NESTA exam help

I just took the test... literally a few hours ago and I passed the exam. I will give you all taking the test a few tips for the test.

Exam alerts:
If you are looking at the exam alerts for guidance. STOP...they really do not help at all. The stuff on the test were totally NOT from the exam alerts. maybe 10% of the exam alert material was on the exam.

Chapters to REALLY pay attention to: (first from the manual and then from the Prep course material)

In the PFT Manual:
Chapter 9 on Program Design.
There are some really specific questions on this chapter. READ ALL THE FINE PRINT. Know the Meso and Microcycles...the specifics..time, content. They ask you to apply the info from the program design chapter by giving you these "cases" so know what the heck the stages are all about.

Chapter 3 on Functional Anatomy:
there was quite a bit of questions on this chapter...specifically on the planes of motion and the anatomical axis of motion. Know the direction of motion in the different planes. There is a part in this chapter that has the muscles of the calf, back, thigh, abs, etc... surprisingly there were a lot of very specific references to the muscles and their primary functions.

Chapter 10 on Exercise instruction
Dude...you better know this chapter well. The Prep course does a good job on day 4 (exercise technique) to review stuff. There were many questions on different exercises...example is for a leg press.. name the prime movers (be specific..like Gluteus Maximus, quads, rectus femoris, vastus intermedius, vastus lateralis...etc. It is multiple choice of course but they put a series of muscles asking for the prime mover and they try to trick you by putting a string of muscles that are SORT of right. so if you don't REALLY know your stuff it is easy to get confused.)

Chapters 12 and 13: The business and sales chapters.
the prep course does not use NESTA specific information so just study the NESTA manual on this info. DAy 5 of the prep course on business stuff do not really help you when it comes to the NESTA test.

Chapter 11: Safety injury emergency care
Just study the NESTA manual for this material. The prep course is not specific to NESTA so you will get very minimal help on this emergency care stuff. NESTA has their own thing going on on stuff like this.

In the Prep course material...there are some parts that do not really apply to those doing the NESTA exam. The practice exams that REALLY help on the NESTA test are
Day 1: Anatomy and Physiology (and all the reviews on anatomy and physiology on the other days...there are reviews on Anatomy on other days... so do them all. The course is really good for anatomy stuff)
Day 2: Client Assessment
Day 4: Exercise technique (This one I would really spend time on. The prep course is a little to simplistic though. Use chapter 3 in the NESTA manual to know ALL the specific muscle names: for example Biceps is really Biceps Brachii.

*This is just a few tips... study everything not just the things I pointed out. The test is not that bad so don't freak out. I talked with one of the people at NESTA before the test. If you find that you are really freaking out...call NESTA and they are there to support you. Good luck to you all!

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took and passed exam
by: Anonymous

i did study the exam alerts more intently,and really focused all my time on those. i got a 92% on my exam. but in doing that(primary focus on alerts), and then re-reviewing it (the book/cd rom)all as a whole, i found the exam alerts really did help me, because it kinda forces you to delve a bit deeper in, but once you do delve deeper in, you end up knowing the answers to the questions that weren't exactly on the 'alert' list anyway. although the person is right above who said alot of the questions on the test were not on the 'alert'. but studying the alerts helped me in a round about way of knowing the non-alert questions...if ya know what i mean.
(i do recommend this cert. u really can learn alot if you apply yourself)

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Thanks!
by: Tina

Thanks for the heads up! I'm taking my test next weekend and Ive been trying to learn the material by using just the 52 pages NESTA study guide and just bought the Prep course online today to get more info. I really know I can pass this!

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Passed NESTA exam
by: Anonymous

Ok, I started out with ACSM PT 'course' but after so much frustration (which was taking too much time) trying to work out WHAT to learn exactly, as KSAs are so ambiguous, and after numerous emails back and forth to ACSM with no concise help, I decided to move to NESTA. I just wanted a logical course that gives me industry standard piece of paper, that is NCCA accredited and could be done in Europe.

NESTA 2.0 ended up being a great course. You get a 300 page manual and full set of videos and a review test after each chapter. Was clear and well presented even with the odd typo.

To pass: you MUST study to pass as the exam. USE THE NESTA course info - it is ALL you need to pass. This is not a walk in the park in any way. I saw comments that the NESTA (old Nesta exam) was 'easy', but in no way was this new '2.0' exam easy. Ok, I got 97%, but I thought I had failed...with only 10 mins to go...so, no not easy. You need to learn ALL the manual, watch the videos.

Specifically without saying exactly the questions: know the program design chapter intimately, like sets and reps and how they progress. Know, the chapter on exercise instruction - and def know about ROM and body movements - know all about the muscles and the movements, planes of movement. Know Business chapter inside out. The review tests really get you prepared. Read the details in the manual, cos some questions were on the small print - so glad I had read it and made notes.

About the red alert boxes - lol - you won't pass if you JUST learn them...you MUST know them PLUS the background stuff in the manual. Some questions on the exam are applied..i.e: you have to apply the knowledge just like you would in real life.

Finally, there are some easy questions too, that just require common sense!

I took 10 weeks to study - 2-4 hours a day, every day. I went over and over the manual and vids AND the review test over and over to get 100%. on each one... made notes, flip cards. I have a background as an elite athlete and already understood ex physiology...and still, a lot to actually learn 'off by heart'...but at least I was not wasting 'months' with ACSM not know what to study...This is a great course, and you'll pass if you get your head down and learn the materials. Highly recommended course. Good luck!

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NESTA 2.0
by: Anonymous

Honestly it was pretty easy.

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NESTA EXAM Q
by: Anonymous

is the information you provided pretty recent? i take my exam end of july and want to start narrowing down everything that really needs to be studied/that will be on the exam.

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The NESTA Exam Handbook
by: Jayne

Hi, It's really not necessary to guess or rely on the comments of others about what's on the NESTA exam. I haven't taken it yet but have read the PFT Exam Candidate Handbook, a free pdf on the nestacertified.com site.

This handbook clearly lays out what is on the test. For example:

1)Exercise Application 23%
2)Program Design 23%
3)Business Applications 23%
4)Assessments, Injury Prevention
and Emergency Care 16%
5)Exercise Sciences 15%

The handbook further details what you should know for each one of these and references the appropriate chapters in the NESTA Handbook.

NESTA exam help

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