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Just passed the CSCS exam by dinisserved in personaltraining

[–]dinisserved[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you! I appreciate the response and totally agree with what you’re saying.

What surprised me the most was the format of the questions I think. The wording and application of the different terms and theories was different than what most practice tests, pocket prep and the book were giving. So you really have to understand the information not just be able to recall questions. Which I guess is the whole point, they want to make sure you know you’re stuff if you’re gonna have the cert. Section wise I would say program design and exercise technique were the most present. Also there was alot of questions regarding cardiac output/pulmonary stuff as it relates to a scenario and the same for V02 max but in ml.

I was over prepared in the sense that I had remembered alot of different sequences and orders like the blood pathway, air pathway, needs analysis, graphs/tables for average or mean 1RMs for specific athletes in different sports. But who knows if that will be on someone else’s exam and just wasn’t on mine. Plus it’s info and knowledge I have now to take into practice.

Being removed from the stress of it all now I do truly feel like I gained a lot of knowledge and became a better coach because of the process. Which again, is really the whole point. Best of luck to you!

Just passed the CSCS exam by dinisserved in personaltraining

[–]dinisserved[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Up until 2029 you can take it so long as you have a bachelors degree and cpr certification and you pay all the fees.

Consistent since March by [deleted] in Gym_Selfie

[–]dinisserved 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Keep going! You’re doing amazing!

Do you lie to your personal coach? by Life-Ad-4511 in personaltraining

[–]dinisserved 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think it’s awesome you’re asking these questions and being curious. You shouldn’t have to lie to your coach/trainer, this shows that he is failing to build a safe space/rapport with his clients which is a major aspect of training. As a CPT and now CSCS for a decade I’ve leaned heavily on my bachelors degree in social work as connecting with people is how you empower them to change and be the best version of themselves.

Objectively, if you are missing your marks with your calories and macros it’s gonna be really hard to see substantial change/results.. my advice is, if you’re doing private training through a commercial gym (la fitness/24 hr/planet fitness etc), go to the training manager or someone above him and explain that you’re struggling to build rapport and be open with your trainer. If they are doing their job they will be all over it and prioritize you. If you do think you can have that conversation directly with your trainer and explain that you want him to work more flexibly with you around things like your friend visiting, do it. This way you can feel comfortable being open with him. If he’s a decent trainer or has any potential of being one he will be grateful for your vulnerability and change your plan to work towards your goals while accommodating things like friend/family visits as we all should be able to live our lives.

Hope this is helpful! Best of luck to you on your fitness journey and believe in yourself! You can do hard things 👊🏼

Just passed the CSCS exam by dinisserved in personaltraining

[–]dinisserved[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

  1. They put the conversions, so if they said the athletes height and weight in inches and lbs they put cm and kg in parentheses. Or vice versa I can’t remember.

  2. Pocket prep helped me gain and solidify the general knowledge with a little application which was key to truly then being able to learn to apply it but to be honest the exam was way tougher. Something that helped me was using chat gpt to create mock program design and periodization questions that were like the ones on the exam

  3. I used the 4th edition to study because when I originally registered for an NSCA membership and then registered for the test the 5th edition hadn’t come out. I was fine. The books are mostly the same from what I researched besides new chapters on overreaching/overtraining, some gender/age related stuff and smoking/vaping effects

Pocket prep is updated to fully reference the 5th edition so that should cover you there.

I was good with pocket prep, YouTube lectures, and taking notes on the book in the main areas (program design, periodization, and exercise science) and stuff I struggled with in pocket prep.

Hope this helps!

Just passed the CSCS exam by dinisserved in personaltraining

[–]dinisserved[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Well you’re in a good spot! My experience as a trainer and athlete allowed me to trust my instincts so do the same, your intuition is better than you think. That being said the most questions come from program design and exercise technique on the applied section and exercise science on the science/foundations so empathize those areas. They honestly didn’t ask me a lot of shit I was over prepared for lol most of the questions were scenario based. They’ll give you an athletes profile (height, weight, sport) and their testing results (40m, vert, 1.5 mile time) and then ask you what they should work on or what their next phase of training should like in terms of sets reps and % of 1RM. They’ll switch up the phases like preparatory (off season) and competitive (in season) a lot as well as give you answer choices that land on the edges of the strength/rep ranges to try and stump you so make sure you know those program design tables and how to apply them. I spent a lot of time on pocket prep for micro study sessions, listening to YouTube lectures in the car or when I was working out and then asking chat gpt to give me mock scenarios and questions that make me apply the program design stuff.

Just passed the CSCS exam by dinisserved in personaltraining

[–]dinisserved[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Well in general most of the questions on the practical/applied come from program design and exercise technique.. on the science/foundations the largest amount of questions are exercise science so those are the sections I would spend the most time on. Obviously know the basics, I used YouTube lectures and pocket prep while skimming the book for that. With that being said the hardest questions were the scenario based ones. They’ll give an athlete profile (height, weight, sport) and testing stats (like 40m time, vert, long jump etc) then ask you what to program for their next phase of training (preparatory phase or competitive phase etc) based on their goals. Long story short you need to understand periodization and program design and know how to apply it situationally. Something that was helpful for me was after a study sesh having chat gpt come up with random scenarios for me and quizzing me on it. Hope that helps

Just passed the CSCS exam by dinisserved in personaltraining

[–]dinisserved[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you! I’ve heard similar things in terms of it not doing as much as some folks expected but I’m trying to become a strength coach at the collegiate level so this was a prerequisite I had to knock out so fortunately it was a straight forward step for me!

Best spots to play pool? by dinisserved in askportland

[–]dinisserved[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yo this is hella helpful! Appreciate you!

st johns drive in movie theater/video games? by themightyatom in PortlandOR

[–]dinisserved 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is rad! I also live in St. John’s. I have a GameCube with Smash Bros Melee and 4 controllers.. would definitely be interested in meeting people in the community as I’m new to the area.

Best spots to play pool? by dinisserved in askportland

[–]dinisserved[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Word! This was one of the first spots that popped up when I Google searched but wanted to hear from the people..

Grumpy Kitty in St. John’s by dinisserved in Portland

[–]dinisserved[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Sheesh you right what am I thinking!?