What would the antagonistic Muscle of this movement be" to "What is the exercisers doing wrong?" When I took the exam it was the last section of the test.

Hope that helps,

Peace,

Dave

[jackson]

Thanks for your speedy reply Dave. Tell me more about what you mean when you say Corporate Management in the fitness industry. I would be interested in knowing all the various aspects of the business that may be available to me.

I dont blame you on not lowering your rates and as low as $8 per session thats just absolutely crazy! I dont want to know how much youre earning per year specifically but if you could give a ballpark range of what I could expect that would be cool too.

How is the e-book thing working out for you? Do you find it to bring in substantial income? Are you finding that youre being recognized on the net? Im defintely interested in this aspect of the business so Im always eager to hear how others are doing.

I appreciate your openness with fullthrottle. I too am going to take this exam but am a little gun shy as I dont want to fail or think Im ready and Im not. There really is no gauge of knowing.

Dan - would you be interested in selling your test 3 to me at a discount? I have practice test I & 2 but would love to take test 3 to see how I do before I take the actual exam. email me or something and we could try to work out a plan - I'd really appreciate it!

Best,

Jackson

[Joe Cannon MS CSCS]

Hi Dan
the NSCA-CPT test did not hvae a lot of exercise science on it when I took it years ago (may be different now). you do have to know about actin and myosin but I don't think you have to be an expert on the biochemistry of it. know the big words, sarcomere, acitin myosin, tropomyosin, troponin, sliding filament theory, eccentric concentric, DOMS etc.
As I suggested in another post I just answered, get the NSCA-CPT practice test from the NSCA. it helped me more than anything else. I tell everyone to get the practice test. I cant speak more highly about it.
Joe

[fullthrottlefitness]

Jackson...I did the practice exams over the internet, I didn't order the paper ones..

[Joe Cannon MS CSCS]

then you should be fine. did you pass the practice tests? if not did you follow the instructions on what chapters to study?

[Christina]

Hey Joe,

He's averaging 90% on the practice exams. I would say he is ready to take this thing!

Christina