CSCS program design, needs analysis to periodization

A session for a novice athlete includes box jumps, back squats and a metabolic conditioning circuit. In which order should they be performed?

1. Conditioning, squats, box jumps
   Putting conditioning first would fatigue the athlete before both the jumps and the squats, harming technique and output.
2. Box jumps, squats, conditioning
   Box jumps need a fresh nervous system, so they go first, the squats follow, and fatiguing conditioning comes last.
3. Squats, box jumps, conditioning
   Squatting heavy before the jumps leaves the athlete fatigued for the explosive work that needs maximal speed.

An athlete's program calls for 3 sets of 8 reps on the bench press. In two consecutive sessions, the athlete completes 10 reps on the last set. What should the next session prescribe?

1. Add a fourth set
   Adding a set raises volume but leaves the load too light for a target of 8 reps.
2. Keep the load
   Keeping the load the same delays an increase the athlete has already earned by beating the target twice.
3. Increase the load
   By the 2-for-2 rule, completing two or more reps beyond the target on the last set in two consecutive sessions means the load should go up.

A strength coach uses velocity-based training for a power clean session and ends each set when bar velocity drops 10% below the peak repetition. If the peak repetition velocity is 0.80 m/s, at what velocity should the set be terminated?

1. 0.70 m/s
   0.70 m/s subtracts 0.10 m/s, treating the 10% as an absolute value rather than a percentage of the peak.
2. 0.08 m/s
   0.08 m/s is the size of the 10% drop itself, not the velocity at which the set should end.
3. 0.72 m/s
   A 10% drop from 0.80 m/s is 0.80 × 0.90 = 0.72 m/s, the velocity at which the set ends.

An athlete's squat load is prescribed so that the first repetition of each set moves at 0.60 ± 0.03 m·s⁻¹. On today's first working set, the first repetition moves at 0.70 m·s⁻¹. What is the MOST appropriate adjustment?

1. Add repetitions
   Adding repetitions at the same load changes volume but leaves the first-rep velocity outside the prescribed zone.
2. Increase the load
   A first rep at 0.70 m/s, faster than the 0.57–0.63 m·s⁻¹ target, shows the load is too light for today, so it should go up.
3. Reduce the load
   Lowering the load would make the bar move even faster and push it further out of the target zone.

Using the weekly plan below, what is the athlete's total weekly volume load (tonnage)?

1. 7,320 kg
   7,320 kg is the volume of one session of each exercise and ignores that three of the lifts are done twice a week.
2. 14,640 kg
   14,640 kg doubles every lift, including the deadlift, which is done only once a week.
3. 12,840 kg
   Weekly tonnage adds every lift × its sessions: 4,800 + 3,840 + 1,800 + 2,400 = 12,840 kg.

A planned 2-week block of intentionally high training volume depresses an athlete's performance. After a reduced-load week, performance rises above the pre-block baseline. How is this BEST classified?

1. Overtraining syndrome
   Overtraining syndrome involves a performance decline that lasts months, not one cleared by a single lighter week.
2. Functional overreaching
   A planned drop followed by a rebound above baseline after a short recovery is functional overreaching.
3. Nonfunctional overreaching
   Nonfunctional overreaching causes a drop that lasts weeks and does not end in a quick rebound above baseline.

A strength and conditioning professional watches game video of a new sport to identify its joint actions, movement patterns, and the muscles involved. Which part of the needs analysis is this?

1. Injury analysis
   Injury analysis looks at common injury sites and causes in the sport, not at its joint actions.
2. Movement analysis
   Movement analysis identifies the sport's joint actions, movement patterns and muscles, which is what watching game video provides.
3. Physiological analysis
   Physiological analysis concerns energy systems and strength, power and endurance demands rather than movement patterns.

A coach's back squat load–velocity profile was tested only at 80%, 85%, and 90% 1RM. The coach now wants to prescribe ballistic squat loads that move at 0.9–1.0 m/s. What is the main problem with the profile?

1. Loads above 90% 1RM were not tested
   The problem lies at the light end, where the target velocities are; testing above 90% would not help prescribe ballistic loads.
2. Targets lie outside the tested range
   The ballistic targets need much faster velocities than any tested load produced, so prescribing them means extrapolating past the measured range.
3. Too few sets were tested at each load
   Collecting more sets at 80–90% would sharpen the heavy end of the profile but still leave the fast, light end unmeasured.

An advanced athlete wants to train 6 days per week. Which arrangement BEST allows recovery between sessions?

1. Upper- and lower-body days alternated
   Alternating upper- and lower-body days gives each region at least a day of rest even with six sessions a week.
2. Total-body sessions every day
   Total-body sessions every day load the same muscles daily and leave no recovery between sessions.
3. Lower-body days back to back
   Lower-body sessions on back-to-back days hit the same muscles with no rest day in between.

Which exercise order alternates push and pull exercises?

1. Bench press, lat pulldown, shoulder press, seated row
   This order alternates a push (bench press) with a pull (lat pulldown) and then another push and pull, so the same muscles are not worked back to back.
2. Lat pulldown, seated row, bench press, shoulder press
   Both pulls come before both pushes, which groups the same muscles together instead of alternating them.
3. Bench press, shoulder press, lat pulldown, seated row
   Two pushes come first and two pulls follow, so the same muscle groups are worked consecutively.

Which assistance exercise is MOST appropriate for reducing shoulder injury risk in baseball pitchers?

1. Band external rotation
   Band external rotation strengthens the rotators that slow the arm after release, which is the main shoulder demand in pitching.
2. Barbell upright row
   An upright row raises the arm in internal rotation and compresses the shoulder, which is a poor fit for a pitcher's shoulder.
3. Behind-the-neck press
   Pressing behind the neck puts the shoulder in extreme abduction and external rotation under load, raising risk instead of reducing it.

Why can a novice lifter usually add load every session, while an advanced lifter cannot?

1. Advanced lifters lose gains faster
   Advanced lifters do not lose gains faster; their progress slows because they are closer to their limit.
2. Novices recover more slowly
   Novices generally recover faster from the light loads they can handle, so slower recovery is not the reason.
3. Novices are far from their limit
   A novice starts far below their genetic ceiling, so the body adapts fast enough to support a small load increase every session.

A coach uses within-set velocity-loss thresholds to end sets of back squats for three different athletes: one training for power, one for maximal strength and one for hypertrophy. Which ordering of thresholds, from smallest to largest allowed velocity loss, is MOST appropriate?

1. Strength < power < hypertrophy
   Strength training allows more velocity loss than power training, so strength cannot come first in this order.
2. Power < strength < hypertrophy
   Power work keeps velocity loss smallest to preserve speed, strength allows a moderate loss, and hypertrophy tolerates the largest loss.
3. Hypertrophy < strength < power
   This reverses the order: hypertrophy needs the largest velocity loss, not the smallest.

A distance runner who built strength in the off-season must keep 60 km per week of running for the next 8 weeks and can lift only briefly. To maintain strength, which resistance training variable is MOST important to preserve?

1. Intensity (load)
   Strength is maintained when load stays heavy, even if sets and sessions are cut, so intensity is the variable to protect.
2. Volume (total sets)
   Volume can be cut sharply without losing strength as long as the load stays high.
3. Exercise variety
   Exercise variety does not drive strength retention; a few heavy core lifts are enough.

A 6-week mesocycle lists total sets and average intensity: week 1 = 48 sets at 72%, week 2 = 52 at 72%, week 3 = 58 at 72%, week 4 = 62 at 82%, week 5 = 58 at 85%, week 6 = 54 at 88% 1RM. Which week breaks the principle that volume should come down as intensity rises?

1. Week 3
   In week 3, volume rises but intensity stays at 72%, so intensity has not risen yet.
2. Week 5
   In week 5, intensity rises to 85% and volume falls from 62 to 58 sets, which follows the rule.
3. Week 4
   In week 4, intensity rises from 72% to 82% while volume also rises from 58 to 62 sets, which breaks the rule.

A sprinter's back squat profile gives mean velocities of 1.15 m/s at 50% 1RM, 0.95 m/s at 60% 1RM, 0.75 m/s at 70% 1RM and 0.55 m/s at 80% 1RM. During a taper the coach wants every set in a 0.80–1.00 m/s zone. Which load should be used?

1. 60% 1RM
   At 60% 1RM the bar moves at 0.95 m/s, the only tested load inside the 0.80–1.00 m/s zone.
2. 50% 1RM
   At 50% 1RM the bar moves at 1.15 m/s, which is faster than the zone.
3. 70% 1RM
   At 70% 1RM the bar moves at 0.75 m/s, which is just below the zone.

An athlete is prescribed sets of 5 reps at RPE 8 (about 2 reps in reserve). Using the NSCA %1RM–repetition relationship, which load is closest to this prescription?

1. About 83% 1RM
   Five reps with 2 in reserve is a 7RM effort, and a 7RM corresponds to about 83% 1RM on the NSCA chart.
2. About 93% 1RM
   About 93% is a 3RM load, too heavy to complete 5 reps at all.
3. About 87% 1RM
   About 87% is the 5RM load, which leaves no reps in reserve for a set of 5.

Why are power exercises such as the hang power clean usually limited to about 5 repetitions per set?

1. Higher reps cause too much hypertrophy
   Low-rep power work is not limited to avoid hypertrophy; the limit protects speed and technique.
2. Bar speed rises in later repetitions
   Bar speed falls rather than rises as fatigue builds over a set, which is the reason to keep sets short.
3. Technique degrades as fatigue builds
   Power lifts depend on precise, fast technique, and that technique breaks down as fatigue builds over a long set.

An athlete performs back squats for strength at 82% 1RM, 3 sets of 5 with 90 seconds of rest, and RPE climbs from 8.5 to 9.5 across the sets. Which change MOST directly addresses the drift?

1. Shorten rest to 60 seconds
   Shortening rest to 60 seconds would carry even more fatigue into each set.
2. Lengthen rest to 2–5 minutes
   Strength sets call for 2–5 minutes of rest; 90 seconds lets fatigue carry over, which is why each set feels harder.
3. Add a fourth set
   Adding a set raises volume and does nothing about the incomplete recovery between sets.

An athlete has completed a mesocycle of 3 × 10 at 75% 1RM on the back squat. The next mesocycle raises the load to 85% 1RM. How many repetitions per set are MOST appropriate?

1. About 6
   On the NSCA load–repetition chart, 85% 1RM corresponds to about a 6RM, so sets of about 6 match the new load.
2. About 8
   About 8 reps matches roughly 80% 1RM, so 8 at 85% would push past failure.
3. About 10
   Ten reps is what 75% 1RM allows, so keeping 10 at 85% ignores the higher load.