Yesterday, I took the exam and passed the Practical Section with 98/110. However, I failed the Science Section by 1 point. 🙄 For me, I thought the Practical side of things would be the hardest section, but turns out not. So I want to list out a reflection on the exam and what to do differently for the Science section. For the Practical —> What Went Well • For several days, I had reviewed all of the agility tests in the CSCS book + I watched videos on them. I am really glad I did because there were a lot of questions on them in the exam (which I was surprised about). • Fortunately through my own coaching experience, I understood the faults to look for in the major lifts, like Back Squat, Front Squat, Bench, Clean and so on. I also knew the progressions for each, specifically the power clean and clean. I think if you don’t know what to look for, and how to progress these, you absolutely should as there are several questions / videos / photos on this. • I understood what the exercise order should be for testing day and training day. • I had a good understanding of what counts as power development, strength development, hypertrophy, and muscular endurance. And I’ve written programs on these already. There were questions like: “ Sally has the below characteristics: Height: 5’6 Weight: 124lbs Vertical jump: 15” 1RM Back Squat: 145lb What should Sally work on in her programming?” • There were a few questions on nutrition I felt good with. Such as, referral to an RD, understanding how much protein a person needs, carb loading strategies, and issues to look for such as bulimia, anorexia, and binge eating (and which sport has the most at risk for these disorders). What did not go as well: • Facility rules. I’m a little disappointed in this one as I feel like I should know, but spacing between racks, policies and procedures in the S&C gym, who a club team should ask to use the S&C gym, role of an assistant S&C coach…😅 • I forgot some calculations for some of the nutrition questions. Specifically calculating caloric needs using body weight only (“Bill is a college athlete weighing 100kg. What should his daily caloric intake be?”)

Which nutrients are commonly insufficient in athletes who eliminate dairy products without appropriate dietary substitution? I. calcium II. riboflavin III. vitamin D IV. vitamin B12 A. I and III only B. I, II, and III only C. I, III, and IV only Answer in the poll, then explain your rationale below in the comments! I'll follow up with my breakdown of the question after enough people have responded. From Chapter 9: Basic Nutrition Factors in Health

Which factor contributes most to the lower incidence of muscle hypertrophy in prepubescent athletes following resistance training? A. Reduced satellite cell activity B. Lower circulating androgen concentrations C. Decreased neuromuscular recruitment capacity Answer in the poll, then explain your rationale below in the comments! I'll follow up with my breakdown of the question after enough people have responded. From Chapter 7: Age- and Sex-Related Differences

Which coaching strategy is most effective for promoting intrinsic motivation in athletes? A. Providing athletes with opportunities to make choices during training B. Emphasizing performance rankings among teammates C. Implementing reward systems for attendance and participation Answer in the poll, then explain your rationale below in the comments! I'll follow up with my breakdown of the question after enough people have responded. From Chapter 8: Psychology of Athletic Preparation and Performance

A strength coach is designing an in-season resistance training session for experienced rugby athletes. The primary goal is to maintain maximal strength and power while minimizing residual fatigue before competition in 48 hours. Which of the following session structures would be MOST appropriate? A. Perform Olympic lifts first (3–5 sets × 2–3 reps at 80–90% 1RM) followed by heavy squats (3–4 sets × 2–4 reps at 85–90% 1RM) with 2–3 min rest intervals B. Perform heavy squats first (5–6 sets × 6–8 reps at 75–80% 1RM) followed by accessory hypertrophy exercises (3–4 sets × 8–12 reps) with 60–90 s rest C. Perform circuit-style resistance training including multi-joint and single-joint exercises (3 rounds × 12–15 reps each) with in an explosive manner with minimal rest Answer in the poll, then explain your rationale below in the comments! I'll follow up with my breakdown of the question after enough people have responded. From Chapter 17: Program Design for Resistance Training