The 2025 Free ISSA Sports Nutrition Study Guide

Update 2025: The ISSA Sports Nutrition certification is no longer being offered by ISSA. They do, however, have their nutritionist certification. I have a free study guide for it here that you should check out. If you purchased the ISSA personal training certification in a package with a nutrition certification, it is most likely the nutritionist cert.

Hey everybody, and congratulations on putting effort into learning the ISSA nutrition certification. This page contains a full study guide covering every chapter, a practice test, study flashcards, and much more. I also have an awesome video discussing the top 10 things to study to pass the exam. Make sure to star or bookmark this page right now.

Also, if you have yet signed up for the ISSA nutrition certification, my visitors get a special discount through this link. Also, if you are interested in personal training, ISSA offers awesome packages to get their personal training and nutrition certifications for a discounted price when purchased together.

You can easily navigate this study hub using the navigation below. It is also located on the side of each page. Good luck with your studying!

Intro to the ISSA Nutrition Study Materials

My Bitmoji counterpart will be walking you through the ISSA nutrition study guide to make sure that you are on track for passing the ISSA nutrition exam. Say hello to Tyler-Moji.

You must have purchased the ISSA nutrition certification to access their online portal or the textbook from their website.

Here is a picture of the physical textbook if this is the route you have decided to go.

It is called sports nutrition 5^th edition. Daniel Dastelu and Frederick Hatfield wrote the book. You must have the correct version to follow along exactly with this study guide.

FREE ISSA Nutrition study guide

PART ONE: NUTRIENTS AND ATHLETIC PERFORMANCE FROM A TO Z

• Chapter 1  Sports Nutrition: The Vital Link to Supercharging Athletic Performance
• Chapter 2  Food, Ingredients, and Nutrients: An Overview
• Chapter 3  Carbohydrates: The Ultimate Performance Food
• Chapter 4  Protein and Amino Acids: Muscle Builders and More
• Chapter 5  Lipids and the Athlete: Energy and Growth Factors
• Chapter 6  Water and Oxygen
• Chapter 7  Vitamins
• Chapter 8  Minerals
• Chapter 9  Metabolites and Botanical Supplements
• Chapter 10  Guide to Food and Supplement Product Labeling
• Chapter 11  Label Claims for Conventional Foods and Dietary Supplements

PART TWO: ANATOMY AND METABOLISM DETERMINE NUTRIENT NEEDS

• Chapter 12  Anatomy of an Athlete: Cells, Tissues, and Systems
• Chapter 13  Digestion and Absorption
• Chapter 14  Body Composition
• Chapter 15  Calorie Needs and Metabolism
• Chapter 16  Dietary Guidelines for Americans

PART THREE: FINE TUNING YOUR PERFORMANCE

• Chapter 17 Sports Nutrition Approach Concepts and Examples
• Chapter 18 Fat Loss and Muscle Gain for Athletes
• Chapter 19 Glycogen Loading (Super Compensation)
• Chapter 20 Special Concerns of Athletic Females
• Chapter 21 Putting It All Together: Athletic Performance

ISSA Sports Nutrition Study Tips

ISSA Practice tests

Most of my students returned to me complaining that they had failed the exam. I usually ask them, well did you try taking a practice exam before taking the real thing? The answer is typically no; they did not.

Taking a practice exam is very helpful in letting you know whether you are ready for the real exam. Don’t take any chances; take a couple of practice exams to ensure you know to pass the real thing.

ISSA Study Mnemonics

One of the best ways to memorize harder-to-understand concepts and definitions is to use mnemonics. These will let you connect a crazy story you create to what you try to memorize.

I suggest making them as crazy as possible by using aliens, weird animals, fantasy characters, etc.

The stranger you can make it, the stronger the connection is to be able to memorize it.

ISSA Spaced Repetition Flashcards

I’m sure you have heard of the good old fashion flashcards strategy for memorizing terminology. But I bet you have not heard of spaced repetition flashcards.

Basically, they work the same way as normal flashcards. They have one definition on one side and the answer on the other.

The biggest difference comes when you understand the order that these flashcards are shown to you.

With spaced repetition flashcards, you are studying a program that can learn which cards are easier for you and which are more difficult.

It will then show you what are more difficult cards with more frequency until you get better at them. Your easy cards will not be shown to you that often because you already have them memorized.

This saves a ton of time overall.

FREE ISSA Sports Nutrition Study Guide (older)

We have a free study guide to accompany the text for the ISSA Sports Nutrition certification. It follows chapter by chapter. Just click on the button right below!