The Show Up Fitness Podcast

Passing NASM At 63 w/ SUF Study Guide & Tutoring

• Chris Hitchko, CEO Show Up Fitness • Season 3 • Episode 367

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A 63-year-old pivoted careers and passed the NASM CPT by changing how he studied, not who he is. We open the playbook we used together: a clean path through the OPT model, phase-by-phase variables, and the corrective decisions that make both the test and client sessions click. If you’ve felt buried by jargon, this conversation pulls concepts into the light and connects them to simple choices you can make tomorrow.

We start with stabilization and build to strength and power, linking tempos, rests, and intensities so you can see why each phase exists. Foam rolling shows up across the board, but stretching changes with the goal—static early, active-isolated through strength, dynamic in power. From there, we map common overactive muscles in the lower body to practical fixes: roll, stretch, then strengthen the underactive counterpart at a controlled tempo. You’ll hear quick wins like how to handle heels lifting in a squat, what to do when shoulders elevate on a row, and why scaption and TRX rows keep showing up on smart Phase One programs.

Clarity around planes of motion, muscle roles, and scapular force couples pays off fast. We break down how to spot the sagittal, frontal, or transverse answer in seconds, and how agonists, antagonists, synergists, and stabilizers guide exercise selection. We also hit vital signs that matter—hypertension thresholds, tachycardia as a referral trigger, and the wrist’s radial pulse—as well as nutrition basics: carbohydrate ranges, saturated fat limits, protein’s thermic advantage, and the role of insulin, growth hormone, IGF-1, and cortisol.

Most valuable might be the test strategy itself: read the stem slowly, find the keyword like underactive or best strengthen, choose the option that advances the model, and move on. Paul’s story proves it’s not about age or memorizing a manual—it’s about organizing knowledge that actually helps people. Ready to pass and start coaching with purpose? Subscribe, share this with a study partner, and leave a review telling us the NASM concept you want solved next.

Want to ask us a question? Email email info@showupfitness.com with the subject line PODCAST QUESTION to get your question answered live on the show!

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Website: https://www.showupfitness.com/
Become a Personal Trainer Book (Amazon): https://www.amazon.com/How-Become-Personal-Trainer-Successful/dp/B08WS992F8
NASM / ACE / ISSA study guide: https://www.showupfitness.com/collections/nasm

SPEAKER_00:

Howdy, y'all. Welcome back to the Showfiness Podcast. Today is a live tutoring session with Mr. Paul, 63 years young, studying for his NASA. And as I always say, if you pass my tutoring, you will pass the CPT. And that's exactly what happened with Paul. We did this podcast a week ago. He took his test today. He passed with flying colors. And now he's going to move into leveling up to become a qualified personal trainer. We're going to meet in person, Orange County, Lakeshore Irvine. When he comes to the weekend seminar with our partnership with Lifetime, if you want to level yourself up, get through your textbook cert as quickly as you can if you can't get a refund. Or ask Paul, he came across this too late. So get through it. The study guide is gold. You're going to pass. Tutoring is huge. So then you can focus on learning how to actually train and help your clients. It's all about showing up. Welcome to the Show Up Fitness podcast, where great personal trainers are made. We are changing the fitness industry one qualified trainer at a time with our in-person and online personal training certification. If you want to become an elite personal trainer, head on over to showupfitness.com. Also make sure to check out my book, How to Become a Successful Personal Trainer. Don't forget to subscribe, rate, and review. Have a great day and keep showing up. Hi everybody, and welcome back to the Show of Fitness podcast. Today we have Mr. Paul, and we are going to do a little tutor session to help him pass his NASA. Thank you for taking the time today, my man.

SPEAKER_03:

Absolutely. Well, Mr. Thank you for making the time for me.

SPEAKER_00:

I was listening to one of our calls the other day, and you said a bad word, and I got to call you out on it because you said you're old and you are not old. You are you are as fry as can be. You're gonna be able to help tons of people, and I'm excited to get you to pass this as quickly as you can. How'd you come across Show Up?

SPEAKER_03:

You know, Chris, I was kind of going through the NASAM book. I was reading it kind of surely, and I just felt like this really wasn't sinking. I was actually getting a little bit discouraged, and I started looking for the sort of other online resources that could help me like accelerate this process. And I listened to one of your uh podcasts one Sunday uh morning, uh talking to some other fellow that had just passed the the exam. And I'm like, this sounds really interesting, and started chasing it down and signed up for your tutorial. And it's really, it's really helped me kind of get my head wrapped around actually not only some of the language in the manual, but really understanding some of the key principles that I were just terminology to me when I when I read it in the book.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, it's it's like you're learning a new language, and it can be tough if you don't know how to associate it with the practicality of our job because it's you know a book and our book, our our career is a lot more than a book. And so you've been pretty religious about getting into the live calls weekly. And what are some of the the benefits that you've received from those?

SPEAKER_03:

Oh yeah, I I I try to really make the Thursday uh pass an awesome call. And the the benefit is the the first first of all, the folks you have on Ashley, and you know, there's there's a couple others, uh super knowledgeable, and they really step you through not only the the things we need to know for the test, but they kind of did drill down and kind of build some sensibility around why it's important, why we need to know these things, you know, why we how we apply it as a trainer. So I I've really taken a lot of those calls in terms of just really kind of getting the practical aspects of of being a personal trainer.

SPEAKER_00:

And we're coming up on that last week before your exam. I have a hundred percent success rate. When I give a thumbs up at the end, that means they're passed. So I'm hoping to give you a thumbs up. What has been some of the biggest struggles studying so far?

SPEAKER_03:

I think for me, because it's this is a whole new career pivot for me. And I think it's I've really not had to buckle down and study. So it's kind of just learning how to study, learning how to memorize different things, and and then for me, making those connections, like I had mentioned earlier, which I think your team and you have done a nice job for me, is really taking something that trunk of terminology and actually making sense out of what does that really mean? I'm more about like hands-on doer type of learner. So learning all these things and developing the study habits has probably been the toughest thing for me.

SPEAKER_00:

I've been teaching for over 15 years, a trainer for 20, and I cannot tell you how many times I hear that. And then people almost say it like negatively, like, oh, I'm just I'm not a book person. But it's like, that's our career. We are not in a book, we are working with people. So that's normal. We are kinesthetic. We're gonna have to be able to cue and help people when they have discomfort to regress and progress. And it's just really hard to get that out of a book. So you're not alone. It's very, very common. If you're listening to this, you have to realize that there's a lot of people that are struggling, but you just got to get through it and then start learning how to actually turn this into something where you can really help people. Because you said that your market over there outside of Palm Springs, a lot of older folk, a lot of people who are overweight and obese, and they need help.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, a lot of pickleballers, golfers, people that don't get and drink a lot, eat kind of bad. So uh it's a real opportunity to help people. And there, but there is a community that really wants to get a handle on their health, and it's you know, how do you you know how do I help them with that? And that's something I aspire to do.

SPEAKER_00:

Great, and we'll help you with that. And you have to, when you pass, go and listen to the pickleball peep podcast because I I saw that.

SPEAKER_02:

I saw that. I I didn't want to put that in my brain just yet because uh, you know, I'm like focused down, you know, heads down on the NASA and stuff.

SPEAKER_00:

There you go. So the most important thing when you put your uh the date in and you're gonna take your test, you got to put your NASA hat on, and you have to just almost erase any practicality of how you've trained in the past. And I can tell you're smart because when you're going through the book, you're like, well, this doesn't really add up, but you have to put the hat on and you have to realize what they want. And a lot of times it's via process elimination, you can eliminate a couple. So you're down to two questions, and then you want to make sure that's the best one. And you know, I always make a joke, but pretty much anytime you see proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation, anytime you see uh stability ball squat curl press, which phase of the OPT model we're gonna go with?

SPEAKER_03:

That'd be the stability.

SPEAKER_00:

Good. And so we just have to master the acute variables. Let's see how you do with those. Can you tell me the the reps, rest, and tempo for phase one?

SPEAKER_03:

Phase one, the the tempo is four, two, one, one. Rest is sixty seconds. Let's go with intensity 50 to 75 percent.

SPEAKER_00:

Good. And as long as you can say that, make sure to read the question. Don't go and look at the answers yet, because they're not gonna try to trick you. They're not gonna say, is it zero to 60 seconds? Is it zero to 90 seconds? Is it 30 to 60 seconds? It's gonna be very black and white. It's gonna say zero to 90 seconds, it's gonna say two minutes, it's gonna say three minutes, or five minutes plus. So you said 60 seconds, which is right, but it's probably gonna be zero to 90 seconds. The intensity, they're not gonna try to trick you and say 55 or 68, it's gonna be very 50 to 70, 75, 85, 85 to 100. Okay. So long as you just know it's either gonna be stabilization, it's gonna be strength, which will be phase two, three, and four, or it's gonna be power. Right. And could you name a couple exercises that they would put into the phase one of the OPT model? A ball cobra, anything on a bosom ball. There you go. And what about like a TRX row? TRX row, yes. Good. So then when you graduate after a month and you've done phase one and you move into phase two, what's what are some significant things about phase two?

SPEAKER_03:

Phase two is uh superset, albeit uh superset where you do the same uh essentially the same muscle groups. So it you'll superset from a bench press to a push-up or from a uh barbell squat to maybe a lunge or something like this, where you're gonna hit the same muscle back to back.

unknown:

Good.

SPEAKER_00:

And so graduate into phase three. So each one of these would be called a mesocycle. So it's a month period. A microcycle will be the acute variables within that week. And the big picture would be McConnell wants to lose weight over the next six months. That would be your macro cycle. That's periodization. And NASA likes to implement within their programming linear periodization. They're not gonna get too much in that, just realize that if they were to say one of these blocks, phase one, two, or three, that would be called a mesocycle. So after the second month, you decide to graduate and stick within the strength phase, but now we're gonna go to phase three. What would be some of the reps, the intensity, as well as the rest period for phase three?

SPEAKER_03:

Phase three is the muscular development or hypertrophy phase. The rep range is eight to twelve, sixty seconds rest. Don't disagree, don't agree with that, by the way. Um does 60 seconds rest. Uh 2020 is the uh the the cadence or uh uh zero to six sixty seconds rest. How about the intensity? Intensity is 75 percent. Good, yep.

SPEAKER_00:

So six to twelve reps is about 75-85 percent. So you're good to go on that one. After a month, you're just gonna follow the OPT model. So you're gonna go into phase four. And what were the the reps and the intensity as well as the rest for that phase?

SPEAKER_03:

My favorite phase it's the power strength building, and the reps are one to five reps, three to five sets, five minutes rest, paces, uh XXX.

SPEAKER_00:

And then our last one, we're gonna move into the third part, which would be phase five, and that's gonna be power. Can you give me some examples of what is unique within phase five?

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, phase five combines uh uh perhaps a heavy lift, like we may have done in in in phase four, followed by a power move, like a medicine ball throw, or you know, uh a jump squat or something of that nature or some sort of jump and turn. Good. But it's a it's a lift, a heavy lift followed by a power move.

SPEAKER_00:

In the science community, we would call that PAP training, which is post-activation potentiation. And typically it's gonna be a either you can do either or so you could do explosive into heavy or heavy into explosive, as long as you know that for the heavy portion, it's gonna be one to five reps, 85 to 100 percent. When it comes to the power portion, what are some of the unique characteristics behind that?

SPEAKER_03:

A little bit lighter. I think uh you work in uh in a weight of uh 30 to 35 percent uh of rate, you work in a rep range of 10 to 12 reps, 20, 20 tempo.

SPEAKER_00:

No, you're still gonna go explosive on that one. So it's still gonna be XXX.

SPEAKER_03:

XXX. Okay.

SPEAKER_00:

The the big thing is recognizing the, and again, it's not necessarily wrong by saying 12 reps. They're not gonna be that specific. It's one to 10 reps, it's 10% of body weight, three to five minutes rest, and you would do the heavy into the explosive, and then you would rest that three to five minutes, or the explosive into the heavy. And you just got to recognize the exercises as you did. And so some of the unique things that you're gonna see when it comes to the blocks, phase one, phase two, three, and four, and then phase five are the stretching. And NASA loves to implement certain stretches. Every phase will incorporate foam rolling. You have to remember that. And I like to make a joke if you don't foam roll, you die, but you have to foam roll those overactive muscles. And so I'm gonna kind of dance back and forth with some of the overactive muscles and then incorporate it into the OPT model. So when we look at lower body anatomy, what would be some common overactive or tight or strong muscles?

SPEAKER_03:

And the lower body, it'd be your gastrochnemius, sole, um, your hamstring complex, hip flexors, adductors.

SPEAKER_00:

And you also have your TFL, they might throw that one in there. Just remember that when we hear hip flexors, that can be used interchangeably with what other muscle?

SPEAKER_03:

Uh PSOAS. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

So sometimes they may say your client is performing a leg lift, this action is referred to as flexion. What would be the main mover? And we would need to be able to recognize it's psoas major, whereas later on they may be doing an overhead squat and the torso falls forward, and the answer may be hip flexor. That's the same answer. They just they're gonna try to kind of throw you that curveball.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay.

SPEAKER_00:

So when we graduate into phase two, three, and four, we implement a different type of stretching. We will always still do foam rolling, but we're also gonna do what type of stretching?

SPEAKER_03:

Like static stretching.

SPEAKER_00:

That's in phase one. So static stretching is going to be phase one with foam rolling, and then when we move into phase two, three, and four, we do foam rolling and what?

SPEAKER_03:

You do like I forgot the name of the stretch stretches, Chris. It's uh I know you just hold it for like a uh uh a second or two, and then you that's all you know. So it's like touch my my right arm to my left toe for two seconds, and my left arm to my right toe for a couple seconds. I forgot the name.

SPEAKER_00:

And we call that active isolate. Active isolate. Yeah, thank you. That's the term that they're gonna call. And then the more common term, which we're gonna see in phase five, we will foam roll and what type of stretching do we do there?

SPEAKER_03:

It's dynamic stretching.

SPEAKER_00:

Nice. That's gonna be your prisoner squat, a lunge with rotation. And when we look at core exercises, if we were to come back to phase one, what would be some common core exercises we'd be doing? Dead bug or bird dog. Nice. And we would call that the spine not moving. So that will all go into phase one. When the spine moves via flexion and extension, that's gonna be in the strength phase. And then when you have some type of rotation with a ball and you throw it somewhere, that's gonna be into phase five. We also need to look at the tempo and associate it with which phase of the lift. And so if we're doing a four, two, one, one, what does the four mean? What does the two mean, etc.?

SPEAKER_03:

Sure. The the the four is your excent or eccentric portion of the lift, the what I'll call the lowering portion. Uh, two is the amortization where you you you're in a kind of isometric hold for a second or two seconds in that example. Then uh one would be the concentric part of the lift and then an isometric hold at the end.

SPEAKER_00:

Great. I like your terminology there, but just to correct you on that, amortization is during the stretch shortening cycle of the power portion. So when you come down into a jump, that you come down nice and slow and controlled. When you quickly come up, that middle phase is called amortization. So when the muscle doesn't change length, that's what's called isometric. So when we do a forward two, one, one, the two is isometric. So you hold there for two seconds. When we're doing a jump, that rapid recoil within the series elastic component of the muscle. That's just what makes it unique for plyometric. That's so associate amortization with plometric.

SPEAKER_03:

Ah, okay.

SPEAKER_00:

Thank you. They're not going to get too much into nutrition, they're not going to get a ton into uh plyometrics. When it comes to plyo, they may ask you something about uh the elastic energy being stored in the series elastic component, but that's that's pretty advanced. Most likely it's gonna be the phases of stretching and the exercises, knowing the backside mechanics during a sprint. What is that called? Triple extension and front side mechanics, triple flexion. And what plane of motion would a sprint be in?

SPEAKER_03:

That would be in the sagittal plane.

unknown:

Good.

SPEAKER_00:

And let's take a couple other examples of exercises. So if I were to do a bicep curl, what plane of motion would that be in?

SPEAKER_03:

Bicep curls in the sagittal plane.

unknown:

Good.

SPEAKER_00:

And that's because you know, the definition we got to just memorize and imaginary and bisecting the body into right and left halves, allowing for flexion and extension. So if you look at the concentric motion, you're bringing the weight up to your armpit. That is concentric. That's when we typically want to breathe out. As you said earlier, the lowering, that's the eccentric, that's when we want to breathe in. So when we do a pull-up with a pronated grip, which would be our knuckles facing the face, what plane of motion would that be in? The pull-up would be on the frontal plane. Okay. And then let's go to the cable rotation, which they like to throw in there. And if I have triple extension on the backside with rotation, what plane of motion would that be in?

SPEAKER_03:

Uh the transverse plane.

unknown:

Good.

SPEAKER_00:

Could you name two other exercises that are in the frontal plane? Pull up, lat pull down, uh lateral, dumbbell lateral raises.

unknown:

Good.

SPEAKER_00:

And if you were to do some band walks, those would also be in the frontal plane. And where it can get kind of confusing is they're going to ask you a lot about the overhead squat assessment. And they're going to say your client's performing the overhead squat assessment, you have the dreaded knee valgus, and you are going to foam roll the adductors. Which of the following exercises would be best to strengthen the weakened muscles? So it can get confusing because you're thinking, okay, we're already foam rolled. Uh, am I looking for a static stretch? No, that they just want you to isolate the word weakened, and how are you going to strengthen that? And so if we were to be in the frontal plane and we do a side bandwalk and you implement the 4211, that's going to help strengthen in that frontal plane. Let's look at a couple other exercises. Let's do a squat. What plane of motion is that in?

SPEAKER_03:

A squat is in the sagittal plane.

SPEAKER_00:

Very good. So now let's dissect some of that terminology agonist, synergist, and stabilizer. So when I do a squat, what is one of the main movers at the hip?

SPEAKER_03:

Um, that'd be the glutes.

SPEAKER_00:

And at the knee?

SPEAKER_03:

The quads.

SPEAKER_00:

What would the synergist be?

SPEAKER_03:

Your hamstrings.

SPEAKER_00:

The stabilizers for a lower body exercise. The adductors. That would be kind of like a synergist. The adductors would not be a stabilizer. Remember, lower body when we when we do a squat, we come down, we take a big deep breath in because we want to stabilize our core. Core, yes. So lower body stabilizers will be what they call the TVA. If we're doing a push-up or a bench press or a pull-up, what would the stabilizing group be there?

SPEAKER_03:

Uh rotator cuff.

SPEAKER_00:

Yep. And the antagonist for a pull-up, the antagonist.

SPEAKER_03:

The antagonist would be um the lats, latissimus dorsi.

SPEAKER_00:

So tell me what the word antagonist means.

SPEAKER_03:

Oh, you're right. Uh antagonist is the length of muscle. That would be the posterior del.

SPEAKER_00:

So that would be correct, but the vocabulary is incorrect. So think of it as the opposite. If we're watching Romeo and Juliet, the antagonist is the opposite. It's the bad guy, right? So when I'm doing a pull up, the agonist is your lats. Your lats, yeah. The antagonist is the opposite, which would be your deltoids.

SPEAKER_03:

Deltoids, yeah. I got it mixed up, man.

SPEAKER_00:

All right, you got it. I could I could see in your eyes that you recognize it after I asked you that. It's an important thing. And so, like when we're doing a squat, we got the agonist at the hip and the knee. What would be the antagonist for a squat? The psoas. Good, very good. Now let's take a look at a few other ones in the frontal plane and overhead press. What would be the agonist?

SPEAKER_03:

Overhead press, the agonist would be the uh deltoids. Yep. The synergist at the elbow be the triceps.

SPEAKER_00:

Good. The upper trapezius, the serratus anterior, and lower trapezius, they're also a synergist. They work together to produce upward rotation. What is that relationship called? Motor unit. Getting some good vocab words in there. A motor unit is a good term to know. That's a neuron and all the associated muscle fibers it innervates, which is a good term to know. But think of it as they're working together.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, I can't think of the term.

SPEAKER_00:

If we're together, we're a couple.

SPEAKER_01:

The forced couple relationships.

SPEAKER_00:

There you go. There you go. So they could ask you a question about the agonist during an overhead, uh, sorry, during an overhead press or military press, and then ask you about what the name is for upward rotation of the scapula, which would be your force couple. Some other good vocab words looking at the OPT model. So in stabilization, your client could have hypertension. What is hypertension?

SPEAKER_03:

It's uh uh blood pressure of 140 over 90.

SPEAKER_00:

What is that top number called?

SPEAKER_03:

The top number is called the systolic.

SPEAKER_00:

Good. And what are the top chambers of the heart called? Atrium. The bottom chambers?

SPEAKER_03:

Um, ventricles.

SPEAKER_00:

What are the names of the two nodes of the heart?

SPEAKER_03:

The SA node. The pacemaker, good job.

SPEAKER_00:

The pacemaker of the heart, and I forgot the other one. A V. A V. Let's pretend like your client has some bone issues, and they have a standard deviation of greater than negative 2.5 that has a term which is called what? Unhealthy bones.

SPEAKER_03:

Oh, osteopena.

SPEAKER_00:

Penia would be the precursor to osteoporosis. There you go. Could you tell me the definition according to the BMI for being obese?

SPEAKER_03:

Over 30.

SPEAKER_00:

Great. And let's take a look at another condition you may see someone who has lost their muscle mass due to age. What is that called?

SPEAKER_03:

Sarcopenia.

SPEAKER_00:

Very good, very good. Now, those are some of the popular vocab words that you need to be familiar with. You did great on that. Now let's go back to some muscles and the actions and taking a look at the relating it to the OPT model. So if we are doing a lunge, what plane of motion?

SPEAKER_03:

Lunge would be the sagittal plane.

unknown:

Good.

SPEAKER_00:

And what is the main mover for the agonist at the knee?

SPEAKER_03:

That would be the quad.

unknown:

Good.

SPEAKER_00:

And if your client were to go to the side and do a side lunge, what plane of motion? Uh that would be the frontal plane. Very good. Yeah, you're great with the planes of motion. You're really good with the acute variables. Those are all important things. The vocab words you've done really good with. They're not going to ask you a ton about heart. The last little thing about the heart I like to throw in there is uh all veins go what direction?

SPEAKER_03:

Away from the heart or to the heart. I'm sorry. Very good.

SPEAKER_00:

Very good. So arteries go away, veins go back. And it's common for trainers to check a pulse. What is the name of that pulse at the wrist?

SPEAKER_03:

The radial.

SPEAKER_00:

Good. And how about nutrition? Let's see how we do with that. It is recommended to consume what percent of the diet in carbohydrates according to the ADA.

SPEAKER_03:

I believe it's 50 to 65%.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, good. 45 to 65 percent. Again, they're not going to ask you like 40 to 50, 55 to 60. It's gonna be 10 to 35, 20 to 35, 45 to 65, or 90 percent. When we look at carbohydrates, they're broken up into sugar and fiber. How many grams of fiber should males be roughly consuming per day?

SPEAKER_03:

40.

SPEAKER_00:

And females?

SPEAKER_03:

30.

unknown:

Good.

SPEAKER_00:

Technically, it's gonna be I think 38 and 25, but again, that's perfectly fine on that answer. When it comes to the basic unit of carbohydrates, it's called monosaccharides. There are three monosaccharides. We have fructose, galactose, and what is the other one?

SPEAKER_03:

Sucrose.

SPEAKER_00:

Sucrose is a disaccharide. Think of pure table sugar. What is that called?

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, uh fructa. No, not fructa. Come on, Paul.

SPEAKER_00:

Come on, Paul.

SPEAKER_03:

Oh man.

SPEAKER_00:

We'll get there in a second. So if I have a bunch of sugar, what happens to my blood sugar levels?

SPEAKER_03:

Your blood sugar goes up.

SPEAKER_00:

Good. And what is that molecule that is increasing in my blood sugar?

SPEAKER_03:

Glucose.

SPEAKER_00:

There you go. Good. So if you were to go to the doc and they take your resting blood glucose levels when you get greater than 120 or so, that's gonna be diabetes. Greater than 100 is pre-diabetic. And that would be referred to as type one or type two diabetes. Type two. What is type one?

SPEAKER_03:

Your body doesn't produce enough insulin.

SPEAKER_00:

Good. So you are insulin dependent because you got to get insulin dependent. Yes. Typically, we're gonna get that less than age 10. They call that uh onset childhood uh diabetes, and one of those is reversible. Which one? One or two? Two is reversible. Good, nice and done. And so when we look at a little more complex, let's just have some fun with this with some hormones. So insulin is what type of hormone?

SPEAKER_03:

I think it's a growth hormone.

SPEAKER_00:

It has growth factors because it grows in that category of growth, it's gonna grow a cell. Is it catabolic or anabolic? Catabolic means breakdown. So insulin is an anabolic hormone. What are two other anabolic hormones? You said one of the words. Growth hormone. Good. Good. You you said IgF. That's another one. There you go. So testosterone is also an anabolic hormone. And when it comes to endocrinology, which is the study of hormones, maybe a couple questions. I'm just going into the trenches on there because you're doing really, really well. Oh, I don't think I'm doing so good, man. Oh, you're doing great. Just our conversation shows me that you're you're gonna pass this. I'm not I'm not concerned about you at all. Just because you're able to you get a little mix up, but that's just your mind on, you know, you you're trying to process all this information. It's perfectly normal. When you're taking the test, you're gonna take a couple of breaths, a little bubbles gonna pop up. That's the belt buckle trainer. I'm gonna and you're gonna do fine, I promise. So you did great with uh the hormones. There is one hormone that is more catabolic. And what hormone is that?

SPEAKER_03:

Uh cortisol.

SPEAKER_00:

And and just for your own knowledge, cortisol is neither good nor bad, it just does its job. And in the right environment, it's going to potentially be anti-inflammatory. It's a great hormone, but we like to categorize it as a bad hormone because we associate cortisol with what? Stress. And stress definitely is a huge issue today, which has a lot of negative impacts. They're not going to get much into sleep or anything along those lines. It's just going to be the blanket categories. So we talked about carbs, you did good, got into endocrinology. We talked about glucose being a monosaccharide. How about when we look at protein? What is the basic unit for protein? Uh, that would be the amino acid. There's roughly 20 of them. What does the word non-essential mean?

SPEAKER_03:

Non-essential means our body produces those amino acids. We don't have to get them from an outside source.

SPEAKER_00:

Yep. And there's roughly 11 of them. And again, not going to ask you much because that's going to be in that capacity as a dietitian. So just a couple things around that. They may ask you what are the fat-soluble vitamins? A D E K. Nice. And when it looks at fat, what percent should saturated not be greater than? The range for fat is 20 to 35. Saturated should not be greater than what?

SPEAKER_03:

10%.

SPEAKER_00:

There you go. Nicely done. So the basic unit for fat, fatty acids, how many calories per gram of fat?

SPEAKER_03:

There is nine calories in a gram of fat. Carbs? There are four calories in a gram of carbs.

SPEAKER_00:

My favorite alcohol? Seven. There you go. Technically, a macronutrient. As we know, it is not essential, but it is a macronutrient because it provides calories. So carbs, fats, and protein all yield calories, and calories is just a unit of measurement. What is unique about protein?

SPEAKER_03:

Protein has um the highest uh thermogenic effect when you eat it.

SPEAKER_00:

There we go. So you can take an individual who's eating 2,000 calories, and if you just increase the protein, the person who's having more protein will burn more calories at rest. About 30% will be burned. Thermal effective food or diet-induced thermogenesis. And that's why protein is a great source because we have to break down nitrogen. That's the difference in the chemical structure. We have to deaminate it. If we were to use protein, our muscle for fuel, that process is called what?

SPEAKER_03:

Uh glucose neogenesis.

SPEAKER_00:

Very good, very good. You got all the vocab words down. Let's um get into uh some other topics, not too worried about nutrition. We did some stuff with plyometrics. Let's talk about the assessment process. And so we have a par Q. What does that stand for?

SPEAKER_03:

Activity readiness questionnaire, participant activity readiness questionnaire.

SPEAKER_00:

There's subjective information and objective information. Can you tell me the difference between the two?

SPEAKER_03:

Yes, subjective information is information I get from the client or the subject. Objective information is information I obtain, perhaps body fat measurement, uh heart rate, things along those lines.

SPEAKER_00:

So our heart rate should be about you know 70 to 80. That's what the average is going to be. If we are above 100, that has a specific term. What is that called? Uh tach tachycardia. And that would be a contraindication. So if your client, you check their resting heart rate, maybe their blood pressure is 130 over 85, slightly elevated, but not hypertension. That's just like pre-hypertensive, but you find out their resting heart rate is 110. That would be a contraindication. What does that mean?

SPEAKER_03:

That means they in that particular case, if it probably should see a physician before I can work with them.

unknown:

Yep.

SPEAKER_00:

So the doc will tell us, hey, let's not do burpees, let's not do any battle ropes or any crazy stuff, because that's going to be contraindicated for this issue because your client has tachycardia. Very good. You decide to do the overhead squat assessment and they elevate their shoulders a little bit with their arms. What muscle would you presume would be more overactive? I would presume the lats might be the overactive. The lats could be so, but my arms are here and I get more of an elevation.

SPEAKER_03:

Oh, upper traps.

SPEAKER_00:

There you go. Good. Now, when it comes to the overhead squat, they're probably going to ask you more about the arms falling forward. I kind of threw you a curved ball there, but you were able to rebound really nicely. So you're typically see the arms coming down forward torso lean, your knees buckling in. We want to do 20 repetitions, five on the anterior view, five on the lateral, five posterior. On the posterior view, what compensation pattern will we be looking at?

SPEAKER_03:

In the posterior view, we would be looking for uh knees flaring out or buckling.

SPEAKER_00:

It might be kind of hard to see the knees from the backside, though.

SPEAKER_03:

It'd be an art, I was gonna say arching of the back, but that'd be more of a lateral view. Lateral view. Go over the checkpoints of human movement.

SPEAKER_00:

Uh, we'd look for the heels coming off the ground. There you go, nicely done. So we got our heels, our knees, LP. BHC, which is lumbopelvic hip complex, and then we have the shoulders and the head positioning. And let's pretend like you see their head migrating forward. What muscle would you presume would be underactive if you were to see that?

SPEAKER_03:

Head leaning forward, maybe this this the scalines.

SPEAKER_00:

So if it's coming forward, the scalings would be overactive as well as the sternocleomastoid?

SPEAKER_03:

Oh no, I I misunderstood. I'm sorry. Overactive would be the sternous.

SPEAKER_00:

You're correct. So I said under though.

SPEAKER_03:

The uh cervical, um deep cervical flexors.

SPEAKER_00:

Great, great. So mid and lower trapezius, and then the deep cervical flexors would be underactive there. Now, if your client's heels do come off the ground, as we mentioned from that posterior view, what muscle would be underactive? Tibialis. Very good. Crushed it. So what do we want to do to the overactive muscle if their heels come off the ground? We want a foam roll. There you go. For how long?

SPEAKER_03:

30 seconds. And then what? And stretch. There you go. For how long? 30 seconds.

SPEAKER_00:

And then what are we going to do to the antib? We're going to strengthen it. And what tempo? 4211. Nice to done. So let's go to a pulling assessment. And your client is pulling the cable or the barbell to their chest, and you notice that their upper traps are coming towards their ears. What muscles would be probably underactive? Their mid and lower traps. Good. And which of the following exercises would you want to incorporate if you notice during the pulling assessment your clients' shoulders elevate? Would you want to do a prone ISO ab? Would you want to do a TRX row? Would you want to do a single leg touchdown? Or would you want to do a Bostu ball push-up?

SPEAKER_03:

I'm going to suggest a TRX row.

SPEAKER_00:

There you go. So you'd be hitting the mid back right there, and that's what's underactive. We want to do a 4-2-1-1. Also do like a ball combo one or two, as or any type of the single-leg scaption would be a good one. They love that one too.

SPEAKER_03:

They love the scaption.

SPEAKER_00:

They do. And that's a that's a great phase one exercise to strengthen those weak muscles. You can still tell from the OPT model that Dr. Clark, he's a he's a great physical therapist, but it's all prehab based. And so those can be okay. But when you work with their therapists and you build your team, you can probably come up with a better approach. So you just have to memorize everything about that phase one. You did great with the OPT model, really, really good with the terminology. I have no doubt that you're gonna be able to pass this. And you just got to go in there knowing that you will pass it. And it's like worst case scenario, you don't pass it. It doesn't mean you're not gonna be a good trainer. It's literally just uh a book test. I'm 100% confident that you will pass this. Do you have any questions for me? Anything else you want me to review with you?

SPEAKER_03:

No, this is super helpful. I seems like I need to brush up on a couple things, and uh it's a little different kind of getting the questions like this on the spot and having to think through it. So this is really good, really helpful, and I really appreciate you taking the time, uh, Chris.

SPEAKER_00:

And that's and that's how I know you're gonna pass, is because when I quiz people, and if it's like the simple stuff, such as you know, the overactive and they're just completely off, or they they can't even come up with uh an answer, then they're really gonna struggle on the exam because typically when we get that anxiety, then we go to the answers and we just start reviewing and reviewing, reviewing. It's like, oh, is it upper trap? Is it lower trap? And that's when we get in trouble. The fact that you could say it, articulate it, and even better was like when I would say antagonist, like, oh shit, okay, you caught it quickly, and that's good. So the fact that you can catch it, because when you read it, they're not gonna be throwing you curveballs or speaking real fast like I am. So you just read it nice and slow, think for a second, what is the answer? And if you know the answer, find the answer and move on. You're gonna pass it, and uh you'll you'll do it probably 30 or 40 minutes, no doubt, and you'll be able to move on up and start helping your clients in your area.

SPEAKER_03:

Well, my plan is to get past this test and then come to show a fitness and get my certification so I really know how to work with people because what's missing in this process is really the lab work, right? Getting the practical stuff, you know, you know, putting programming and really having a sense of how to program uh based on the client's needs versus you know what I get out of the other out of a book. So I'm really looking forward to moving into the next phase where you know I really have to dig down and and really learn this stuff because I think that's what's really important. And if you don't mind me, Paul. I'm CPR certified by a book. My wife asked me, if I if I kill over right now, could you administer CPR? And I'll be like, I sure hope so. But that's a an example of kind of that's my kind of example of the difference versus actually applying it on uh uh on a practice case.

SPEAKER_00:

And if you don't mind me asking, Paul, how young are you?

SPEAKER_03:

Um 63.

SPEAKER_00:

I love it, I love it, and so much more to be able to get in the trenches and start helping people. And you're uh a perfect picture of you know what fitness is all about. You look apart, you talk the part, and I'm really excited to uh get you out there to start helping people.

SPEAKER_03:

I'm looking forward to your help, man. I really appreciate what you've done for me so far and getting me through this nasty thing. And it's been a journey I didn't know. I didn't know about show up. I'd like you say in your talks, I wish I'd have heard about it beforehand, but uh all it's all part of the journey.

SPEAKER_00:

It is, my man. Well, thank you for your time and let us know when you pass, all right? Chris, thanks a million, man. Really appreciate it.