NSCA TSAC-F Exam Questions

Correct answer: Prepare workout sheets for assigned sports

The facility supervisor is usually a part-time staff member, often an exercise science student, who is responsible for observing activities within the facility, while cleaning and maintaining equipment.

Responsibilities include the following:

• Enforce facility policies and rules
• Monitor equipment checkout
• Supervise the facility during assigned times
• Maintain, check, and clean the facility and its equipment
• Effectively and properly motivate athletes to achieve their maximum potential in all areas of performance
• Learn to teach technique and each exercise correctly

Correct answer: Prone spinal twist, inchworm, lunge walk

Dynamic stretching is functionally based stretching that uses sport-specific movements to prepare the body for activity. It emphasizes movement requirements of the sport or activity rather than targeting individual muscles.

The prone spinal twist, inchworm, and lunge walk are all examples of dynamic stretching exercises that will properly warm up the body for activity/training.

Correct answer: Contemplation 

There are five steps to behavior change, according to the transtheoretical model. The following is an example of the process of a person who wants to become physically active:

1. Precontemplation - The person does not intend to increase physical activity and is not thinking about becoming physically active.

2. Contemplation - The person intends to increase physical activity and is giving it thought now and then, but is not yet physically active. 

3. Preparation - The person is engaging in some activity, accumulating at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity at least one day per week, but not on most days of the week.

4. Action - The person is accumulating at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity on five or more days a week, but has done so for less than six months.

5. Maintenance - The person is accumulating at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity on five or more days a week and has been doing so for six months or more.

Correct answer: Water

While calcium and iron are obviously needed in an athlete's diet, water wins as the number one nutrient for athletes. Muscle is approximately 75% water, fat tissue is 20%, and, in general, water is the largest component in the body. 

Consuming water in sufficient amounts is essential for normal cellular function and thermal regulation.

Correct answer: 1RM back squat

Maximum muscular power tests are those that use high-speed strength, such as the broad jump and the vertical jump.

The 1RM back squat is a measure of muscular strength, or maximum muscular strength. In these tests a lifter lifts a heavy load for one repetition. Due to the amount of weight lifted, the actual speed of the barbell is a slower speed, despite the maximum effort from the lifter.

Correct answer: Lat pulldown

The pronated grip, also called the overhand grip, is when the palms are facing down while the knuckles face up. The lat pulldown requires a pronated grip with the lifter pulling a bar down and toward the upper chest for a desired number of repetitions.

A biceps curl traditionally utilizes a supinated grip with the palms facing up. A hammer curl is a neutral grip with the palms facing each other.

Correct answer: Dorsiflexion

Ankling drills involve actively flexing and extending the ankles to propel the body forward, while keeping the legs straight. Although the drill does include active plantar flexion, the primary emphasis is on dorsiflexion. Ground contact should be quick and explosive, with the body weight in the middle to front portion of the foot.

This emphasis on active dorsiflexion in this drill can carry over to help improve sprinting mechanics.

Correct answer: Bar in line with the toes

In the deadlift starting position, the following guidelines should be met:

• Bar against the mid-shin
• Pronated or mixed grip on the bar
• Back flat or slightly arched with the torso at about a 45 degree angle
• Chest up and out
• Head in line with the vertebral column or slightly hyperextended
• Heels in contact with the floor
• Shoulders over or slightly in front of the bar
• Eyes focused straight ahead or slightly upward

Proper deadlifting technique is important to help prevent errors that could result in injury, especially with heavy loads.

Correct answer: Making it as detailed as possible about the means of getting to specific goals

A mission statement is vital to the success of any organization and requires forward thinking with keeping the end result in mind. The following are criteria for an effective mission statement:

• Short and sharply focused
• Clear and easily understood
• Defines what we do and why the organization exists
• Does not prescribe means
• Sufficiently broad
• Provides direction for doing the right things
• Addresses opportunities
• Matches our competence
• Inspires our commitment
• Says what, in the end, we want to be remembered for

Correct answer: Variable resistance

Elastic bands and chains are utilized in strength and conditioning programs to introduce variable resistance to exercises. This approach enhances the training stimulus by altering the resistance throughout the range of motion, typically increasing it where the athlete is naturally stronger and decreasing it where they're weaker. 

Both elastic bands and chains add resistance that changes throughout the exercise's range of motion. For example, when using bands or chains during a squat, the load increases as you stand up (because the bands stretch or more chain links are lifted off the ground) and decreases as you lower back down. This dynamic adjustment helps improve strength across the entire range of motion and can lead to greater muscle activation and strength gains over time.

As opposed to the following:

• Linear movement resistance: This option suggests resistance that remains constant throughout the movement, which is not characteristic of bands and chains. Linear resistance is more typical of traditional free weights, like dumbbells and barbells, where the weight doesn't change as you move through the exercise.
• Grip training resistance: While grip strength can be incidentally challenged when using bands or chains (due to holding onto the bands or managing a chain-loaded barbell), it's not their primary purpose. Grip training resistance is more directly targeted through exercises or tools specifically designed to challenge and improve grip strength.
• Swinging resistance: This refers to resistance applied in a manner that might encourage or involve swinging motions. While bands can be used for dynamic exercises that might include swinging actions, the primary function of elastic bands and chains in strength training is to provide variable resistance, not specifically to train swinging movements.

In essence, the use of elastic bands and chains in a workout regimen is specifically aimed at introducing variable resistance. This method is beneficial for overcoming strength curve mismatches in exercises, enhancing muscle engagement, and potentially leading to more significant strength and performance improvements.

Correct answer: Pancreas

Approximately 300-400g of glycogen is stored in muscle tissue and the 75-100g is stored in the liver. Glycogen is used as a source of energy, and glucose will enter the muscle and liver and be converted to glycogen for storage.

The pancreas is home to insulin and glucagon, hormones that regulates blood sugar.

Correct answer: Cross-training

Cross-training is a mode of training that can be used to maintain general conditioning during periods of reduced training due to injury or illness, or during recovery from a training cycle.

Cross-training can reduce overuse injuries because it distributes the physical stress of training to different muscle groups.

Correct answer: Previous injury

Although there can be many contributing factors that lead to injuries, the primary risk factor is the existence of a previous injury. This may be due to an incomplete rehabilitation prior to returning to full activity level. It's important to ensure that athletes always complete the rehabilitation of any injury to full function and to pay attention any deficits, whether those deficits contributed to or were a result of the injury.

TSAC facilitators should work in conjunction with physical therapists and other medical rehabilitation professionals in order to help athletes transition back to training at full capacity without overlooking functional issues related to the injury. This will help to decrease the risk of subsequent injuries, as well as to help improve performance.

Although individuals with a low fitness level, movement impairments, or a BMI over 35 have an increased risk of injury (particularly low back pain), the leading risk factor is previous injury.

Correct answer: Sensitivity would increase 

Aerobic training results in an increased sensitivity to hormones such that a lower concentration of hormones will have the same effect after training. They will experience less stress overall on their bodily systems as a result than an untrained person.

Correct answer: Muscle torque

When calculating the mechanical aspects of muscle activity, particularly in the context of biomechanics and exercise physiology, the term muscle torque is used to describe the rotational force produced by a muscle. Torque, in general, is a measure of the force that can cause an object to rotate about an axis. It is calculated by multiplying the muscle force (the magnitude of the force exerted by the muscle) by the torque arm (the perpendicular distance from the axis of rotation to the line of action of the force).

Muscle torque is the product of the muscle force and the length of the torque arm. It represents the rotational force the muscle generates around a joint. For example, in the knee joint during a leg extension, the muscle force exerted by the quadriceps is multiplied by the distance from the knee joint to where the force is applied (the torque arm) to calculate the muscle torque.

The other terms mentioned relate to different aspects of biomechanics but do not directly describe the product of muscle force and torque arm distance:

• First class lever: A type of lever where the fulcrum is located between the effort (force applied) and the load (resistance to be moved). An example would be the seesaw.
• Second class lever: In this lever system, the load is located between the fulcrum and the effort. An example is the wheelbarrow.
• Resistive torque: This refers to the torque that opposes the movement of a joint, often created by the weight of a body part or an external weight. It contrasts with muscle torque, which aims to create movement.

Thus, muscle torque specifically refers to the rotational force produced by the muscle's action, critical for understanding how movements are generated and controlled within the human body.

Correct answer: Supercompensation

In General Adaptation Syndrome, there are three phases: alarm, resistance, and exhaustion.

In the resistance phase, the body becomes more adapted to the training stimulus given in the alarm phase. In this resistance phase, if the load does not exceed the body's ability to adapt, the biochemical, structural, and mechanical adjustments can return performance to a baseline, or even lead to increased performance, which is known as supercompensation.

If, instead, the body is unable to adapt due to excessive loading or volumes, this can lead to overtraining. Nonfunctional overreaching occurs when the individual does not have adequate recovery from their training and experiences a decrease in performance.

Hypertrophy is the increase in growth of the muscle cells. While this is likely to occur in supercompensation, it is not the correct definition.

Correct answer: Skinfold, pro-agility, 60-yard sprint, 1.5-mile run

When administering a battery of tests, having them performed them in the correct order is crucial for validity of the test scores. 

The following is the correct order for types of tests as recommended by the NSCA:

• Non-fatiguing (height, weight, skinfold, vertical jump)
• Agility tests (pro-agility, T-test)
• Maximum power and strength tests (1RM bench, 1RM power clean)
• Sprint tests (40-yard sprint)
• Local muscular endurance tests (partial curl-up test)
• Fatiguing anaerobic capacity tests (300-yard shuttle)
• Aerobic capacity tests (1.5-mile run, 12-minute run)

Correct answer: Leg extension

The vastus lateralis is one of the quadriceps muscles and, therefore, we know that, in order to incorporate the vastus lateralis, we need to perform an exercise involving the quads. 

Overhead press involves the shoulders and, while the leg curl is a leg exercise, it targets the hamstring muscle group, not the quadriceps. 

In the leg extension, the quadriceps are responsible for moving the legs to full extension at the knee, and the vastus lateralis is one of the main contributors.

Correct answer: 5 repetitions

In a strength phase, the intensity should be high and the volume low.

For back squats in a strength phase, an appropriate repetition range is 1-6 repetitions, and lifting loads should be above 80% 1RM.

Sets of 8 repetitions would fall under a hypertrophy phase and sets of 12 repetitions would be best for a muscular endurance phase of training.

Correct answer: Within 24 hours of physical exertion on the job

Cardiovascular disease (and cardiac events) is the leading cause of death in both the general population and among firefighters. Most cardiovascular-related deaths happen in the morning in the general population, while firefighter deaths from cardiovascular disease occur within 24 hours of on-the-job physical exertion. 75% of firefighter deaths occur within 24 hours after intense activity, potentially on the way to or from an event or even during training or fighting a fire.

Factors such as stress, shift work, and a sedentary lifestyle, along with disrupted or poor sleep can all contribute to this increased risk, but the main cause is connected to the higher cardiovascular demand that firefighting requires. It's not uncommon to perform sudden and intense physical work while on the job, which can lead to a cardiac event and sudden cardiac death. Many of these deaths do occur during physical exertion—in fact , heart attacks were responsible for 42% of on-duty deaths between 2009 and 2013.

Firefighters and other tactical athletes also have a greater occurrence of cardiovascular disease in retirement when compared to the general population.