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Exercise Science Principles Flashcards

7 cards from real NSCA CSCS practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.

Read the first 7 Exercise Science Principles flashcards as text

  1. Phosphocreatine (PCr) stored in muscle provides energy primarily through which reaction?

    Answer: PCr + ADP → Cr + ATP (catalyzed by creatine kinase)

    Creatine kinase rapidly transfers a phosphate group from phosphocreatine to ADP, regenerating ATP without requiring oxygen.

  2. Which adaptation explains the increased strength seen in the first 4–8 weeks of resistance training in previously untrained individuals?

    Answer: Neural adaptations including improved motor unit recruitment and synchronization

    Early strength gains in novice trainees are primarily neurological — improved motor unit recruitment, rate coding, and intermuscular coordination — before substantial hypertrophy occurs.

  3. Wolff's Law states that:

    Answer: Bone remodels according to the mechanical stresses applied to it

    Wolff's Law holds that bone is a dynamic tissue that deposits matrix along lines of mechanical stress and resorbs bone where stress is absent.

  4. During maximal exercise, which factor is the primary determinant of VO2max?

    Answer: Maximal cardiac output (central limitation)

    In healthy individuals, VO2max is primarily limited by the cardiovascular system's capacity to deliver oxygen (maximal cardiac output), not by the muscles' ability to consume it.

  5. The term 'muscle pennation angle' refers to:

    Answer: The angle at which muscle fibers insert relative to the line of pull of the muscle

    Pennation angle is the angle between muscle fiber orientation and the muscle's longitudinal axis (line of pull), which affects force transmission and muscle architecture.

  6. Which of the following best describes the term 'motor unit'?

    Answer: An alpha motor neuron and all the muscle fibers it innervates

    A motor unit consists of one alpha motor neuron and all the skeletal muscle fibers it innervates, which all contract together when the neuron fires.

  7. During high-intensity anaerobic exercise, intramuscular pH decreases primarily due to:

    Answer: Increased hydrogen ion (H⁺) production from ATP hydrolysis and accelerated glycolysis

    Intramuscular acidosis during intense exercise results from H⁺ accumulation from ATP hydrolysis and the proton release associated with rapid glycolytic flux, not lactic acid dissociation per se.