ACE Personal Trainer Practice Exam

When you are first meeting a client and verbal and non-verbal communication are extremely important to consider, you are in the rapport stage.

This is an example of gathering information, which you should do before the planning stage. This is part of the investigation stage.

It is considered best to test a client's static posture after taking resting measures but before getting into training.

A person in the preparation phase may be somewhat sporadic in their activity level, but is ready to make the change to a healthy lifestyle.

Given the individual has 2 or more risk factors for cardiovascular disease, but is asymptomatic with no past history of cardiovascular disease, he is placed in the moderate category. If an individual has less than 2 risk factors they will be placed in the low risk category. If they are symptomatic or have a history of cardiovascular disease they are placed in the high category. The very high category does not exist.

Psychological mood is not measured in a physiologic assessment given it is a psychometric variable. However, resting vital signs (such as heart rate and blood pressure) as well as joint flexibility are measured.

The pulmonary artery is a deep artery and cannot be palpated manually. The other three are superficial and can thus be felt and measured by the hands.

The only method of feedback listed is the Borg scale. This scale is used to measure the perceived difficulty of exercises and can help gauge relative intensity of movements. This is important to cover with a client during the initial interview because it is an informative feedback tool. The Naughton protocol is designed for GXT performance. The Duke Nomogram is a normative rating scale for physiological parameters that predicts morbidity. The Karvonen method is a method of predicting max heart rate based on age.

Tone of voice, facial expressions and body language can all affect how a client views and hears you, regardless of what you are saying.

Paraphrasing is a great way to show the client that you are listening as well as to make sure you are hearing what they are saying correctly.

Adding resistance is the next step in strength increase. This will produce significant results in lower body strength as opposed to increasing repetitions.

Static stretches should not be performed before or during a workout given they inhibit the myotatic reflex and reduce performance. Performing static stretches post workout when muscles are warm will allow flexibility to increase without compromising workout quality.

The face pull and barbell bent over row involve training the rhomboids and rear deltoids, among other upper back muscles. The barbell high pull is driven by the upper trapezius, which is a muscle of the upper back. The seated machine back extension is driven by the erector spinae and other lower back muscles, with none of its agonists being anatomically located on the upper back.

Training with heavy or high work-loads and low reps will primarily help increase muscular strength, and not facilitate much change in body composition. Similarly, aerobic training can help increase total daily energy expenditure making fat loss easier, but it is not the best choice given it does not promote an improvement in body composition through increasing fat free mass. Circuit training both promotes hypertrophy and increases total daily energy expenditure, helping improve body composition in multiple ways and making it the best choice.

To increase multiple effort power, 3-5 reps should be performed. 1-2 reps only improve single effort power, and sets of 6 or greater are not associated with increases in power.

According to prescription guidelines, rest periods for muscular endurance training programs should be kept under 30 seconds.

A person exercising for the purpose of general fitness should rest for 30-90 seconds in between sets of a resistance exercise.

When training for muscular endurance, a rest interval of less than 30 seconds in between sets of resistance exercise is optimal.

A sequence of controlled shoulder movements with one arm raised an inch off the ground is an appropriate beginning exercise for core stability.

An athlete with advanced skill like James should train no less than 4 times a week and can train up to 7 if done properly.

All of these variables fall within the FITT-VP designation.

According to progression guidelines, 5% is the standard amount. Progressing slower is not necessary and progressing faster will lead to stalling very quickly.

These are the three levels of a periodized program. The other terms do not exist. A periodized program is an exercise program designed in a systematic way with pre-planned progressive variation to optimally facilitate chronic adaptations to resistance training.

One week is typically the duration of a microcycle, and one month is typically the duration of a mesocycle. A macrocycle, the entire duration of a program, can last several months or longer.

This is the prescription parameter for individuals with type II diabetes. When working with a special population, it is important to prioritize prescription parameters for that specific population over general prescription guidelines.

ACE personal trainers need to stay within their scope of practice, which includes helping a client set goals, in order to keep the client safe and avoid legal issues.

An ACE certified personal trainer must complete 20 hours of continuing education study in a two year time period to keep one's certification active.

A person suffering from inflammation will experience decreased range of motion at that joint due to swelling.

An informed Consent form notifies the participant of the risk of injury associated with exercise.

When spotting a dumbell movement, it is important to spot at the joint most proximal to the dumbbell which is the wrist. It is a very common mistake for newer trainers to spot at the elbows, but this is dangerous.

Even if you are working entirely within your scope of practice and take all of the necessary precautions when working with a client, accidents still do happen. They are rare, but in the case that something does occur, it is best to purchase liability insurance for your own protection. If a client injures themselves during an exercise, they are likely to blame their trainer and liability insurance provides needed security. Most facilities require that trainers purchase their own individual liability insurance before beginning employment. However general insurance will not protect most personal trainers if a client gets hurt in the gym. While health insurance is beneficial in general, it is not as useful as liability insurance.

Incrementing is not a method of managing risk. The other three options are all strategies for managing risk and are appropriate for different situations. Avoiding risk means minimizing or removing it from an environment. This can easily be done by purchasing and maintaining high quality equipment for your facility, and ensuring clients are always supervised when exercising. Risk reduction typically reduces the frequency of losses and having regular safety inspections can facilitate this. Transferring risk means to shift pure risk from one group (typically yourself) to another (typically an insurance company).

Both bulimia and anorexia are common eating disorders that certified personal trainers may encounter in their profession. It is not within a personal trainer's scope of practice to treat either disorder. Registered Dieticians, not personal trainers, are trained to prescribe dietary plans to treat and manage medical or health conditions. It is common for trainers to forget this and begin prescribing diets based on the limited amount of nutritional knowledge they possess. Do not make this mistake.