Comprehensive NASM CPT Practice Exam
(2025 Edition)Full Answer Key with Expert
Rationales
Q1. Which statement best describes the neurophysiological effect that occurs from myofascial
rolling?
✅ The direct roller compression may create tissue relaxation and pain reduction in tissues
by stimulating nerve receptors.
Rationale: Foam rolling stimulates mechanoreceptors such as Golgi tendon organs, decreasing
muscle tension and improving relaxation.
Q2. You have a client seeking weight loss. What is the most appropriate amount of rest
recommended between each repetition of an SAQ exercise?
✅ 15 to 60 seconds
Rationale: Short rest periods maintain calorie expenditure and cardiovascular challenge for
weight-loss goals.
Q3. What is the primary limiting factor for exercise in the client with PAD?
✅ Leg pain
Rationale: Peripheral artery disease reduces blood flow to the legs, causing pain (claudication)
during exercise.
Q4. Stage 3 balance exercise should include what types of motion?
✅ Hopping motions with a single-leg stance landing
Rationale: Stage 3 balance integrates dynamic, explosive, and functional movements.
Q5. What is the superior boundary of the core?
✅ Diaphragm
Rationale: The diaphragm forms the top of the core stabilization system, controlling intra-
abdominal pressure.
,Q6. What is a safe flexibility modification that you can recommend to a client who has varicose
veins?
✅ Gentle static stretching
Rationale: Gentle, non-inverted stretches support circulation and reduce venous pressure.
Q7. Which muscles are typically overactive when the feet turn out?
✅ Gastrocnemius and soleus
Rationale: Tight calf muscles externally rotate the foot during movement.
Q8. Improved performance during a plyometric jump is dependent upon which of the following?
✅ Rapid amortization phase
Rationale: Short ground-contact time maximizes stored elastic energy for power output.
Q9. What is a regression for the box jump-up with stabilization?
✅ Squat jump with stabilization
Rationale: Reduces intensity while maintaining the same movement pattern.
Q10. Which heart chamber receives oxygenated blood and pumps it to the body?
✅ Left ventricle
Rationale: The left ventricle has the thickest wall and pumps blood through systemic circulation.
Q11. Proper abdominal crunches on a stability ball allow for:
✅ Increased spinal extension due to the curvature of the ball
Rationale: The ball permits greater range of motion for the abs to work through full flexion and
extension.
Q12. Which type of joint includes the sutures of the skull?
✅ Nonsynovial
Rationale: Nonsynovial joints have limited or no movement—fibrous connections like skull
sutures.
, Q13. What is a normal physiologic process of aging that results in arteries that are less elastic
and pliable?
✅ Arteriosclerosis
Rationale: Age-related hardening and loss of elasticity of arterial walls increases blood pressure.
Q14. What differentiates change of direction from agility?
✅ Reaction to a signal
Rationale: Agility requires an external stimulus response, while change of direction does not.
Q15. Which term describes the movement of bones, such as flexion and extension?
✅ Osteokinematics
Rationale: Osteokinematics studies bone motion around joint axes.
Q16. In what plane of movement do shoulder horizontal adduction and abduction occur?
✅ Transverse
Rationale: Horizontal movements across the body happen in the transverse plane.
Q17. What is the ventilatory threshold 1 (VT1)?
✅ The point at which the body switches to using carbohydrates to provide at least half the
fuel for exercise
Rationale: VT1 marks the transition from predominantly aerobic fat metabolism to increased
carbohydrate use.
Q18. What are the two primary actions of the muscle spindle?
✅ Sense the change in muscle length and the speed of length change
Rationale: Muscle spindles detect stretch and trigger reflex contraction to prevent
overstretching.
Q19. Which of the following tests is used to measure lateral speed and agility?
✅ Lower extremity functional test (LEFT)
Rationale: The LEFT evaluates lateral movement speed, coordination, and agility.
(2025 Edition)Full Answer Key with Expert
Rationales
Q1. Which statement best describes the neurophysiological effect that occurs from myofascial
rolling?
✅ The direct roller compression may create tissue relaxation and pain reduction in tissues
by stimulating nerve receptors.
Rationale: Foam rolling stimulates mechanoreceptors such as Golgi tendon organs, decreasing
muscle tension and improving relaxation.
Q2. You have a client seeking weight loss. What is the most appropriate amount of rest
recommended between each repetition of an SAQ exercise?
✅ 15 to 60 seconds
Rationale: Short rest periods maintain calorie expenditure and cardiovascular challenge for
weight-loss goals.
Q3. What is the primary limiting factor for exercise in the client with PAD?
✅ Leg pain
Rationale: Peripheral artery disease reduces blood flow to the legs, causing pain (claudication)
during exercise.
Q4. Stage 3 balance exercise should include what types of motion?
✅ Hopping motions with a single-leg stance landing
Rationale: Stage 3 balance integrates dynamic, explosive, and functional movements.
Q5. What is the superior boundary of the core?
✅ Diaphragm
Rationale: The diaphragm forms the top of the core stabilization system, controlling intra-
abdominal pressure.
,Q6. What is a safe flexibility modification that you can recommend to a client who has varicose
veins?
✅ Gentle static stretching
Rationale: Gentle, non-inverted stretches support circulation and reduce venous pressure.
Q7. Which muscles are typically overactive when the feet turn out?
✅ Gastrocnemius and soleus
Rationale: Tight calf muscles externally rotate the foot during movement.
Q8. Improved performance during a plyometric jump is dependent upon which of the following?
✅ Rapid amortization phase
Rationale: Short ground-contact time maximizes stored elastic energy for power output.
Q9. What is a regression for the box jump-up with stabilization?
✅ Squat jump with stabilization
Rationale: Reduces intensity while maintaining the same movement pattern.
Q10. Which heart chamber receives oxygenated blood and pumps it to the body?
✅ Left ventricle
Rationale: The left ventricle has the thickest wall and pumps blood through systemic circulation.
Q11. Proper abdominal crunches on a stability ball allow for:
✅ Increased spinal extension due to the curvature of the ball
Rationale: The ball permits greater range of motion for the abs to work through full flexion and
extension.
Q12. Which type of joint includes the sutures of the skull?
✅ Nonsynovial
Rationale: Nonsynovial joints have limited or no movement—fibrous connections like skull
sutures.
, Q13. What is a normal physiologic process of aging that results in arteries that are less elastic
and pliable?
✅ Arteriosclerosis
Rationale: Age-related hardening and loss of elasticity of arterial walls increases blood pressure.
Q14. What differentiates change of direction from agility?
✅ Reaction to a signal
Rationale: Agility requires an external stimulus response, while change of direction does not.
Q15. Which term describes the movement of bones, such as flexion and extension?
✅ Osteokinematics
Rationale: Osteokinematics studies bone motion around joint axes.
Q16. In what plane of movement do shoulder horizontal adduction and abduction occur?
✅ Transverse
Rationale: Horizontal movements across the body happen in the transverse plane.
Q17. What is the ventilatory threshold 1 (VT1)?
✅ The point at which the body switches to using carbohydrates to provide at least half the
fuel for exercise
Rationale: VT1 marks the transition from predominantly aerobic fat metabolism to increased
carbohydrate use.
Q18. What are the two primary actions of the muscle spindle?
✅ Sense the change in muscle length and the speed of length change
Rationale: Muscle spindles detect stretch and trigger reflex contraction to prevent
overstretching.
Q19. Which of the following tests is used to measure lateral speed and agility?
✅ Lower extremity functional test (LEFT)
Rationale: The LEFT evaluates lateral movement speed, coordination, and agility.
