NESTA Sports Nutrition Specialist study guide
NESTA Sports Nutrition Specialist · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
The NESTA Sports Nutrition Specialist is one of the specialty courses in NESTA's nutrition and behavior-coaching line, offered alongside the Fitness Nutrition Coach and the Lifestyle & Weight Management Coach. NESTA has educated fitness professionals since 1992, and this course is delivered online and self-paced, with access beginning the same day you enroll. Like NESTA's other specialty courses, its exam is taken online rather than at a testing center, and it confers a lifetime specialist credential with no renewal requirement. It is not NCCA-accredited; the Personal Fitness Trainer is NESTA's only NCCA-accredited certification. The NESTA Sports Nutrition Specialist study guide has 4 sections and about 1,332 words.
01Sports Nutrition Principles
The Sports Nutrition Principles domain tests whether you can explain how energy systems, macronutrients, and fluid balance drive performance - and support recommendations with accepted numbers rather than gym folklore. Expect questions on substrate use, daily intake ranges, and hydration math.
367 words, about 2 min02Assessment and Client Screening
Assessment and Client Screening covers the front end of practice: deciding whether a client is safe to train, gathering intake and body-composition data that are actually usable, and estimating energy needs with defensible equations. Use PAR-Q+ alongside a health-history form covering medications, supplements, allergies, injuries, pregnancy, and disordered-eating red flags.
344 words, about 2 min03Nutrition Program Design
Nutrition Program Design tests your ability to turn assessment data into a periodised plan: energy targets, macronutrient distribution, timing around sessions, and a defensible supplement shortlist. Keep energy availability at ≥30 kcal/kg fat-free mass/day to limit RED-S risk.
307 words, about 2 min04Behavior Coaching and Professional Practice
Behavior Coaching and Professional Practice covers how you get a plan followed and how you stay inside your scope. Questions test readiness-to-change models, coaching skills, and clear professional boundaries.
314 words, about 2 min