Strength & Conditioning Certification

Practice tests · NSCA, ACSM and BOC

Strength and conditioning exams, five practice tests

This site covers five US exams from three certifying bodies, and each one is built around a different person on the other side of the training: an athlete, a soldier or firefighter, a healthy adult, a cardiac or pulmonary patient, or an injured player. Pick the exam that matches who you will train, read its facts with the date we last checked them, and work through questions that explain the wrong options as well as the right one.

Browse all practice tests Compare exams

Updated Oct 27, 2026 · Not affiliated with NSCA, ACSM, BOC, CSCCa, ISSA or USAW.

  • 5exams with practice tests
  • 3certifying bodies
  • Oct 2026facts last checked

Five exams, five kinds of client

CSCS

NSCA

Training athletes for performance, tested in two sections on one day. Coming: CASCE degree from 2030

  • Certifying bodyNSCA
  • EligibilityBachelor’s (any field) + CPR/AED
  • Questions on the exam220 (190 scored)

BOC (ATC)

BOC

Injury evaluation, emergency care and rehabilitation; a state license comes on top. Where you test: Test center, 2-week windows

  • Certifying bodyBOC
  • EligibilityCAATE program graduate
  • Questions on the exam175

ACSM-EP

ACSM

Screening, fitness testing and exercise for health with low-risk adults. Coming: CAAHEP degree from Aug 2027

  • Certifying bodyACSM
  • EligibilityExercise science bachelor’s + CPR/AED
  • Questions on the exam140 (125 scored)

ACSM-CEP

ACSM

Exercise testing and prescription for patients with chronic disease. Hours before you apply: 600 / 1,200 h

  • Certifying bodyACSM
  • EligibilityMaster’s + 600 h or bachelor’s + 1,200 h
  • Questions on the exam115 (100 scored)

TSAC-F

NSCA

Military, fire and law enforcement personnel. Online exam: Yes (US only)

  • Certifying bodyNSCA
  • Eligibility18+, diploma, CPR/AED
  • Questions on the exam150 (130 scored)

7 sample questions, across the five

0 of 7 answered · 0 correct
Question 1 of 7 · CSCS · Organization and Administration · 15%

A facility is building Olympic lifting platforms. Which surface arrangement is standard?

  1. A wood center gives the lifter a firm, level surface to stand on, and rubber side panels take the impact where the plates hit the floor.
  2. Carpet over concrete is neither firm enough for footwork nor able to absorb dropped plates, so it protects neither the lifter nor the floor.
  3. Swapping the materials puts the lifter on a soft, unstable surface and lets plates crash onto wood that splinters under repeated drops.
Question 2 of 7 · CSCS · Exercise Technique · 25%

A strength and conditioning professional is planning the warm-up for a volleyball team before a jump-training session. Which sequence is MOST appropriate?

  1. Dynamic drills done cold come before the body is warm, which reverses the general-then-specific order.
  2. Starting with static stretching puts long holds in front of explosive work and skips the general phase that should open the warm-up.
  3. Light jogging first raises muscle temperature and heart rate, and the dynamic drills then rehearse the jumping patterns at rising intensity.
Question 3 of 7 · BOC (ATC) · Assessment, Evaluation and Diagnosis · 25.6%

A soccer player walks into the athletic training facility the day after a game reporting knee pain. What should the athletic trainer do FIRST?

  1. History comes first: mechanism, onset and prior injury set the hypotheses that decide which tests are worth doing.
  2. A Lachman test is a special test; done before the history it checks one structure without knowing what the history points to.
  3. Ice and compression are treatment; with no emergency present, treatment waits until the evaluation gives a working diagnosis.
  4. Range of motion belongs to the physical exam, which follows the history and observation.
Question 4 of 7 · BOC (ATC) · Assessment, Evaluation and Diagnosis · 25.6%

A swimmer has pain and weakness when resisting downward pressure with the arm elevated to 90 degrees in the scapular plane and internally rotated (thumb down). Which muscle is MOST likely involved?

  1. The long head of the biceps is stressed with resisted forward flexion and the palm up (Speed's test), not with the thumb pointing down.
  2. Thumb-down resisted elevation in the scapular plane is the empty can position, which loads the supraspinatus.
  3. The subscapularis is tested with internal rotation tests such as the lift-off or belly-press, not the empty can.
  4. The infraspinatus is tested with resisted external rotation, not with downward pressure in scaption.
Question 5 of 7 · ACSM-EP · Exercise Counseling and Behavior Modification · 20%

Which approach to exercise adherence emphasizes the importance of social, environmental, and policy factors in addition to individual factors?

  1. The health belief model is built around one person's beliefs about a health threat and does not add social, environmental or policy levels.
  2. The transtheoretical model tracks a person's readiness through stages of change; it is an individual model and says little about policy or the built environment.
  3. The social ecological model places personal choices inside layers of relationships, organizations, community norms and public policy, which is exactly the multi-level view the stem describes.
  4. The theory of planned behavior works inside one person's head: attitudes, subjective norms and perceived control shape intention. It does not add environmental or policy levels.
Question 6 of 7 · ACSM-CEP · Legal and Professional Responsibilities · 5%

A patient shows 2 mm horizontal ST-segment depression during exercise testing. Which documentation phrase remains within the CEP's scope of practice?

  1. Ischemia is an interpretation of the ST change; naming it in the chart is a diagnosis, which sits with the physician.
  2. An exercise ECG alone cannot establish CAD, and declaring disease is outside the CEP's role.
  3. Confirming obstruction needs imaging or catheterization and a physician's reading, not a documentation phrase from the CEP.
  4. This records what the tracing shows, in measurable terms, and leaves the diagnosis to the physician who reads the test.
  5. Calling an infarction is a medical diagnosis, and exercise-induced ST depression does not show one.
Question 7 of 7 · TSAC-F · Organization and Administration · 8%

Which factor is most important to consider when scheduling tactical training sessions?

  1. Equipment shapes what a session contains, not when the unit can show up; sessions can be redesigned for limited gear.
  2. Instructor convenience is a logistics detail; a schedule built around it collides with shifts and loses attendance.
  3. Weather can move a session indoors or change its content, but it does not set the training calendar the way duty cycles do.
  4. Tactical personnel train around duty rosters, call-outs and rotating shifts, so the schedule has to start from when members are actually available and rested enough to train.

Answer every question to see your score

Each question comes from the bank behind our study apps and was reworked against its exam’s current content outline; none is an item from an NSCA, ACSM or BOC test form. The label on each card names the domain, and each exam’s practice test page carries a longer set.

What each exam asks of you first

Rows run from no degree to requirements beyond a bachelor’s: graduate study, years of work or clinical hours. Names without a link have no questions here yet.

LevelNSCAcoaching athletes and tactical personnelACSMexercise for health and clinical careBOCathletic training, a health-care profession
No degreeTSAC-FTactical Strength and Conditioning Facilitator (TSAC-F)— nothing at this level— nothing at this level
Bachelor’s degreeCSCSCertified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS)ACSM-EPACSM Certified Exercise Physiologist (ACSM-EP)— nothing at this level
Beyond a bachelor’sCPSSCertified Performance and Sport Scientist (CPSS) · not on this site yetACSM-CEPACSM Certified Clinical Exercise Physiologist (ACSM-CEP)BOC (ATC)BOC certification exam for athletic trainers (ATC)

The rows are entry rules, not prerequisites: nobody needs the TSAC-F before the CSCS. The full picture, with the CSCCa, ISSA and every other credential in the field, is on strength and conditioning certifications.

Three bodies that score differently

A pass mark from one body tells you nothing about another, because each converts raw answers to its own scale:

  • NSCA: 70 (scaled); the CSCS needs it on each of its two sections.
  • ACSM: 550 of 800 on a single section for the EP and the CEP.
  • BOC: 500 of 800; a passing candidate sees only the word “pass”, never the score.

None of these equals the share of questions you got right. Scheduling differs just as much: the NSCA tests year-round at Pearson VUE, ACSM adds an at-home online session, and the BOC exam runs only in 5 windows a year.

The five exams, with sources and check dates

Checked Oct 27, 2026. Sources are numbered and listed under Sources. Prices as of Oct 2026 (member and nonmember). Each body counts pass rates on its own base: the NSCA counts all candidates in a year, ACSM and the BOC first-time candidates. All fees for each exam, retakes and renewal included: certification cost.
CertificationQuestions on the examTesting timePassing scoreExam pricePass ratePracticeSourceChecked
CSCS220 (190 scored)4 h70 (scaled), each section$340 / $47550% (2025)Practice test
Exam facts
[1][2][3][4][5][6]
BOC (ATC)1754 h500 of 800$375 + $75/$10074.6% first-time (2024–25)Practice test
Exam facts
[7][8][9]
ACSM-EP140 (125 scored)3 h 30 min550 of 800$350 / $46070% first-time (2025)Practice test
Exam facts
[10][11][12][13]
ACSM-CEP115 (100 scored)3 h 30 min550 of 800$350 / $46055% first-time (2025)Practice test
Exam facts
[11][13][14][15]
TSAC-F150 (130 scored)3 h70 (scaled)$300 / $43578% (2025)Practice test
Exam facts
[1][2][3][4][5][6]

Read against this year’s documents

Prep material for this field ages fast. The CSCS has followed a new outline since July 2025, both ACSM exams since July 2025 (GETP 12), and the BOC exam moves to a new outline (PA9 from April 2028). Figures you find elsewhere for the CSCS pass rate often mix years and candidate pools; the NSCA’s 2025 report gives 50% across all candidates.

Guides that cover more than one exam

A practice app for each exam

CSCS practice questions with every answer explained, in a study app. Not affiliated with NSCA, ACSM, BOC, CSCCa, ISSA or USAW.

TSAC-F app

TSAC-F practice questions with every answer explained, in a study app. Not affiliated with NSCA, ACSM, BOC, CSCCa, ISSA or USAW.

BOC (ATC) app

BOC (ATC) practice questions with every answer explained, in a study app. Not affiliated with NSCA, ACSM, BOC, CSCCa, ISSA or USAW.

ACSM-EP app

ACSM-EP practice questions with every answer explained, in a study app. Not affiliated with NSCA, ACSM, BOC, CSCCa, ISSA or USAW.

ACSM-CEP app

ACSM-CEP practice questions with every answer explained, in a study app. Not affiliated with NSCA, ACSM, BOC, CSCCa, ISSA or USAW.

Each exam has its own app with a larger question set, so you can keep drilling between sessions or on the way to work.

Sources

  1. NSCA Certification Handbook, effective July 1, 2026 (PDF) nsca.com · checked Oct 27, 2026
  2. NSCA exam report, 2025 exams (Wayback copy of Jun 15, 2026) web.archive.org · checked Oct 27, 2026
  3. NSCA exam report, 2024 exams (Wayback copy of Apr 30, 2025) web.archive.org · checked Oct 27, 2026
  4. NSCA exam report, 2023 exams (Wayback copy of Nov 3, 2024) web.archive.org · checked Oct 27, 2026
  5. NSCA exam report, 2022 exams (Wayback copy of Apr 19, 2024) web.archive.org · checked Oct 27, 2026
  6. NSCA Certification Handbook, 2022 edition (PDF, superseded) nsca.com · checked Oct 27, 2026
  7. BOC: exam candidates bocatc.org · checked Oct 27, 2026
  8. BOC 2026–2027 Certification Exam Candidate Handbook 7f6907b2.flowpaper.com · checked Oct 27, 2026
  9. BOC 2024–2025 Annual Exam Report (PDF) bocatc.org · checked Oct 27, 2026
  10. ACSM-EP exam content outline, effective July 10, 2025 (PDF) acsm.org · checked Oct 27, 2026
  11. ACSM Candidate Handbook, July 2025 (PDF) acsm.org · checked Oct 27, 2026
  12. ACSM: Certified Exercise Physiologist acsm.org · checked Oct 27, 2026
  13. ACSM: about ACSM certification (scoring, pass rates, audits) acsm.org · checked Oct 27, 2026
  14. ACSM-CEP exam content outline, effective July 10, 2025 (PDF) acsm.org · checked Oct 27, 2026
  15. ACSM: Certified Clinical Exercise Physiologist acsm.org · checked Oct 27, 2026

Questions about these exams

Are these questions from the real exams?

No. They come from the question bank behind our own study apps, and each one was reworked for this site: solved blind, given an explanation for every option, checked against the exam’s current content outline and passed by a second, independent reviewer. None is an NSCA, ACSM or BOC item.

Which of the five exams can I take at home?

Three of them. The TSAC-F is offered online to US residents, and the ACSM-EP and ACSM-CEP through Pearson OnVUE. The CSCS is test center only, and the BOC exam runs at Meazure Learning centers. More on remote testing: online options.

Which exam should a future strength coach take?

For athletes, the CSCS; for military, fire or police personnel, the TSAC-F. The career path around the exam, including the CSCCa’s SCCC, is on how to become a strength coach.