It’s Personal
Looking studious while the dogs look at squirrels.
I started this blog for a couple of reasons: 1) to get myself writing consistently and 2) to have some fun talking about a topic I enjoy. It has definitely spurred my writing and I’m looking forward to where that will take me over the next few months. And the enjoyment has led me to learning new things and exploring new ideas in the fitness realm.
Part of that is studying to get my CPT (Certified Personal Trainer) certificate. I signed up for the NASM course and have been studying for the past few months. It is a lot of information, some of it fascinating, some of it I knew and some of it is a little silly (they spend the first several chapters talking about how to write a resume, interview, build rapport, build a business. It makes sense to help your students learn that, but at the same time they spend a LOT of pages on it).
I really enjoyed the sections on how the body converts food to fuel, and the discussions about the way the different muscular systems work together. It is a nice holistic approach to the material. Each chapter has a quiz, then each unit a larger quiz, and each section an even larger quiz. All leading up to taking and passing the exam to get certified.
Well, I scheduled my exam for last Thursday the 18th and used the week leading up to it to review and take practice exams. My confidence level was middling after taking four practice tests and passing three of them by the skin of my teeth.
The test itself is proctored over the internet, which was amusing if it didn’t add to my stress. I couldn’t have anything on the table, they had to see the doors on my webcam, no one could enter the room, if I looked off screen for too long they would assume I was cheating, all kinds of restrictive rules to make sure you relied only on your memory to pass. A bit out-dated in thinking, but them’s the rules.
And I took the test and got a 69. You need 70 to pass. Ugh. It was the hardest test I’ve taken in my life, or definitely in the top three with high-school chemistry and physics. I took it a bit personally (ha) because I’m an excellent test-taker and know the material. The test is just not easy: it pulls from 700 pages of information randomly and expects you to hold even minor (and frankly unimportant) points at the same level as the good stuff. Rest assured, anyone with the NASM CPT cert knows their stuff!
Apparently a large chunk of people don’t pass the first time. Now I will schedule (and pay for) a re-test and hope to do just better enough to pass.
And what do I hope to gain from getting my CPT cert? I like the idea of lending more legitimacy to my ramblings here on the blog. And I will dip my toe into actually training folks and see how that goes. It is definitely helping me plan and execute my own training regimes, especially as I recover from my meniscus fun.
So, wish me luck as I hit the books again and work to pass the exam. Hopefully in a couple of weeks I can re-visit here and have a shiny new certificate to show off!
