NCE PRACTICE EXAM

It is recommended to sit a reasonable distance away from a client so that they do not feel uncomfortable, but also close enough that they feel engaged with you. It is also recommended that you mirror their behavior to facilitate intimacy and aid in the rapport building process. By having arms crossed, you would display closed body language, which is often perceived as less friendly and less welcoming, thus it is not recommended.

Medical clearance to begin a structured exercise program is not necessary for this condition. Treating the musculoskeletal pathology is outside of the scope of practice of a personal trainer and should be instead left to a physical therapist. Instead, a personal trainer's role is to best meet the client's health and fitness needs without making the condition worse. Their physical therapist will have prescribed rehabilitative movements.

A plumbline can be used to evaluate postural deviations across all three of the planes of the body. It is typically best to perform in front of a postural grid.

BMI is a ratio of body weight to height and has nothing to do with body composition. The other 3 methods listed attempt to predict fat mass and fat free mass within the body via norm-referenced data specific to your age and gender. 

Do not assess a client's caloric intake. That is the job of a Registered Dietician. Assessing it is far beyond your scope of practice and can result in you encountering life-changing legal trouble as well as putting your client's well-being at risk. Assess body composition, strength, and flexibility instead. These metrics are in line with your training and education.

According to the FITT principle, training the full body 2-3x per week is appropriate for a novice trainee. In order to prevent reductions in functional range of motion through resistance training, it is important that each repetition be performed through the entirety of a joint's range of motion. However, performing 3 sets of 8-16 reps would mean that repetitions are prescribed in both the hypertrophy and endurance training paradigms. One training day should not focus on multiple training goals when working with a beginner, given undulating periodization is an advanced programming technique.

It is important when onboarding a new client to cover liability, potential risks and have the client sign an informed consent. Even if working within the scope of your education and covered under liability insurance, having documented proof that the client is aware of potential risks can later protect you if you are ever sued. Do not provide health or fitness advice until after you are completely covered, for your own protection.

Type IIx fibers are larger fast twitch muscle fibers than type I and type IIa. Formally referred to as type IIb fibers in humans, these fibers produce the most force per contractile unit and tend to have greater cross sectional area.

The anaerobic energy pathways respond the fastest to acute needs for ATP in the body. The fastest of all of these pathways is the Phosphagen system, which involves the resynthesis of ATP from reactions of ADP and CP. The anaerobic pathway is most heavily relied on when undergoing heavy resistance training or sprinting.

Sucrose is a disaccharide formed by the binding of two glucose molecules as a polymer. The other three options are all monosaccharides, meaning they are carbohydrates that consist of one isomer.

BMI is measured in Kg/m². The equation can also be written as Weight (lbs)/ Height² (in) x 703. This equation allows you to convert lbs/in to this SI unit. Knowing an individual's BMI can allow for population normative comparisons and inform on the general fitness of an untrained or sedentary individual.

This value is the average resting heart rate for both men and women. Resting heart rates refer to an individual's heart rate taken at the radial site when an individual is completely still with the arm rested at heart level.

Subcutaneous fat is stored under the skin and is not prevalent at the layer of the visceral tissue and major organs of the body. Visceral fat is the type of fat that exists at the organ level.

Protein, carbohydrates and fat are all three essential dietary macronutrients that contain calories. These, along with water, vitamins, and minerals are absolutely necessary for the body to be able to perform all of its necessary daily functions. Meat, and vegetables are types of food that have multiple of the essential nutrients inside of them. Sugar is a type of carbohydrate. Though these items can help provide essential nutrients, they are not the same as the actual categories of those nutrients.

It is important to make sure your client is neither hyperglycemic or hypoglycemic prior to exercising. This is especially true prior to beginning an aerobic activity bout given glucose will be predominantly used as fuel. In the case that exercise results in dangerous blood glucose levels, it is important to keep a carbohydrate rich snack nearby with a high GI index.

Complex carbohydrates tend to be rich in fiber and consist of various carbohydrate polymers. Maltose has a high GI index and is very akin to sugar.

Insulin acts immediately in the body during exercise to respond to acute changes in blood glucose. If intramuscular glucose stores get too low from exercise, then insulin will immediately be upregulated to help the cell with glucose reuptake. 

Goniometers measure range of motion in degrees. They are positioned at the fulcrum of a joint and used to track the beginning and end position of the lever moved around that fulcrum. They can be used to gauge progress and disability.

Multivitamins have very low bioavailability in the body, meaning that they are not absorbed very easily. It is typically easier for the body to absorb all of the nutrients it needs from actual food such as dairy, grains, or vegetables.

Glycogen is stored intramuscularly to allow for fast transport to active tissue to replenish ATP during exercise. By contrast, glycogen stored in the liver is utilized to mediate changes in blood glucose levels. The large intestine, however, is not equipped to store glycogen.

Depending on an individual's training goal, training status, individual heart rate, and specific program design it may not be beneficial to always base aerobic exercise prescription on a target zone. Two different 20 year old males may have completely different heart rate reserves, meaning that prescription intensities with the same heart rate max based target heart rate zone would be at different intensities for both individuals. In practical application, when using the Karvonen formula for predicting heart rate max, keep in mind that the value you end up with is only a predicted value, not an absolute. Determine heart rate max through a graded exercise test instead.

Walking is a primary aerobic activity given it is the only physical activity on this list that involves repeated rhythmic muscle actions sustained over a long period of time. Because of its potential duration, it places more of an aerobic demand on the body than activities that are only maintained for short bursts such as weight training, yoga or pilates.

The phosphagen system acts first and involves the breakdown of CP to produce ATP from ADP. It can only sustain up to 6 seconds of exercise at a time, so it is mostly relied on in fast, short duration, and high power movements.

Isometric contractions do not involve a lengthening or shortening of the involved muscle tissue. All of the other options on this list require joint motion.

Static stretches should be held for at least 30 seconds. Dynamic stretches involve active movement throughout a joint's full range of motion. 

The Karvonen formula is used to calculate an individual's max heart rate based on their current age. It is calculated by subtracting their age from 220, but is only just a prediction. This can be used to determine target heart rate zone.

Overload is necessary to facilitate adaptation to exercise. If large enough loads are not used, you will not recruit many motor units in the target muscle you are training during an exercise. You need enough of a stimulus to disrupt homeostasis and force the body to release hormones like HGH and testosterone to help build muscle.

These are all a part of FITT-VP prescriptions, including the needs assessment which is necessary to determine which values to prescribe for each FITT-VP variable.

It is not within the scope of practice for a personal trainer to advise others on diet plans. Only registered dieticians can legally advise others on diet plans in the United States.

Type I fibers are much smaller, but have more mitochondria. These mitochondria allow type I fibers to better utilize aerobic energy pathways, making them much harder to fatigue than the less mitochondria dense type IIa and type IIx fibers.

This is one of the only effective ways to predict RMR without access to an exercise physiology laboratory. Knowing RMR has little practical use for the typical personal trainer though other than for advanced evaluative purposes. It is typically best to understand a client's basal metabolic rate and their total daily energy expenditure.

Stretching a tissue can reduce its resting tension. This can be important in helping relieve the strain and stress of a muscular imbalance. If an individual, for example, has tight hamstrings, static stretching them can help reduce tension and result in a more stable pelvis.

According to the intensity prescription guidelines, strength is most readily improved when prescribing heavy loads for a low number of reps. If reps and weight are high, the movement would not be able to be completed. If weight is low, then independent of reps, it will not increase strength very much because most type IIa and type IIx fibers will not be recruited for the movement.

Kyphosis and lordosis both relate to anterior and posterior curvatures of the spine. The biceps brachii does not have a role in spinal stabilization.

In order to optimize a client's health and their quality of life, it is important to increase their fitness across all dimensions of health and wellness. Improving a client's cardiorespiratory health, flexibility, mobility, and muscular strength can all facilitate these ends.

Never advise a client with hypertension to hold their breath during an exercise. This is called the valsalva maneuver, and although it can help improve intraset performance it can increase blood pressure during the set making the maneuver dangerous. It is also dangerous to breath as fast as possible since hyperventilation can disrupt homeostasis in the body.

The pectoralis major is a primary antagonist of the barbell bent over row movement. An antagonist has the opposite joint action of the working muscle during a movement.

The barbell clean and jerk is a high power multi joint structural movement. It is typically considered an advanced technique and has to be performed fast in order to be performed properly. The barbell decline bench press is another multi joint movement, however less joints are involved in agonist action than the clean and jerk. The other two movements are single joint exercises.

The barbell overhead press will do the least to help improve the client's grip strength. The movement is performed with the forearm inferior to the bar and the resistance force pointed in the direction of the forearm. The other movements involve the resistance force vector being oriented in the opposite way, challenging grip strength.

This is the formal definition of the term periodization and it is non-specific to training modality.

Beta blockers do not affect max heart rate. Instead, they decrease resting heart rate and heart rate at submaximal exercise activities. This is important to account for when programming because using beta blockers can make it appear as if a client is training at a lower intensity than they actually are.

It is typically advised that clients with this condition maintain their head in line with or above their heart when training due to the effects of gravity on blood flow and distribution to different parts of the body. Exercise inherently increases heart rate due to increased oxygen demands so it is almost impossible to not increase heart rate during exercise.

If a client has diabetes, it is actually better to train in a fed state than an unfed state given they are less likely to be hypoglycemic. When insulin activity is peaked, diabetics should avoid exercise to prevent interfering with glucose reuptake into active cells.

The two for two rule is the only real rule in this list. It is a standard for progression in programming. If an individual can perform 2 reps more than prescribed for an exercise 2 training sessions in a row, then they can increase the load used on the subsequent training day.

Movements that are performed over the face or head and carry risk to the trainee should be spotted. The barbell bent over row is not a high-risk movement and it is not performed over the face or head.

Movements that are considered high power movements and have to be performed quickly to be performed correctly are not safe to spot. They put both the client and trainer at greater risk by spotting them. The only movement listed that does not fall in this category is the barbell back squat.

Legally, it is not necessary to ensure clients have access to the internet. However, water access, bathroom access, and maintenance of a space free of unreasonable hazards are all obligated duties of the personal trainer.

It is not necessary to supervise a client between sets. During any working set, however, the client should be supervised and spotted if appropriate. This level of supervision should also persist during warm up sets. Even if risk is minimal, each set and each repetition performed at any intensity carry some form of risk.

According to the ACE strategies for risk management, it is recommended that risk be transferred when a risk is highly severe but occurs seldomly. It can only be transferred because it occurs infrequently, and is not worth confronting directly due to its severity. Transferring risk means to shift pure risk from one group (typically yourself) to another (typically an insurance company).

An automated external defibrillator (AED) should always be accessible during any personal training session in case an acute cardiac event occurs. Because all ACE certified personal trainers are required to be certified in first aid, CPR, and AED, there should always be a trained individual able to operate the AED if a cardiac event were ever to occur. Having an EMT or physical therapist nearby at all times is unrealistic, and a food station is unnecessary.