Trainer Cert Study Headache
I seriously hate the structure of the NCSF manual. If I didn’t already have my diploma in Massage Therapy I’d be so absolutely lost with their verbage. Its correct and detailed, but right off the bat it hits you with anatomical terms that it seems to assume you already know. For example, in Chapter 2 it goes right into:
"[The Inner Unit] has a large attachment to the middle layer of the deep lamina of the posterior layer of the thoraco-dorsal fascia and is recruited prior to any upper or lower etxtremedy movements. When the [transverse abdominus] contracts, tension increases in the throraco-dorsal fascial called thoraco-lumber fascia gain, and intra-abdominal pressure increases as the relatively non-compressible viscera pushes against the structures of the diaphram and pelvic floor."
So while its certainly correct, the manual has not once defined things like the lamina groove or "dorsal", so its giving the benefit of the doubt that the person reading it has a fair amount of anatomy under their belt. Its not hard to define, just seems to like using terms that most people wouldn’t have heard before. The questions in the study guide are very much not worded well. I’m getting through it and as a result its forcing me to delve into it deeper since I need to learn their definitions for terms so that come exam time I’ll recognize them better. Like so many thing with jobs, school, etc. you’re always told that you’ll need to know all this and that. Then you get into the real world and the vast majority of it is never touched again. Well, not having dealt with specific definitions and such like this since back when I graduated in October ‘06 is certainly catching up with me now as I’m having to re-learn a lot. I think it’ll get better, I just don’t like the formatting of the information. Its solid info, just a pain to sift through and make decent sense of. Maybe that’s just their strategy to scare off people who may just want to get certified on a whim. I dunno…
May 18, 2008 at 4:22 pm
What? I have no idea what that paragraph covered. I think I have a headache now. -Jeff
May 18, 2008 at 4:39 pm
Lmao…OMG! O.k…I can honestly tell you that when I took my first Cert…there were 25 of us in the course….of the 25…only 15 of us braved the final exam and only 3 of us passed it! THIS WAS THE REASON!! RIGHT THERE!!
The I.S.S.A. has been awesome as far as giving the proper terminology but then also defining and giving excellent diagrams of wtf they are talking about! lol I still have to write the exam…probably by the end of June!! BUT…i do like how they have laid their course out…and they have help on line and on call!!
ALSO…that pic of you and GJ is SO beautiful!! awwwwww
May 19, 2008 at 4:36 am
Dude I am a veteran nurse of 25 years. What the hell did you just say? Sounds like the fricking boards for nursing-2 days and 800 questions in the "old days." LOL That kind of verbage makes me want to throw-up. The West Virginia one reads like this, "Ya know that big muscle on the outside that pokes in right cheer (diagram of finger pointing in at the belly button) it squeezes upand down when you squeeze in like your taking a dump. Don’t worry none about it and it works. If yer curious just pay attention next time ya feild dress and gut a deer. Hell, racoon or opposum for that matter! LOL
May 19, 2008 at 8:59 am
Huh? The NASM isn’t as bad as that, though I did have a hard time with the first few chapters. Too much medical terminology to remember.
May 19, 2008 at 2:37 pm
Just take the NASM–it is not that crazy–you know anatomy–that won’t ask for insertion points or anything–just tight and weak muscles. That NCSF sounds like a brain aneurysm waiting to happen.
May 20, 2008 at 2:48 pm
What you quoted… I’m just gonna have to smile and nod on that one. Do you think you’ll switch to a different cert that makes more sense when putting it into practice? Though I guess since you already have the massage therapy aspect, it makes more sense to stick with them? Whatever the case, it sounds frustrating!