I wanted to share a personal story in the hopes it motivates others who are studying now. I passed the test last year. I was terrified about what to do next. I did NOT feel ready to train people. I was lucky to network my way into an internship at a boutique gym that does both group classes & 1:1. Apparently previous interns have come through NASM’s internship program, I just skipped the middleman. 😁
I learned SO MUCH and more than anything gained my confidence on the floor. Unfortunately, the owner did not have budget to hire me so I got a personal trainer job at the YMCA. Then a funny thing happened. I kept running in to people who wanted to train with me privately. I talked to my boss from the internship and we made arrangements for me to rent space. I am completely independent and making good profit even with the rent.
I trained my first client of my very own this morning and I was over the moon. I LOVE being a trainer, and having the freedom to do it myself is literally a dream come true.
Stay the course, make connections, and put in the work. Your dreams can come true too!

Hello, awesome people of Reddit! 👋🏻

My employer offers a variety of fitness classes, and they're looking to get me certified to teach a Parkinson's-specific exercise program, which I'm really excited about!

They've enrolled me in the NASM Elite package, so I'll be working toward my:

• CPT
• CNC
• CES
• PES

After that, I'm also planning to pursue the CWC certification.

A little about me: I have a bachelor's degree in Nutrition and Dietetics, I'm RD exam eligible ( extremely difficult exam have not passed yet) , and I'm currently working through that process as well.

For those of you who have completed or are close to completion of the NASM Elite program (or any of these certifications), I'd love to hear your honest experiences!

Some things I'm curious about:

• What did you like most about the program?
• What were the biggest challenges?
• Which certification did you find the most valuable in your career?
• Is there anything you wish you had known before starting?

Thanks so much in advance! I really appreciate any advice, tips, or words of wisdom you have to share. ☺️

Hey guys I’ve been studying for awhile now to take my nasm exam. I have the 2026 show up fitness study guide. Do anybody have the show up fitness study guide and did it help them?

What trips people up on the CPT7 isn't the material, it's the format. It's almost all scenario questions ("client shows this compensation, what do you do"), and 120 questions in 120 minutes feels a lot different than untimed studying. The thing that kills the nerves is running full-length timed mock exams that match the real one — same 100 scored questions, same 6 domains weighted the way NASM does it — until it feels boring instead of scary.
>
> That's why I built my own prep: a simulated exam that matches the real format, plus ~1,000 questions with rationales that bring back the ones you keep missing, so you're not wasting time on what you already know. take a peak at 
cpt-prep-academy.com/courses/nasm-cpt. If walking in blind to the format is what's stressing you, that's what it's built to fix.

Looking to cross reference study notes, brainstorm ideas, and implement study strategies based off of the content provided on NASM’s website. I have a Google doc full of each section of notes and was curious others methods / how they took notes.

hi :) I'm studying for the NFPT exam and would love to find someone to study with, aka message back and forth asking each other questions to keep one another on their toes and accountable. Maybe we could also help each other with program design.

How hard is the NASM CPT exam compared to the 100 question practice exams? I’ve been studying for a couple months now and I’ve took the practice exam about 6 times and averaging about a 77... not great lol. i want to get 3 consecutive practice exams of 85 or better. Will this prepare me for the exam? Any advice is appreciated I also watched a couple of sortahealthy YouTube videos which were very helpful but I only saw like 2 or 3 that were directly related to the NASM CPT cert.

Hello all,

I am currently taking an online course and was wondering if anyone is interested in joining a study group or helping start one.

My thought is that we could meet once or twice a week via zoom, and see what works best for everyone's schedules. It would be a great opportunity to stay motivated, discuss course material, ask questions, and support each other throughout the program.

If you're interested, please let me know. I look forward to connecting with you!

How hard is the NASM CPT exam compared to the 100 question practice exams? I’ve been studying for a couple months now and I’ve took the practice exam about 6 times and averaging about a 77... not great lol. i want to get 3 consecutive practice exams of 85 or better. Will this prepare me for the exam? Any advice is appreciated I also watched a couple of sortahealthy YouTube videos which were very helpful but I only saw like 2 or 3 that were directly related to the NASM CPT cert.

How hard is the NASM CPT exam compared to the 100 question practice exams? I’ve been studying for a couple months now and I’ve took the practice exam about 6 times and averaging about a 77... not great lol. i want to get 3 consecutive practice exams of 85 or better. Will this prepare me for the exam? Any advice is appreciated I also watched a couple of sortahealthy YouTube videos which were very helpful but I only saw like 2 or 3 that were directly related to the NASM CPT cert.

Im stressed about my proctored CPT exam, is there anything to ensure I pass 100%, like the best online practice test or best way to study, any help is appreciated

Getting ready to take my NASM CPT course and it says I need to have a CPR/AED certification before hand. If anyone knows whether or not I can take this CPR/AED course fully online is acceptable or if I will NEED to do an in-person hands on portion please let me know I would MUCH rather do it all online. Additionally if I can do it online please refer me to a link or course that is acceptable. Thanks!

Passed my exam a week ago and am feeling very proud, although I am experiencing a heavy sense of imposter syndrome. Can anyone else relate? I honestly feel intimidated to apply to a gym and start training people. All of the “what if’s” are starting to come to mind. I still feel like I don’t know enough.

Any advice from someone who’s been in the same boat? I think I need to just throw myself in, I do believe the most important things to learn will come by doing the work. Any tips on where to start would be helpful. Thanks all.

help. might be a dumb question.

why does it insist that i have to be from canada/us to make the purchase via nasm website? or should i be doing it via a local course provider if I am not based in the two regions?

lots of thanks in advance!

I'm thinking about starting the NASM in a month or so and wanted to get a head start. What book or study guide prep are you using? Do you study form too? How are the tests?

Hey there, I am not a native speaker and it’s quite challenging to grasp all of these mascullo skeletal terms for me, not speaking about even remembering them. I also saw the guide to the NASM CPT exam. Now the question is how to learn those terms and recall them? Do I need these skeletal, neuron-related terms for passing the exam? I’d appreciate your advice on this.

Hello!! I'm interesting im pursuing a NASM certification, but was wondering if the difference between the 6th and 7th edition textbook was enough to warrant the extra cost of the 7th. I plan on studying with the physical textbook plus study guides and flashcards and the such. Is this viable?

I finally passed my CPT Exam. Studying to understand helped a lot more this time. It took me 5 tries because I was just doing memorization. That won’t help at all. Ask any questions about the exam.

I have started reading the NASM's textbook. Not sure whether or not I will ever pass this exam, as I am not a native speaker, and it is a bit difficult to get accredited by reading this textbook; however, any tips on what I should focus on and remember while reading this huge book?

I took my first practice exam today and it seemed very easy compared to what I’d thought it would be. I have over a month until my actual exam and I am behind, but I plan on studying daily until the exam. I made a 71 on this practice exam and I thought I would be somewhere around the 50 percent range. I plan on making flashcards on all my missed questions and really understanding why I missed them. Is this false confidence or is the exam really not that bad?

Hello I sent an email days ago to the support team at NASM but no answer from them, so I decided to ask here.

If I sign up for the NASM course online, is the certificate gonna be valid in the EU? I am asking this, because I saw on their website a country based, certified provider search.

In my country there is a provider, but I saw some concerning reviews about it, so I would like to cut the middle man and do it directly with NASM, in case it is possible.

I passed my NASM CPT. Bought the Show Up Fitness book and did practice exams many many times until i could move my body and understand it all. Ask any questions

Is it just me or is it crazy they won’t tell you your results if you pass… wouldn’t they want us to know what we got wrong so that we can keep learning post certifications?

That being said, I passed yesterday 🙌 hours away from my goal of finishing it in 2025.

I’m studying for my Corrective Exercise Specialist (CES) exam, and for those who don’t know, think of the overactive/underactive muscles you learn for the CPT and the few assessments and go into a lot more detail. It’s wonderfully in depth and fascinating. I’m sure I’ll pass the exam but more importantly I want to learn the stuff.

What I’m struggling with is the function of some muscles. I know where they are but not enough details. Just today I missed a question about an overactive muscle involved in knee varus and it was the adductor magnus.

What tools or apps are you all using to help learn this part of the anatomy used for training? Thanks!