CRTS-PM Training

What "CRTS-PM Training" Actually Covers

When people search for CRTS-PM training, they usually mean one of three different things: learning the Pose Method of running itself, preparing for the Level 1 certification exam, or building the practical coaching skill to apply the method with real runners. These overlap, but they are not the same activity, and conflating them is the most common planning mistake.

Learning the method means understanding how Pose running is described: gravity as the driving force, the fall-and-pull sequence, cadence, elastic use of the muscle-tendon system, and the faults that undermine them. Exam preparation means turning that understanding into accurate answers across several question formats under a clock. Coaching skill means looking at a runner on video and making a defensible assessment. This article treats all three, and keeps the exam-specific details separate from the broader craft. If you are still orienting yourself, start with What Is CRTS-PM? and What Does CRTS-PM Stand For? before building a training plan.

Which Credential You Are Training For

Several programs use similar names, so pin down the target first. The credential covered on this site is the issuer's Level 1 Certified Running Technique Specialist (Pose Method), governed by the Romanov Academy of Sports Science (the issuer publicly styles its name Romanov Academy of Sport Science). The issuer publicly abbreviates it CRTS; "CRTS-PM" is the label this site retains. It is not The Running School's similarly named credential, which is a different program with a different curriculum and certifying body.

This matters for training because the content you study must match the exam you will sit. Material built around another organization's running-technique syllabus will not map cleanly onto the Pose Method terminology and drills tested here. For a fuller identity breakdown, see CRTS-PM Certification and CRTS-PM Meaning.

The Pose Method Master Course: Training Versus Testing

The issuer recommends its Pose Method of Running master course, and the course description states that it prepares candidates for this exact certification. The course carries 20 contact hours. Those hours describe instructional training time. They are not the length of the exam, and they are not a minimum you must complete to sit it.

It is worth being precise about what is verified. This site retrieved only the public course description and public study materials, not the full paid master course. So the sections below describe the preparation topics the issuer publicly names, not the complete lesson-by-lesson content of the paid course. Treat the public lists as a floor for your preparation, not a guarantee of exhaustive exam coverage.

The recommendation is also not the same as a prerequisite. Formal eligibility is separate: age 18 or older, a high-school diploma or equivalent, two forms of identification, and acceptance of the candidate agreement and professional standards. The portal currently requests one valid ID while the eligibility page requires two; that conflict is real and unresolved in the sources, so bring two. For the full picture, read CRTS-PM Requirements.

Five Training Areas Mapped to the Curriculum

The five areas below reproduce the preparation topics named in the issuer's master-course description. They are an unweighted preparation curriculum, not an official exam blueprint and not an official count of exam domains. No percentage weights are published, so do not budget study time by invented proportions. The detailed breakdown lives in CRTS-PM Exam Domains: Complete Guide to All 5 Content Areas.

The Issuer's Study-Material Groupings

The separate issuer study-material page organizes preparation differently, using four groupings: FOUNDATION, TECHNIQUE, VIDEO ANALYSIS, and ETC. This is an alternative way of organizing resources, not a second exam blueprint and not a nine-domain structure. Here is how the groupings line up:

Use whichever organization helps you retain the material, but do not assume that completing one list means you have covered everything tested. Neither source publishes weights, and neither establishes exhaustive exam coverage. The push-off discussion in ETC. is easy to overlook because of its catch-all label, so give it its own review slot.

Training for the Exam Format

Your training should mirror the way you will be tested. The verified exam facts are: 106 questions, of which 90 are scored and 16 are unscored; a 90-minute limit; and a 75% passing requirement. Published formats and categories include true/false, matching, multiple choice, Basic Drills, Video Analysis, and a Running 101 keyword-completion essay.

Two cautions. First, the issuer's examination page and handbook both state 106 total questions but use inconsistent section numbering and differ on where the unscored items sit. So do not trust any third-party breakdown that assigns a precise number of questions to each section, and do not try to guess which items are unscored; treat every question as if it counts. Second, the roughly 90 seconds per question implied by the totals is only an average, since a keyword-completion essay or a video item will take far longer than a true/false item. For the scoring mechanics, see CRTS-PM Passing Score, and for realistic difficulty expectations, How Hard Is the CRTS-PM Exam?. No certification-wide pass rate is published in the sources used here, so treat any specific figure you see elsewhere with skepticism; CRTS-PM Pass Rate explains what can and cannot be said.

Original Practice: Drills, Video Analysis and Keyword Completion

Flashcards are useful for definitions, but they train recognition, not production. Three of the published formats demand more than recognition, so build practice for each of them yourself.

Basic Drills practice

For each drill you study, write a one-line answer to three prompts: what fault it targets, what the runner should feel or do, and what a correct repetition looks like. Then practice reversing it: given a described fault, name the drill that addresses it. This two-way fluency is what a drills question rewards.

Video Analysis practice

Take any short clip of a runner, in public footage or your own training group, and write a structured assessment: note cadence impressions, where the foot lands relative to the body, signs of overstriding, and whether the movement looks elastic or muscularly driven. Then phrase each observation using Pose Method vocabulary. The goal is not to be fancy but to be consistent: the same observation categories every time, so under exam pressure you are not inventing a framework on the spot.

Running 101 keyword-completion practice

This format asks you to complete an explanation with the right key terms. Practice by writing a short, plain-language explanation of a core concept such as cadence, gravity, or overstriding from memory, then check which essential terms you left out. Repeat until the key terms appear without prompting. The weakness this exposes is usually vocabulary precision: knowing an idea but not naming it the way the method does.

Training for an Open-Book, Forward-Only Exam

The exam is open book. The current certification portal expressly permits personal notes, printed or handwritten materials, and the Internet, and the issuer's resources page also permits notes and printouts. Testing is issuer-administered on the Romanov Academy online certification portal, which describes AI and live proctoring on your computer. Open-book access does not waive proctoring or confidentiality rules, so follow every proctoring instruction and do not treat the exam content as shareable.

The constraint that changes how you must train is the navigation rule: you complete the exam in one sitting and cannot return to earlier questions, change previous answers, skip items, or flag them for later review. Every answer is final the moment you move on.

That has direct training implications:

• Build a notes sheet for lookup, not learning. Organize it by the exam's question types and your five training areas so you can find a term in seconds. Notes are a safety net; you will not have time to learn a concept from them mid-exam.
• Practice committing to an answer. In your timed practice sets, forbid yourself from going back. This builds the habit of making a decision, noting your confidence, and moving on.
• Rehearse the Internet question. Searching during the exam is permitted, but a slow search on an item you could have answered from memory costs you time you cannot recover. Decide in advance what you will look up and what you will answer cold.
• Time the long formats separately. Practice keyword-completion and video items against a clock so a single demanding question does not drain the 90 minutes.

For a compact way to organize that notes sheet, see the CRTS-PM Cheat Sheet, and use the CRTS-PM Exam Prep practice tests to rehearse under realistic timing.

Training, Exam, Retake and Renewal Costs

Costs are easy to blur together, so keep the categories separate. The sources distinguish them clearly, even when they do not give one universal public price.

Two deadlines must also stay separate: the handbook's one-year application/attempt window and the seminar route's 30-day deadline after the seminar. They come from different sources and different routes, so do not merge them into a single universal deadline. If you are in a military program, funding must be checked against your branch, program and approved start date; no universal funding entitlement, reimbursement amount, or promotion-point award is established here, so confirm details with your command and the program directly. For the full pricing picture, see CRTS-PM Certification Cost, and for scheduling, CRTS-PM Exam Dates.

A Domain-Sequenced Training Schedule

Generic scheduling advice is less useful than sequencing by dependency: concepts first, mechanics second, application third, production last. This plan assumes you also have access to the master course or equivalent material; adjust the pacing to your own calendar. It is one study approach, not a published issuer timeline.

Biomechanics comes first because every later domain depends on its vocabulary, and movement retraining comes last because corrections only make sense once you can diagnose a fault. For a longer-form plan, see the CRTS-PM Study Guide.

After Training: Coaching Use and Recertification

Training does not end at the exam. The certification is valid for five years. Recertification requires active practice, the required continuing education, and a recertification exam. You may renew before expiration or within 30 days afterward, and the published recertification package is USD 295, including required webinars. Building real coaching and analysis experience during those five years is what keeps recertification straightforward.

On the career side, the honest position is qualitative. This credential can support running-technique coaching, gait-focused instruction, and work with runners, including within military running programs, but no certification-specific salary premium is established in the sources used here, and no figures should be assumed. Whether it pays off depends on your client base, existing credentials, and how well you can demonstrate results. For realistic framing, see CRTS-PM Salary Guide, CRTS-PM Jobs, and Is the CRTS-PM Certification Worth It?.

When you are ready to test your recall under timed conditions, the CRTS-PM practice exam is a good place to find the gaps your own notes may be hiding.

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