Master personal training concepts with these NASM CPT flashcards. This study guide covers muscle anatomy, movement patterns, fitness assessments, program design, and corrective exercise strategies.

Q: Golgi tendon

Answer: musculotendonous junction that detects tension applied to tendon during slow static stretch.

Q: Cardio Output

Answer: amount of blood pumped out by each side of the heart in 1 min.

Q: Davie’s Law

Answer: soft tissue models along the lines of stress.

Q: Reciprocal inhibition

Answer: muscles on one side of a joint relaxing to accommodate contraction on the other side of that joint.

Q: Agonist Muscle

Answer: the muscle that contracts to produce a movement; prime mover.

Q: Antagonist Muscle

Answer: the muscle that has an action opposite to that of the agonist and helps in the production of a coordinated movement.

Q: Prime Mover

Answer: the muscle that acts as the initial and main source of motive power.

Q: Static Stretching

Answer: a technique in which a muscle is slowly and gently stretched and then held in the stretched position.

Q: Autogenic Inhibition

Answer: the process when neural impulses that sense tension is greater than the impulses that cause muscles to contract, providing an inhibitory effect to the muscle spindles.

Q: Force Couple Relationship

Answer: muscle groups moving together to produce movement around a joint; muscles in a force-couple provide divergent pulls on the bone or bones they connect with which is a result of the fact that each muscle has different attachment sites, pulls at a different angle, and create a different force on that joint.

Q: Oxidative System

Answer: relies primarily on carbohydrates and fats for the production of ATP. This system is the slowest producing of the three systems because it requires increased amounts of O2 to match the muscular requirement of the exercise. O2 must be supplied through respiration, and it takes a while to elevate the respiration rate to consume appropriate amounts of O2. Needless to say, even though this system is the slowest producing, it results in the greatest amount of ATP.

Q: ATP-PC

Answer: phosphocreatine breakdown (occurs in cytoplasm), anaerobic pathway, immediately available, provides ATP for 10 secs, quick bursts of energy.

Q: Acetylcholine

Answer: a neurotransmitter that enables learning and memory and also triggers muscle contraction.

Q: Arthrokinematics

Answer: the motions of the joints in the body; joint motion.

Q: Synergistic Dominance

Answer: the body’s substitution system when there is a weak or inhibited prime mover

Q: Sarcomere

Answer: the functional unit of muscle that produces muscular contraction and consists of repeating sections of actin and myosin.

Q: Sarcoplasm

Answer: cell components that contain glycogen, fats, minerals, and oxygen that are contained within the sarcolemma.

Q: Sarcolemma

Answer: a plasma membrane that surrounds muscle fibers.

Q: Gastrocnemius

Answer: Calf muscle that causes plantaflexion e.g. jumping.

Q: Lateral Gastrocnemius

Answer: flexes knee and plantarflexes foot.

Q: Hydrostatic Weighing

Answer: this method calculates the density of the body by immersing a person in water and measuring the amount of water that becomes displaced; most widely used laboratory procedure to determine body density.

Q: Split Routine System

Answer: breaks up the body into parts to be trained on separate days.

Q: Peripheral Heart Action System

Answer: A variation of circuit training that uses different exercises (upper and lower body) for each set through the circuit. 8-20 reps. per exercise.

Q: Pituitary Gland

Answer: the master gland of the endocrine system.

Q: Endocrine System

Answer: the system of glands that produce endocrine secretions that help to control bodily metabolic activity.

Q: Alarm Reaction

Answer: first stage of the general adaptation syndrome, the initial reaction to a stressor.

Q: General Adaptation Syndrome

Answer: a term used to describe the body’s adaptive response to stress in three states–alarm, resistance and exhaustion.

Q: Open End Question

Answer: a question that is structured so that it requires a broad response to a topic and cannot be answered with a yes/no; also known as open-response question; non-directive question; invites discussion.

Q: Closed End Question

Answer: a question that is structured so that it requires a short, precise response; also known as closed-response question; directive question.

Q: Torque

Answer: a force that causes rotation.

Q: Acute Variables

Answer: important components that specify how each exercise is to be performed. They determine the amount of stress placed on the body and, ultimately, what adaptations the body will incur.

Q: Structural Efficiency

Answer: the alignment of the musculoskeletal system that allows our center of gravity to be maintained over our base of support.

Q: Dorsiflexion

Answer: moving the foot upward at the ankle joint.

Q: Plantarflexion

Answer: ankle movement pointing the foot downward.

Q: Altered Reciprical Inhibition

Answer: caused by a tight agonist muscle decreasing the neural drive to its functional antagonist.

Q: Upper Crossed Syndrome

Answer: a postural distortion syndrome characterized by a forward head and rounded shoulders.

Q: Pronation Distortion Syndrome

Answer: a postural distortion syndrome characterized by foot pronation (flat feet) and adducted and internally rotated knees (knock knees).

Q: Psoas

Answer: either of two muscles of the abdomen and pelvis that flex the trunk and rotate the thigh.

Q: Lower Crossed Syndrome

Answer: a postural distortion syndrome characterized by an anterior tilt to the pelvis (arched lower back).

Q: Left ventricle

Answer: chamber that removes oxygenated blood from the heart and transports it through the aorta to the rest of the body.

Q: finale

Answer: …