Just took the NASM exam for the second time and passed!!

by Dan
(ct)

nasm certified :)

Well today i took the test and i passed and it was fairly easy. the first time was really hard and i got a 69 out of 70 SO CLOSE! But this time i went in more confident and i think i had less than 10 wrong. The first time i studied i used the practice test. and watched the online lessons. i was familiar with the material but not so much as to put it to use, but takeing the practice tests and scoring 90s made me believe i was ready. i took the test and it was hard as hell seeing i didnt know anything. well i purchased the retest and studied for 3 weeks. heres what i did

I read the text book and took down notes on key things. anything that was highlighted or bolded i wrote down. definitions, muscle groups ect. basically anything that was important enough to be highlighted. reading the text is better because it is more detailed, and those little details come up on the test, but they arent crazy hard to learn.

i watched the dvds and listened to the cds in my car. I wanted to saturate my brain with the material, even if i wasnt paying attention to it, subconsciously i was, if that makes sense. i even tried sleeping with the mp3s playing, but i stopped that in the middle of the night lol.

MUST KNOW INFO TO PASS THE EXAM

Fitness assesment
you def need to know the assesment chapter (chapter 5)

if knees move in during an overhead squat assesment, what muscles are over/under active.

if feet point out during an overhead squat assesment, what muscles are over/under active.

and its the same for push and pull assesments

The cardiorespiratory system

know the heart. the only important parts to know for the exam are arteries, ventricles, atriums, capillaries.

know the defintions in chapter 6,7,8,9,11.

know the differences between speed, agility and quickness

i didnt see any questions on supplementation both times but know it anyway.
behavior and proffesional develement. know the key parts of thos chapters.

special populations such as children,hypertensive clients, pregnant woman and seniors came up.

know the stabilization, strenght and power exercises for all the training concepts.

def listen to the live chat from the people at nasm, those help too. just try to take in as much as possible, dont be afraid to take the test and fail, i did and now i am way more confident in myself and my learning. i actually know the material now instead of having just memorized it. and like another person on here said, learn the material and think of yourself as the teacher instead of the student. have confidence, good luck to all and if you fail the first time, get right up and study and learn the material and go into the test center and DO WORK!! pce

Failed the NASM Exam

by Amanda
(Austin, TX)

So I thought I was well prepared for the NASM exam after spending about an hour each day for about 4 weeks and following the NASM study guide, online practice exams on the NASM website, reading the text and watching the DVD's.

I was confident going in to test and got a score of 63! Does anyone have a streamlined review process or tips to help before I spend $99 and go retest? Thanks for any help you may provide!

Second time didn't work either

by shelly
(california)

Wow,,, Failed the first time with 61% and just took my second exam and failed 69%, thats the worst when 70 is a pass
Practice exam is nothing like the real thing, I think I got 1 question that was on the practice test, things are worded different so really know the meanings of things.

The exam was harder than the first exam even though I scored higher. Things to know for sure % values of protein, carbs etc, reps,sets basically all of chapter 2 3 4 was big time questioned and I've studied and studied found it difficult both time and I work in the personal training field.

Question was whats the resting heart rate of a woman, 70, 80, 75 etc. blood pressure came up, cpr questions came up. so frustrating... but I'm hoping 3rd times a charm....

trying to remember the questions so I can post some
good luck

Just Failed the NASM Exam!

So i took the NASM exam a few days ago and failed by 4 points, I was going to write this after I passed the EXAM, but that won't change anything I have to say.

So to start off, for all of you who are reading the comments saying that this is the hardest test u will ever take, don't read them! Seriously it's not that hard, NASM is not trying to confuse you, it's not trying to test your brain power, their doing what any other test would do, and that is to make sure you know your stuff. Are there easier tests you will take? of course, but this test is really not that hard, i flew threw it in just over 40 minutes, and failed by 4 points, and once you realize how the wording goes and everything, its actually not bad. If you do end up failing, they tell u how many points you got compared to the passing score, and they give you a percentage per topic, so it doesn't give you what questions you got wrong, but it tells u what area you need some more work in.

Basically don't freak out going into this test, and I know a lot of people are saying that the chart on pg 169 is a must have, don't get me wrong thats 100% true, but when people say that they had 20 questions from that chart alone, don't study just the chart, I had only maybe 5 questions from that chart. I read a lot of these and tried to memorize the questions other people said they had, in all honesty, its a good idea but I wouldn't focus on that because chances are you won't have the same questions.

Make sure you know the whole book pretty well, have numbers down, make sure you pay attention to key terms, what workouts go with what level of the OPT model, progressions and regressions, stuff like that. When you first start off reading, don't go for all the details, make sure you have a clear understand of the overall idea first otherwise it will make studying that much harder. I would sit here and write a list of questions i had, but it wouldn't help you guys at all, don't just memorize answers to questions and expect to come out passing, it won't happen, you need to understand the questions and why that answer is correct and why the others are wrong.

So don't freak out, whats the worst that can happen? you fail? well go and retake it! it won't make you a less credited personal trainer, so for all of those freaking out right now...calm down! and this is coming from a guy who hates tests, who can't take a test to save his life and would have done anything to get out of this one with a passing grade, and i didn't even think it was bad. Just remember NASM isn't trying to confuse you, it's not trying to make ur brain spin in circles, its simply just making sure you know what your reading, and making sure you can apply it. GOOD LUCK!