I Studied for My NBHWC Board Exam in a Hot Tub. I Wouldn't Recommend You Do the Same.

Three study mistakes I made in 2017 — and what I'd do differently today

This is kind of embarrassing to admit but..... I did most of my studying for the NBHWC board exam in a hot tub.

Hear me out 🤣

It was September 2017 — the very first time the exam was ever offered. There were no prep courses, no study guides, no one who had taken it before to ask.

So I did what made sense to me at the time: I turned my messy piles of notes into a neat 25-page study guide, printed the whole thing out, slid each page into a plastic sleeve, and snapped the whole thing into a binder.

Then I'd walk to LifeTime Fitness, work out, get in the hot tub, and study until my fingers were basically prunes and I was about to melt.

It wasn't a bad routine -- But there are 3 main reasons why I would never recommend this study strategy to my students:

1. It was totally focused on passive review. I relied heavily on reading my own notes over and over and over again. I was in a hot tub, so flashcards weren't really an option, you know? Studying without ever really practicing active recall or retrieval practice -- The two main skills you need to practice in order to successfully pass an exam like this -- is a mistake that I wouldn't make again! Reading your notes feels productive, but it's one of the least effective study methods that exists. The skills you actually need to pass an exam like this are active recall and retrieval practice, forcing your brain to produce information rather than just recognize it when you see it.

2. A hot tub is literally the exact opposite of a Prometric testing center. I got used to studying in a warm, cozy, peaceful environment with soft ambient lighting, spa music, and the soothing sound of water trickling down a stone water feature. The Prometric testing center is cold, brightly lit, and silent except for the clicking and clacking of other test-taker's computers. I didn't give my brain the gift of practicing encoding specificity, which really would have calmed my nerves on exam day. Your study environment should be a part of your study strategy, because memory retrieval is easier when the conditions during recall match the conditions during learning. When I walked into that testing center and the environment felt nothing like where I had studied, my brain had to work harder to access what I knew.

3. My study sessions were pretty short because... I was studying in a hot tub. I crammed in a few marathon study sessions at my desk the week before the exam, but spending 4.5 hours focusing on exam day felt hard because of the way I studied. Cramming sessions, while sometimes necessary, are one of the least effective study approaches for retention and one of the most effective approaches for exhaustion. Length and consistency in your study sessions matter, both for what you're able to retain and for building the kind of focused attention the exam will demand.

What I'd do if I were studying for the NBHWC Board Exam in 2026

I built The Study Edit around the study strategies I wish I had used in 2017 — ten evidence-based approaches that take the guesswork out of how to prepare for this exam and address the exact mistakes I made.

That means active recall and retrieval practice, not passive review. It means replicating the exam environment as closely as possible instead of keeping the vibe spa-like. It means building toward exam-length focus rather than cramming at the last minute. And it means learning how to read and approach scenario questions specifically, because that skill is different from content knowledge and it's the one that determines whether your coaching skill translates into a passing score.

And while you probably already knew that it wasn't a good idea to study for a big test in a hot tub, I wouldn't recommend it. Consider that a little bonus piece of free advice 😉

*Please note that some details about my NBHWC Board Exam Prep Course, The Study Edit, have changed since making this video. The course has been updated to the 2026 NBHWC Content Outline, offers 400 practice questions, 328 flashcards, is now $299, and comes with a money back guarantee that you can choose to opt into.