This is Emily (and Lowanna)...
Emily works for Elev8 Fitness Club and her responsibilities as a personal trainer for club members include; building individualised exercise programs, demonstrating exercises and equipment use, monitoring progress of clients’ fitness and assessing clients’ fitness levels and health conditions. Elev8 Fitness Club offers modern facilities, flexible pricing, group fitness classes, individual programs and a ‘holistic analysis of your health, fitness and lifestyle’.
What are some of the key assessments conducted in a client fitness appraisal?
We must measure cardio-respiratory endurance, blood pressure, range of movement or flexibility, strength, weight, height, body mass index, waist to hip ratio, girth measurements and percentage of body fat.
We repeat the same tests during each subsequent assessment for the client, to see the progress made.
What are some of the benefits of these assessments?
Conducting a fitness appraisal is vital. I couldn’t accurately plan a fitness program for each client if I didn’t conduct an appraisal. I can identify client needs, strengths and weaknesses and align their goals to their needs. I can measure their starting fitness level accurately to get baseline fitness and health data, avoid risk, refer them to appropriate care if I find an underlying health condition.
You would use certain equipment to assess clients’ health and fitness. What are some of these and how do use them?
I use measuring equipment like tape measures for height and girth measurements, circumference measurements of the neck, shoulders, hip, thigh, calf, arm and forearm and I use scales for measuring weight. I get a client’s BMI from this.
I can measure BP using a sphyg-mo-mano-meter. That is a mouth full. It's the instrument that you see on every GP’s desk, often attached to an inflatable air-bladder cuff and used with a stethoscope, for measuring blood pressure in an artery.
I also time clients while they use either bikes, treadmills or rowers to get their heart rate up. This is to test cardio-respiratory fitness.
How do you get clients to participate fully in these assessments?
We can’t force anyone to participate, but initial and progressive fitness assessments are a condition of coming to this club to participate in activity here. The client is always given accurate information about how these assessments help us to design their fitness program. I haven’t had anyone refuse to participate in one and honestly, I enjoy discussing results with my clients. I always try to have something positive to say, then I point out areas that we need to address and how we are going to do that together.