Free CSSD Practice Questions

Question 1

Six weeks before a four-hour cycling race, an athlete is trying to increase carbohydrate intake from 60 to 90 g/hour. Glucose-only products are well tolerated at the lower intake, but increasing them causes bloating. Fluid intake is appropriate for her measured losses. Which revision would expand the intestinal transport capacity available for carbohydrate delivery?

Accepted Answer

Introduce a glucose-fructose blend and practice progressively higher intakes during training.

Answer

Replace glucose with maltodextrin alone, which uses a different intestinal transporter after digestion.

Answer

Use fructose alone at the higher intake, avoiding competition from glucose for intestinal absorption.

Answer

Keep glucose alone but consolidate intake into fewer, larger feedings to increase hourly absorption.

Question 2

A menstruating distance runner who follows a vegan diet reports declining training pace. Her laboratory results are hemoglobin 12.8 g/dL (reference 12.0-16.0), ferritin 12 micrograms/L, and transferrin saturation 13% (reference 20%-45%). C-reactive protein is normal, and she has no recent illness. Taken together, these findings most strongly support:

Accepted Answer

Iron deficiency without anemia.

Answer

Dilutional sports anemia with adequate iron stores.

Answer

Iron-deficiency anemia.

Answer

Inflammatory iron sequestration with preserved iron stores.

Question 3

During a two-hour run, an athlete's standardized dry body mass falls from 70.0 to 69.4 kg. She drinks 1.4 L and passes 0.2 L of urine. For a repeat session in similar conditions, she proposes drinking 1.5 L/hour to 'replace everything.' Which assessment correctly combines her estimated sweat rate with the implication for that proposal?

Accepted Answer

0.90 L/hour; the proposed intake exceeds her measured sweat and urine losses.

Answer

0.30 L/hour; she should drink less than during the first run.

Answer

1.10 L/hour; increasing to the proposed rate would cover both sweat and urine losses.

Answer

1.80 L/hour; the proposed intake would still underreplace sweat losses.

Question 4

The team kitchen follows the FDA 2026 Food Code. A batch of cooked rice begins cooling at 135°F at 1:00 p.m., reaches 65°F at 1:30 p.m., and reaches 40°F at 6:00 p.m. It is cooled continuously in shallow pans, and other handling requirements are met. What disposition is supported by this temperature record?

Accepted Answer

Keep the rice at 41°F or below; the two-hour initial and six-hour total cooling limits were met.

Answer

Discard the rice because cooked food must reach 41°F within four total hours.

Answer

Reheat and restart cooling because rice must reach 41°F within the first two hours.

Answer

Discard the rice because cooling from 70°F to 41°F must take no more than four hours.

Question 5

A 16-year-old gymnast with eight months of secondary amenorrhea undergoes a bone-health evaluation. Her appropriately size-adjusted lumbar-spine DXA Z-score is -2.3. She has no history of vertebral compression fractures or long-bone fractures. How should the dietitian characterize the bone-density finding in the multidisciplinary assessment?

Accepted Answer

Low bone mineral density for age, without sufficient evidence to establish pediatric osteoporosis.

Answer

Pediatric osteoporosis, because the Z-score is more than two standard deviations below the reference mean.

Answer

Osteopenia, because the numerical score falls between the adult cutoffs for normal bone density and osteoporosis.

Answer

Within the expected range for age, because the Z-score exceeds -2.5.

Question 6

'I've gained 1.2 kg since starting creatine. Should I stop?' asks a healthy adult shot-putter. He completed five days of divided-dose loading at 20 g/day and now takes 3 g/day. He has no kidney disease, swelling, gastrointestinal symptoms, or change in urine output. His diet is unchanged. Which response is most appropriate?

Accepted Answer

Continue maintenance dosing and monitor; early weight gain from water retention is expected.

Answer

Discontinue creatine and seek renal evaluation before training resumes.

Answer

Reduce carbohydrate intake to offset the apparent increase in fat mass.

Answer

Restrict creatine to precompetition doses, preserving its immediate effect without maintaining additional body water.

Question 7

Before a planned 40-minute moderate cycling session, an adult with type 1 diabetes has capillary glucose of 286 mg/dL and blood ketones of 0.2 mmol/L. He feels well, his glucose trend is stable, and uninterrupted basal insulin delivery has been confirmed. He can monitor glucose and carries rapid-acting carbohydrate. Which approach fits this presentation?

Accepted Answer

Begin the moderate session with glucose monitoring; defer vigorous intervals while glucose remains elevated.

Answer

Postpone exercise until glucose is below 180 mg/dL.

Answer

Take 30 g of rapid-acting carbohydrate before starting to prevent the glucose decline associated with cycling.

Answer

Give a full usual correction bolus immediately before starting, then proceed with the planned exercise intensity.

Question 8

A 75-kg basketball player finishes the first game of a doubleheader with only three hours before the second. He immediately drinks a recovery beverage containing 30 g carbohydrate and 25 g high-quality protein. To bring first-hour carbohydrate intake into the recommended range for rapid glycogen restoration, which addition is the best fit?

Accepted Answer

About 50 g carbohydrate from a low-fat snack, without another protein serving.

Answer

About 15 g carbohydrate, paired with another serving of protein.

Answer

About 75 g carbohydrate from a familiar meal that provides an additional protein serving.

Answer

About 100 g carbohydrate from a meal, with additional protein deferred until after game two.

Question 9

After expanding a recovery-meal service, an athletics director asks, 'Are athletes actually meeting their recovery nutrition needs, or are we just handing out more food?' The dietitian already tracks staffing, food costs, and meals distributed. Which additional measure most directly answers the director's question?

Accepted Answer

The proportion of athletes whose documented intake meets individualized carbohydrate and protein recovery targets.

Answer

The proportion of eligible athletes who collect a recovery meal when leaving the training facility.

Answer

Mean satisfaction with recovery-meal taste, portion size, and accessibility.

Answer

The total number of nutritionally complete meal portions stocked and available after each scheduled training session.

Question 10

An athlete performs repeated six-second maximal sprints separated by short recovery periods. Although the sprints rely heavily on the phosphagen system, aerobic conditioning can improve the ability to repeat them. What physiological link explains this contribution during recovery?

Accepted Answer

Oxidative ATP production supports phosphocreatine resynthesis between the sprint efforts.

Answer

Hepatic conversion of lactate to glucose rapidly restores the muscle's depleted glycogen between efforts.

Answer

Greater fat oxidation supplies ATP rapidly enough to replace phosphocreatine during the next maximal sprint.

Answer

Continued anaerobic glycolysis is the principal source of ATP for replenishing phosphocreatine during rest.

Free CSSD Practice Questions

Domain 1: Exercise and Performance Nutrition

Question 1

Question 2

Question 3

Question 4

Question 5

Domain 2: Clinical Sports Nutrition

Question 6

Question 7

Question 8

Domain 3: Nutrition Operations and Resource Management

Question 9

Question 10

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