NSCA CSCS Performance-Enhancing Nutrition 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which form of creatine supplementation has the strongest evidence base for improving high-intensity exercise performance?
- Creatine ethyl ester
- Creatine monohydrate (Correct answer)
- Creatine hydrochloride
- Buffered creatine
Correct answer: Creatine monohydrate
Creatine monohydrate has the most robust evidence supporting performance improvements and remains the gold standard form.
Question 2: Beta-alanine supplementation improves performance primarily by increasing muscle concentrations of which compound?
- Carnosine (Correct answer)
- Taurine
- Anserine
- Histidine
Correct answer: Carnosine
Beta-alanine is a rate-limiting precursor to carnosine, a dipeptide that buffers H+ ions in muscle during high-intensity exercise.
Question 3: The NSCA recommends that athletes requiring rapid weight loss for competition consume no less than what percentage of total calories from carbohydrate?
- 25%
- 35%
- 45% (Correct answer)
- 55%
Correct answer: 45%
Maintaining at least 45% of calories from carbohydrate helps preserve glycogen stores and performance even during caloric restriction.
Question 4: Which amino acid is considered conditionally essential during periods of intense training stress and is the primary fuel source for enterocytes?
- Arginine
- Leucine
- Glutamine (Correct answer)
- Tyrosine
Correct answer: Glutamine
Glutamine becomes conditionally essential during high-stress training periods and is the preferred oxidative fuel for intestinal cells.
Question 5: An athlete consumes 70 g of carbohydrate and 20 g of protein immediately post-exercise. According to NSCA guidelines, this timing strategy primarily optimizes which physiological process?
- Fat oxidation rates during the next session
- Muscle protein synthesis and glycogen resynthesis simultaneously (Correct answer)
- Cortisol suppression within the first hour
- Creatine phosphate resaturation
Correct answer: Muscle protein synthesis and glycogen resynthesis simultaneously
Co-ingesting carbohydrate and protein post-exercise simultaneously stimulates glycogen resynthesis and muscle protein synthesis more effectively than either alone.
Question 6: Which ergogenic aid has been shown in research to reduce the perception of effort and delay fatigue through adenosine receptor antagonism?
- Taurine
- Caffeine (Correct answer)
- L-citrulline
- Betaine
Correct answer: Caffeine
Caffeine competitively blocks adenosine receptors in the central nervous system, reducing perceived exertion and delaying the onset of fatigue.
Question 7: A strength athlete on a high-protein diet (2.5 g/kg/day) is concerned about kidney health. According to current evidence, this protein intake level in a healthy athlete is:
- Definitively harmful to renal function
- Safe and does not impair kidney function in healthy individuals (Correct answer)
- Associated with kidney stone formation within 6 months
- Shown to reduce GFR by 20% after 12 weeks
Correct answer: Safe and does not impair kidney function in healthy individuals
Current evidence consistently shows that high protein intakes up to at least 3.0 g/kg/day do not impair renal function in healthy, well-hydrated athletes.
NSCA CSCS Performance-Enhancing Nutrition 2
Which form of creatine supplementation has the strongest evidence base for improving high-intensity exercise performance?