- What This Cheat Sheet Covers (and What It Can't Confirm)
- Exam Format and Rules at a Glance
- Fees, Deadlines, and Renewal Numbers
- Domains 1-7: The Science Foundation
- Domains 8-10: Assessment and Program Design
- Domains 11-17: Training Methods and Exercise Technique
- Domains 18-20: Periodization, Cardio, and Recovery
- Domains 21-24: Nutrition, Supplements, Psychology, Practice
- Which Domains to Study in Which Order
- Frequently Asked Questions
- The CSCC from ISSA is built on a 24-chapter curriculum, from Introduction to Strength and Conditioning through Professional Practice.
- The final exam is online, at-home, open-book, and open-note, with no time limit and two free attempts.
- ISSA's FAQ and terms cite 75% per section, but confirm the threshold displayed in your own exam.
- The displayed package price is USD 639 one time; a 5% administrative fee and tax may apply.
What This Cheat Sheet Covers (and What It Can't Confirm)
This page condenses the must-know facts for the Certified Strength and Conditioning Coach credential from the International Sports Sciences Association (ISSA). ISSA currently markets this specialization as its Strength and Conditioning Certification, and the course text is Strength and Conditioning, 2nd Edition (copyright 2020). Every domain name below comes from that book's 24-chapter table of contents.
Be clear about the limits. ISSA has not published exam objectives with percentage weights, an official domain count for the exam, or a program-specific question count. The 24 domains here are unweighted curriculum chapters, not a blueprint of how many exam items each topic carries. The textbook's copyright year also isn't an exam version number. Treat this as a map of what you are expected to learn, not a prediction of item distribution. For a deeper breakdown of each chapter's scope, see our complete guide to all 24 CSCC content areas.
Exam Format and Rules at a Glance
The format is unusual compared with proctored, test-center certifications. The final is taken online, at home, and it is open-book and open-note. That changes what "preparation" means: you are not racing to memorize isolated trivia, you are learning the material well enough to locate and apply it efficiently.
| Item | What the sources state |
|---|---|
| Delivery | Online, at-home final exam |
| Reference materials | Open-book, open-note |
| Time limit | None; you can save and resume (the average-completion figure ISSA cites is an estimate, not a timer) |
| Prerequisite to the final | Complete and pass all course quizzes first |
| Attempts included | Two free attempts during enrollment |
| Retakes | Immediate; USD 99 per attempt beyond the two included |
| Passing standard | FAQ and general terms cite at least 75% in each section; the Help Center says to follow the requirement displayed in your own final |
| Minimum age | 18 |
| CPR/AED | Current adult CPR/AED from an approved provider; documentation required before certificate release |
| Question count / pass rate | Not verified for this specialization |
The per-section 75% idea
The phrase "at least 75% in each section" deserves attention. If that standard applies to your course, a strong score in one area can't rescue a weak one. That is a reason to avoid skipping the chapters that feel peripheral, such as Supplementation or Performance Psychology. Because the Help Center directs students to the threshold shown in their own final exam, check your portal before you begin and plan around that number. Our CSCC passing score article walks through how to interpret conflicting statements like these.
Quizzes come first
You cannot open the final until every course quiz is complete and passed. Treat the quizzes as the real gate: they are where you learn how this course words questions and what level of detail it expects. For a realistic read on difficulty given the open-book format, see How Hard Is the CSCC Exam? And since no pass rate has been verified for this specialization, our CSCC pass rate page explains why brand-level banners shouldn't be applied here.
Fees, Deadlines, and Renewal Numbers
Cost mechanics
- Displayed package: USD 639 one time, including the course and the final exam.
- Add-ons to expect: ISSA's general terms specify a 5% administrative and technology fee, and prices exclude applicable tax, so the displayed price is not a guaranteed checkout total.
- Extra attempts: USD 99 each after the two included.
- Payment plans: you must have paid at least 1/12 of the total order and stay current to get your certificate released.
The full breakdown, including how these pieces add up, is in our CSCC certification cost guide.
Completion window
ISSA's FAQ assigns eight months to specialization courses, while a separate CPR-documentation answer mentions six months. The terms tell you to follow the deadline in your enrolled course's portal. That period is a course-completion window, not an exam time limit. Don't confuse the two. More on scheduling realities is in CSCC exam dates and deadlines.
Renewal numbers
- Cycle: every two years
- CEUs: 20, equivalent to 20 contact hours
- Other requirements: current CPR/AED and a renewal submission
- Fee: USD 99 standard, possibly waived if all 20 CEUs come through ISSA
For eligibility specifics, including the age and CPR/AED rules, see CSCC requirements.
Domains 1-7: The Science Foundation
The first seven chapters build the vocabulary every later chapter assumes. In an open-book exam you can look things up, but you can't look up what you don't understand well enough to recognize in a scenario.
Domain 1: Introduction to Strength and Conditioning
The orientation chapter, which is also the one included in ISSA's public sample document. It frames the discipline, the coach's role, and the terminology used throughout.
- Learn the course's definitions first; later chapters reuse them.
- Read the public sample to see the textbook's style.
Domains 2-4: Nervous, Muscular, and Skeletal Systems
Three anatomy-and-physiology chapters that explain how force is produced, transmitted, and constrained.
- Nervous System: how signals recruit muscle and drive adaptation.
- Muscular System: muscle structure, fiber behavior, and contraction types.
- Skeletal System and Joint Actions: bones, joints, and the movements each joint permits.
Domain 5: Cardio Respiratory and Support Systems
The heart, lungs, and supporting systems that deliver oxygen and clear byproducts, which sets up the later cardiorespiratory programming chapter.
Domain 6: Bioenergetics
How the body supplies energy for different efforts. Expect questions that link an activity's duration and intensity to the energy system doing the work.
- Practice matching sport demands to energy systems.
- Revisit this chapter when you reach periodization and conditioning design.
Domain 7: Biomechanics
The mechanics of movement: forces, levers, and technique considerations. It underpins every exercise-technique chapter that follows.
Domains 8-10: Assessment and Program Design
ISSA's product description highlights performance tracking and functional movement, and these chapters are where that shows up. Domain 8 (General Assessments) and Domain 9 (Performance Assessments) separate what you screen for health and movement quality from what you measure for athletic output. Know why each assessment is chosen and how its results change a program, not just what the test is called.
Domain 10: Principles of Program Design
The hinge of the whole course. It converts science and assessment results into a plan.
- Understand how assessment results drive exercise selection and loading.
- Know the core design variables and how changing one affects the others.
- Expect scenario-style prompts that ask you to choose a sensible programming decision for a described athlete.
Key Takeaway
Domain 10 is the chapter that most other chapters feed. If you find yourself confused in Domains 11 through 20, the fix is usually to return to program design principles rather than re-reading the exercise chapter.
Domains 11-17: Training Methods and Exercise Technique
This block is the largest practical cluster: seven chapters on how training is actually delivered.
| Domain | What to be able to do |
|---|---|
| 11: Flexibility | Distinguish flexibility methods and know when each fits a program |
| 12: Plyometric Exercises | Explain how plyometrics develop reactive power and how to progress them safely |
| 13: Core Exercises | Select core work that supports force transfer and trunk stability |
| 14: Lower-Body Exercises | Coach and cue major lower-body patterns and recognize faults |
| 15: Upper-Body Exercises | Coach and cue pushing and pulling patterns and recognize faults |
| 16: Power and Olympic-Style Weight Lifting | Understand lift mechanics, progressions, and why technique precedes load |
| 17: Resistance Training Systems | Compare training systems and match them to goals and experience levels |
How to study the exercise chapters
Pair each exercise chapter with Domain 7 (Biomechanics) and Domain 4 (Skeletal System and Joint Actions). When you learn a lift, name the joints moving, the muscles driving the action, and the common technique error. That three-part habit turns a list of exercises into transferable knowledge, which is what scenario questions test.
Domains 18-20: Periodization, Cardio, and Recovery
Domain 18: Applying Periodization
How training is organized across time so that load, volume, and focus change purposefully. ISSA's product summary lists periodization and performance tracking as a core theme.
- Know how phases differ in emphasis and how they build on one another.
- Connect periodization to the assessments in Domains 8 and 9 for tracking progress.
Domain 19: Cardiorespiratory Programming
Designing conditioning work that fits an athlete's sport and goals, drawing directly on Domains 5 and 6.
Domain 20: Recovery and Injury Prevention
The course's product summary names speed, agility, and recovery programming along with injury prevention and functional movement. Know recovery strategies and how programming choices reduce injury risk.
- Link recovery decisions to training load, not just to modalities.
- Review how movement quality screening feeds prevention strategies.
Domains 21-24: Nutrition, Supplements, Psychology, Practice
These four chapters are easy to underweight because they feel less "athletic." With a per-section pass standard potentially in play, they deserve real study time.
- Domain 21: Nutrition. Fueling for performance and recovery, framed for a coach's scope.
- Domain 22: Supplementation. What supplements are, how they're regulated in general terms, and the limits of what a coach should recommend.
- Domain 23: Performance Psychology. Motivation, focus, and the mental side of training and competition.
- Domain 24: Professional Practice. The business, ethical, and scope-of-practice side of working as a coach, which connects naturally to career questions such as CSCC jobs.
On the career side, this credential is aimed at people who coach athletes and clients in strength and conditioning settings. No salary figures have been verified for this specialization, so we don't quote any here; our salary guide and the ROI analysis discuss earning potential qualitatively.
Which Domains to Study in Which Order
Because the final is open-book and untimed, the smartest use of preparation time is building understanding in dependency order. Here is a CSCC-specific sequence rather than a generic plan.
Systems Foundation
- Domains 1-4: introduction, nervous, muscular, skeletal and joint actions
- Start course quizzes as each chapter ends
Energy and Mechanics
- Domains 5-7: cardio respiratory, bioenergetics, biomechanics
- Build a one-page energy-system and lever summary
Assessment and Design
- Domains 8-10: general assessments, performance assessments, program design
- Write two sample programs from described athletes
Methods and Technique
- Domains 11-17: flexibility through resistance training systems
- Tie each exercise to its joint action and common fault
Planning and Recovery
- Domains 18-20: periodization, cardiorespiratory programming, recovery and injury prevention
The "Soft" Chapters
- Domains 21-24: nutrition, supplementation, performance psychology, professional practice
- Confirm your portal's passing threshold and CPR/AED documentation
Adjust the pace to your portal's completion deadline. For a fuller approach to pacing and quiz strategy, see our CSCC study guide, and when you want to check recall under pressure, try the practice questions on the main practice test site.
Key Takeaway
Build your open-book notes as an index, not a transcript. A one-page summary per domain with chapter references lets you find answers fast and shows you where your understanding is thin.
Frequently Asked Questions
The International Sports Sciences Association (ISSA). It is the Certified Strength and Conditioning Coach credential, which ISSA currently markets as its Strength and Conditioning Certification. It is not any other credential that happens to share the CSCC acronym. See What Does CSCC Stand For? for the naming background.
The final is online and taken at home, and it is open-book and open-note. ISSA's policy allows saving and resuming with no time limit. The completion estimate it publishes is an average, not a timer.
ISSA's FAQ and general terms state at least 75% in each section of specialization exams. However, the Help Center directs students to the passing requirement displayed in their own final exam, so confirm the operative threshold in your course before you start.
You get two free attempts during enrollment, and retakes are available immediately. Each attempt beyond the two included costs USD 99.
Renewal is every two years and requires 20 CEUs (equivalent to 20 contact hours), current CPR/AED, and a renewal submission. The standard fee is USD 99 and may be waived when all 20 CEUs are earned through ISSA. Late-renewal rules conflict across ISSA pages, so confirm yours in the portal.