NASM PES key terms

A person's belief in their own capability to execute the actions required to reach a specific performance outcome; stronger self-efficacy tends to increase effort, persistence, and resilience in the face of setbacks.

Drive to engage in an activity because it is inherently interesting or enjoyable rather than for an external reward; in sport it is linked to greater long-term adherence, effort, and enjoyment.

A general level of physiological and psychological activation experienced before and during performance; too little or too much can degrade skill execution, so athletes aim for an individually optimal zone.

The direction and width of an athlete's attention, ranging from broad to narrow and from external to internal; the useful focus shifts with task demands, such as scanning the field versus executing a skill.

A mental skill in which an athlete rehearses a movement or performance scenario using multiple senses without physically performing it, used to build confidence, refine technique, and regulate arousal.

A behavior-change model describing progression through precontemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, and maintenance; coaching strategies are matched to a client's current stage to reduce resistance and prevent dropout.

Specific Adaptation to Imposed Demands; the body adapts in the specific ways the training stress demands, so training must resemble the target activity's movements, velocities, and energy systems.

A model describing the response to stress in three phases, alarm, resistance, and exhaustion, used to explain why training must balance applied stress with adequate recovery to avoid performance decline.

Systematically increasing training stress over time through volume, intensity, density, or complexity so the body continues to adapt once it has accommodated the current load.

The sequence of a rapid eccentric muscle action followed immediately by a concentric action, storing and reusing elastic energy plus stretch-reflex input to produce more force than a concentric-only action.

How quickly an athlete can generate force during the early portion of a muscle action; a key determinant of explosive movements such as jumping, sprinting, and rapid changes of direction.

The principle stating that motor units are recruited in order from smallest, slowest, low-threshold units to largest, fastest, high-threshold units as the force demand of a task increases.

Reflex inhibition of a muscle caused by high tension detected at its Golgi tendon organ; it underlies static stretching and self-myofascial release techniques intended to reduce muscle tension before training.

The degree to which a test measures what it is intended to measure; a vertical jump test has good validity for lower-body power but poor validity as a measure of aerobic capacity.

The consistency and repeatability of a test result across repeated trials, days, or raters; reliable tests produce small random error so that genuine changes in performance can be detected.

A monitoring method that multiplies a rating of perceived exertion for a session by the session's duration in minutes to produce a simple training-load score, useful for tracking weekly changes.

A comparison of recent training load, typically one week, with a longer rolling average, typically four weeks; abrupt spikes above the customary range are associated with increased injury risk.

A whole-body standing squat with arms overhead used to screen mobility and stability, revealing compensations such as excessive forward lean, arms falling forward, or knee valgus that guide corrective programming.

The variation in time between successive heartbeats; higher variability generally indicates greater parasympathetic influence and better recovery status, making it useful for monitoring readiness to train.

A training model that organizes programming into stabilization, strength, and power phases, each with distinct acute variables, to progress a client safely from basic movement quality to higher-intensity performance.

A state in which a muscle's resting length is too short or too long for optimal force production, often caused by postural stress, reducing force output and contributing to compensated movement.

The coordinated action of muscles pulling from different directions around a joint to produce a desired movement, such as the upper trapezius, serratus anterior, and rotator cuff elevating the scapula.

When a synergist muscle takes over the function of a weak or inhibited prime mover, which can eventually cause the synergist to become overactive and tight and further alter joint motion.

Exercises that use the stretch-shortening cycle, an eccentric loading phase followed quickly by an explosive concentric action, to improve power, rate of force development, and neuromuscular efficiency.

The ability of the nervous system to properly recruit the right muscles, in the right order, at the right time, and with the right amount of force during a movement.

The systematic planning of training into phases with varying volume and intensity to peak for competition, reduce overtraining risk, and maintain long-term progress across a season or year.

A model in which volume and intensity vary frequently, daily or weekly, within a larger training block, allowing targets such as strength and power to be trained concurrently.

The relationship between work performed and the time used to complete it; density rises when more work is done in the same time or the same work is finished with shorter rest periods.

A planned reduction in training volume, and sometimes intensity, before a key competition to dissipate accumulated fatigue while retaining fitness, typically lasting one to three weeks.

The program-design variables manipulated for each exercise, namely repetitions, sets, intensity, rest interval, tempo, and exercise selection, which together determine the adaptation a client achieves.

A modification that reduces the difficulty or complexity of a movement, such as decreasing load, range of motion, or stability demands, used when a client cannot maintain proper form.

The storage form of carbohydrate in muscle and liver; muscle glycogen fuels high-intensity exercise, and its depletion is linked to fatigue during prolonged or repeated efforts.

The daily protein needed to support repair and adaptation, commonly estimated at roughly 1.2 to 2.0 grams per kilogram of body weight per day for active individuals and spread across meals.

A well-studied supplement that increases phosphocreatine stores in muscle, supporting repeated high-intensity efforts and lean mass gains with resistance training; dosing often uses a loading phase or lower daily maintenance.

An amino acid supplement that raises muscle carnosine, which buffers hydrogen ions, potentially delaying fatigue in high-intensity efforts lasting roughly one to four minutes.

A stimulant that can improve alertness, reduce perceived effort, and enhance performance in endurance and power tasks when taken before exercise, with effects varying by individual tolerance.

The relationship between calories consumed and calories expended; a surplus supports weight and muscle gain while a deficit supports fat loss, and overly aggressive changes in either direction can impair performance.

Independent verification of a supplement's contents and absence of banned substances; products bearing such certification are safer choices for athletes subject to doping control.