NASM NASM Certified Personal Trainer Exam CPT Exam Dumps: Updated Questions & Answers (October 2025)

The NASM CPT7 Study Guide identifies marching as a suitable core progression from a static plank. Once a client can hold a plank with proper form, progression involves adding dynamic movements that challenge stability further. Marching requires alternately lifting each foot off the ground while maintaining plank alignment, which increases core engagement by adding an anti-rotational component and shifting the center of gravity. This type of progression maintains the isometric trunk stability goal while increasing neuromuscular demand .

Self-myofascial release (SMR) is a flexibility technique that uses tools like foam rollers to apply gentle, sustained pressure to the myofascial tissues. According to NASM, this technique “stimulates the Golgi tendon organ (GTO), which in turn inhibits muscle spindle activity, decreasing excitation and allowing the muscle to relax.” Muscle spindles are sensory receptors sensitive to changes in muscle length and the rate of that change; they trigger reflexive contractions when they detect rapid stretch. Overactivity of muscle spindles can contribute to tightness and restricted range of motion. SMR works by initiating autogenic inhibition, allowing the targeted muscle to lengthen more effectively. The other options—Golgi tendon organs (inhibited by SMR stimulation), sarcomeres (the contractile units in muscle fibers), and myosin heads (part of the actin–myosin sliding filament mechanism)—are not directly the structures whose excitation is reduced by SMR. Therefore, the correct answer is that SMR decreases excitation of muscle spindles.

In the Stages of Change Model, the preparation stage is when a client intends to start exercising soon (within the next 30 days) and may already be taking small steps toward change, such as seeking a workout partner.

In contrast:

Contemplation = thinking about change but not ready to start soon.

Action = actively engaging in new behavior.

Maintenance = sustaining the behavior for 6+ months.

Therefore, actively looking for a committed workout partner indicates preparation.

Davis’s law is a principle in human movement science that explains how soft tissue adapts structurally to the stresses placed upon it. NASM describes it as “soft tissue will model along the lines of stress,” meaning that muscles, tendons, and fascia will align and reorganize based on the direction and type of physical forces they experience. This is important in corrective exercise because chronic poor posture, repetitive movements, or imbalances can cause soft tissue to remodel in a way that reinforces dysfunction. For example, if a muscle remains shortened for prolonged periods, collagen fibers may lay down in shortened patterns, limiting flexibility and altering joint mechanics. The other answer options describe different principles: poor neuromuscular efficiency (effect of chronic shortening), altered reciprocal inhibition (C), and the path of least resistance concept in movement compensation (D).

In NASM’s Exercise Metabolism and Bioenergetics section, glucose is defined as “the simplest form of carbohydrate used by the body for energy.” The Study Guide clearly states that carbohydrates are broken down into glucose, which is the most readily available form of fuel for the brain, nervous system, and muscles. Glucose can be rapidly metabolized through glycolysis to produce ATP, making it essential during both rest and high-intensity activities. Glycogen—its stored form—is limited, but glucose in the bloodstream is immediately accessible, especially to tissues that rely heavily on carbohydrate metabolism, such as the brain (which cannot use fat directly as fuel). The guide also notes that “the fuels used to create ATP are glucose from carbohydrates, free fatty acids from fat, amino acids from protein, and ketone bodies,” but fat oxidation is slower and protein is typically reserved for structural and enzymatic roles. Fiber is a non-digestible carbohydrate and thus not a fuel source. Therefore, glucose is the correct answer as the “most readily available” substrate for immediate energy needs across the nervous and muscular systems, supporting rapid ATP regeneration during movement and cognitive tasks.