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FAQs About the NSCA's Essentials of Personal Training Textbook
• Is the NSCA's Essentials of Personal Training textbook required to prepare for the NSCA-CPT exam?
No, none of the exam review materials are REQUIRED in order to be successful on either examination. There have been many candidates who successfully prepared for an exam without using NSCA or NSCA Certification Commission resources. Individuals can still be effective in their examination preparation pursuits using other resources. It is also for this reason that a candidate is not at a disadvantage if he or she does not have the NSCA's Essentials of Personal Training textbook when preparing to take the NSCA-CPT exam. Despite this, the NSCA's Essentials of Personal Training textbook is still a highly recommended resource for the NSCA-CPT exam.
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• If I already have the "Essentials of Personal Training Symposium" workbook and audio recordings, do I need to purchase the textbook?
No, you do not have to purchase the textbook; none of the exam review materials are REQUIRED in order to be successful on the NSCA-CPT exam. Because the NSCA's Essentials of Personal Training textbook provides more information than what is covered in the "Essentials of Personal Training Symposium" workbook and audio recordings, many candidates choose to use the textbook as a foundational resource to further study the topics presented in the symposium.
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• Why did the NSCA Certification Commission decide to publish the NSCA's Essentials of Personal Training textbook if the previous NSCA-CPT review materials were sufficient to help prepare candidates for the NSCA-CPT exam?
The NSCA's Essentials of Personal Training textbook provides even more of the information than what was included in the previous NSCA-CPT review material, and it provides this expanded information all in one book. Thus, the NSCA's Essentials of Personal Training textbook is considered a primary reference for the NSCA-CPT exam and contains the most comprehensive information available about personal training.
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• If the NSCA's Essentials of Personal Training textbook is a primary resource for preparing for the NSCA-CPT exam, are the other materials necessary for me to prepare for the exam?
Unfortunately, there is no definitive answer to this question. Exam candidates bring with them a unique knowledge base and initial level of preparation. Therefore, it is difficult to recommend a single reference that will, by itself, prepare each candidate to pass the examination. Ultimately, it will be each candidate's academic background, experience, and test-taking abilities that dictate how effective his or her review materials are in promoting success on an exam.
While understanding the information presented in the review materials should certainly increase the likelihood of passing an exam, it does not guarantee a successful performance. The questions on the exam are developed from resources in addition to the NSCA-CPT exam review materials. The primary reason for this is that the NSCA-CPT exam is based upon the specific job-related tasks of a personal trainer, not a book or a course. People who work in the personal training profession were surveyed to determine what they actually do and what they have to know to perform their job. It is important that information on the NSCA-CPT exam assesses competency in these areas, not the memorization of a textbook or other review materials.
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• How will the NSCA's Essentials of Personal Training textbook help me to prepare for the NSCA-CPT exam?
To provide specific and real-world information about the knowledge, skills, and abilities of a competent personal trainer, the content of the NSCA's Essentials of Personal Training textbook is based on a national job analysis survey and role delineation study conducted by the NSCA Certification Commission's independent exam service. Each of the twenty-five chapters focuses on one or more of the content areas that directly relates to the tasks or roles that a personal trainer performs on the job.
Similar to the correlation between the textbook's content and the national job analysis survey and role delineation study, each chapter provides foundational information for a content area assessed in the NSCA-CPT exam. Also, there are multiple study tools that help readers prepare for the NSCA-CPT exam, including chapter objectives, key points, sidebars with practical applications, a 320-word glossary, and more than 120 chapter questions.
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• Why is the NSCA's Essentials of Personal Training textbook NOT included in the NSCA-CPT Exam Review Kit?
Because individuals may have purchased the NSCA's Essentials of Personal Training textbook for their professional library, including the textbook in the Exam Review Kit (which then would increase the cost for the kit) would result in exam candidates having to pay more for a review kit that contains an item they already own. If the NSCA's Essentials of Personal Training textbook is NOT included in the Exam Review Kit, an exam candidate who already has the textbook only purchases materials he or she does not have and a candidate who does not have the textbook has the option to purchase it separately at a price below retail (if the candidate is an NSCA member).
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• Have other review materials been updated to include information from the NSCA's Essentials of Personal Training textbook?
Yes. The NSCA-CPT Practice Exams and the "Essentials of Personal Training Symposium" workbook have been updated to reflect and refer to the content of the NSCA's Essentials of Personal Training textbook.
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• If I already have the Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning (second edition) textbook, can I still use it to prepare for the NSCA-CPT exam?
Yes, the second edition of the Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning textbook can be used to prepare for the NSCA-CPT exam, but its content includes less information regarding the knowledge, skills, and abilities of a competent personal trainer than the NSCA's Essentials of Personal Training textbook. The two primary topic areas that are included on the NSCA-CPT exam that are NOT discussed in the Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning textbook are 1) performing the client consultation and 2) training a client with a specialized need.
The second edition of the Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning textbook does include, however, detailed foundational and academic information that would be a part of an undergraduate Exercise Science curriculum (e.g., the structure, function, and physiology of the body's many systems, how exercise acutely and chronically affects the body, basic nutrition, biomechanical concepts, and the bioenergetics of exercise). Further, the text discusses how to design aerobic and resistance training programs and perform exercises properly - topics that have direct application to the NSCA-CPT exam.
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• Will the NSCA-CPT exam change to include information from the NSCA's Essentials of Personal Training textbook?
Yes. In March 2004, the NSCA-CPT Examination Development Committee will refer to the NSCA's Essentials of Personal Training textbook when developing the next version of the NSCA-CPT exam. The first NSCA-CPT exam that is created using the NSCA's Essentials of Personal Training textbook as a resource will be administered in July 2004. (It is important to clarify that the NSCA-CPT exam is NOT based on or created solely from the NSCA's Essentials of Personal Training textbook. Further, despite that the textbook is a resource for the NSCA-CPT exams beginning in July 2004, it is still the most comprehensive book on personal training which makes it a very helpful source of information for any NSCA-CPT exam.)
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• If the first NSCA-CPT exam that is created using the NSCA's Essentials of Personal Training textbook will be administered in July 2004, do I need to obtain the textbook if I am taking the NSCA-CPT exam before July?
No, but please note that none of the exam review materials are REQUIRED in order to be successful on the NSCA-CPT exam. There have been many candidates who successfully prepared for an exam without using NSCA or NSCA Certification Commission resources. Individuals can still be effective in their examination preparation pursuits using other resources.
Despite this, it is correct to say that the NSCA's Essentials of Personal Training textbook will be more directly associated with NSCA-CPT exams administered after July 2004. Candidates will benefit from the textbook's comprehensive information and multiple study tools (e.g., chapter objectives, key points, sidebars with practical applications, a 320-word glossary, and more than 120 chapter questions).
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• Can I purchase the NSCA's Essentials of Personal Training textbook directly from the NSCA Certification Commission?
Yes. Click here to go to the web page for this product.
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