Kinesiology — Massage & Bodywork Licensing Exam (MBLEx) Practice Test

This Massage & Bodywork Licensing Exam (MBLEx) Kinesiology practice set has 60 practice questions based on the official exam materials, each with an instant explanation.

Sample questions

Three questions from the Kinesiology bank with the correct answer and an explanation. The practice quiz above draws 30 questions at random from the same bank.

1. Which type of muscle tissue attaches to bone and produces voluntary movement of the body?

   • Skeletal muscle — Correct answer
   • Cardiac muscle
   • Smooth muscle
   • Nervous tissue

   Explanation: Skeletal muscle attaches to the skeleton via tendons and is under voluntary control, producing movement at joints. Cardiac muscle is found only in the heart and smooth muscle lines internal organs, both under involuntary control. (FSMTB MBLEx Content Area 2 — Kinesiology)

   Handbook: Kinesiology — Muscle Structure & Contraction (FSMTB MBLEx Content Area 2)

2. What is the basic contractile unit of a skeletal muscle fiber?

   • The sarcomere — Correct answer
   • The tendon
   • The fascicle
   • The ligament

   Explanation: The sarcomere is the basic contractile unit of a skeletal muscle fiber, made of overlapping actin and myosin filaments. Tendons attach muscle to bone and fascicles are bundles of muscle fibers, but neither is the contractile unit. (FSMTB MBLEx Content Area 2 — Kinesiology)

   Handbook: Kinesiology — Muscle Structure & Contraction (FSMTB MBLEx Content Area 2)

3. According to the sliding filament theory, how does a sarcomere shorten during contraction?

   • Actin filaments slide over myosin filaments, pulling the ends of the sarcomere closer together — Correct answer
   • The actin and myosin filaments themselves shorten in length
   • The sarcomere lengthens as filaments slide apart
   • New muscle filaments are synthesized to fill the gap

   Explanation: In the sliding filament theory, the thin actin filaments slide over the thick myosin filaments toward the center, drawing the ends of the sarcomere together so it shortens. The filaments do not change length themselves. (FSMTB MBLEx Content Area 2 — Kinesiology)

   Handbook: Kinesiology — Muscle Structure & Contraction (FSMTB MBLEx Content Area 2)