Chapter 1
Clientele of personal trainers mostly consists of:
- Older adults
- Working adults
- Children in nonschool settings
According to the CDC only 20.3% of the adults achieve both the recommended aerobic and
muscle strengthening guidelines. Only 24.2% of adults perform no leisure-time activity.
Health costs are rising exponentially as the medical field continues to focus more on
treatment than on prevention.
The ACSM certified personal trainer, possessing a high school diploma or GED at minimum,
works primarily with apparently healthy individuals to enhance fitness. The ACSM-CPT also
works with individuals who have stable health challenges and are cleared to exercise
independently. The ACSM-CPT conducts basic preparticipation health screenings, lifestyle
inventories, and fitness assessments for health and skill-related components of fitness. The
ACSM-CPT assesses behavior adoption readiness and offers guidance in the development
of realistic, cliënt-centered goals related to health, fitness and wellness. The ACSM-CPT
develops and administers programs designed to promote optimal cardiorespiratory fitness,
muscular strength, muscular endurance, flexibility and body composition, as well as agility,
balance, coordination, power, speed and reaction time. The ACSM-CPT facilitates cliënt
motivation and adherence and honors client confidentiality. The ACSM-CPT adheres to all
agreed-upon terms with each cliënt and stays within the scope of practise of the ACSM-CPT
credential. The prudent ACSM-CPT makes referrals to appropriate allied health
professionals when clients' needs exceed the ACSM-CPT scope of practise.
Potential activities, including, but not limited to, the following tasks:
- Screen and interview potential clients to determine their readiness for exercise and
physical activity.
- Perform fitness tests or assessments to determine level of fitness.
- Help cliënt set SMART goals.
- Develop exercise regimens and programs.
- Demonstrate and instruct specific techniques for safe and effective performance.
- Provide clients with safe and effective exercise techniques or training programs as
well as educate them about exercises that may be contraindicated.
- Supervise or spot clients when performing an exercise.
- Maintain records of clients’ progress or lack thereof.
- Be a knowledgeable resource to answer questions.
- Educate cliënt about health and fitness and encourage them to become independent
- Provide referrals to other professionals when appropriate.
Scope does not include:
- Meal planning
- Diagnosing injuries or other medical conditions
- Personal trainers can’t work with individuals who cannot currently exercise
independently
,Screening, assessment and referrals
- Basic demographic information
- PARQ (physical activity readiness questionnaire)
- Recent and past history of physical activity
- History of previous injuries
- Level of social support from family and friends
- Potential stressors/obstacles that may impose challenges on their exercise regimen,
such as excessive work hours, physically demanding work, and multiple recurring
commitments within the community or with family
- Types of physical activity the participant feels that they may enjoy engaging in.
- Personal trainer- client expectations
- Obtain or request any medical clearance form (if required)
- Sign forms
- Potentially refer client to other health professional
Assessments are tests and measurements that PT’s use with their clients to evaluate their
current physical and functional status. Assessments may include the following:
- Resting and exercise heart rate
- Resting and exercise blood pressure
- Body weight and height
- Body composition estimates
- Circumference measurements of limbs, hips and waist
- Calculation of BMI
- Calculation of waist-to-hip ratio
- Measurements of flexibility
- Tests for musclar strength/ muscular endurance
- Tests for cardiorespiratory fitness
Chapter 2
Client expectations of a personal trainer:
- Know the goal: helps reinforce the client-centered approach to training as well as
provides the priorities of the exercise program. Educate the client on proper and
realistic goals. Part of this is education about the unrealistic images portrayed in the
media. It’s important to translate the client's goals into achievable objectives and
outcomes.
- Be knowledgeable and experienced
- Present a clear and concise plan: Once the mode, frequency, duration, intensity
and general component (e.g. warm-up, flexibility, balance, agility, power, strength,
endurance, energy system development, specific skills and cool-down) of the
exercise program are determined, a written plan is presented to the cliënt. The plan
includes exercises session date, primary goals for each session, exercise modes, the
order of exercises, name of the exercises, duration (repetitions, sets, exercise time),
and intensities (target heart rate, rating of perceived exertion, amount of resistance).
The last line of each completed exercise prescription plan should be the PT’s
, signature. Ongoing communication is important. Prior the each session, the PT
should inquire about the cliënt’s general level of readiness for the day’s exercise
(energy level, sleep quality, nutrition and hydration status, stress levels, soreness,
minor aches or pains that may impact the plan). The PT should educate the cliënt on
the importance of healthy lifestyle behaviours that will support the overall training
plan. These should include smoking, proper nutrition, proper hydration, adequate
sleep, stress management, intrasession recovery techniques (self-myofascial release
(SMR), massage, stretching).
- Be innovative, creative and resourceful: Effective PT’s demonstrate both
innovation and creativity. An innovator is defined as one who continually introduces
new methods and techniques. Being creative is another important trait of a PT. The
opportunity for being creative often comes when a piece of equipment is out of order.
An example of this would be substituting a free-weight or body-weight exercise
movement for a machine-based exercise. It’s also important to use creativity for a
variety of the training program. Examples of PT resourcefulness incluse using an
AIREX pad or BOSU to improve balance and reduce fall risk in older people.
- Educate: It’s important for PT’s to teach clients how they can apply principles for
themselves. These concepts include understanding the components of a
well-balanced workout: warm-up and cool-down, flexibility and stretching, balance,
agility, power, strength, endurance and ESD. They should be familiar with the need to
balance movement patterns (such a push and pull), proper breathing, effective
stretching techniques, how to determine appropriate exercise intensity (e.g. training
heart rate, rpe, amount of resistance), various modes of exercise and proper program
progression (intensity, duration, frequency of workouts) in accordance with
established exercise goals. It’s important that the PT can explain this in a way that’s
easy to understand for the cliënt.
- Inspire: Clients often assume that PT’s have always embodied a healthy lifestyle. A
PT’s willingness to share the story of his or her own fitness journey (especially any
struggles and learnings) can make the training process more relatable and less
intimidating. This can inspire clients to do the same.PT’s should take the time needed
to discover what motivates each individual cliënt and then customize the approach.
- Focus: A PT requires focus on a cliënt’s form, speed, posture, grip, stance, breathing
and even facial expressions. It’s important to prepare a session, so there’s no ‘what’s
next’. ‘Now and How’ is a great mantra. The cliënt should also be focussed, so no
distractions like phones are excessive socializing.
- Track and recognize progress: Determine how to evaluate the SMART goals. This
way the training programs can be evaluated on effectiveness. These metrics are also
used to motivate the client. The PT’s challenge is to lead clients toward their
long-term goals through attainment of several smaller ones. The PT’s job is to make
clients aware of their small achievements.
Personal training clients typically arrive in the ‘action’ stage.
Most trainers start their careers as a result of personal experience, direct or related. Direct:
positively affected by someone else or a highly regimented and effective self-imposed
routine.
, Chapter 3
Anatomical position
Universally accepted reference position used to describe regions and refer to body positions.
The body is erect with the feet together and the upper limbs positioned at the sides, palms
facing forward, thumbs away from the body.
Sagittal plane rotates about the mediolateral axis, movement in the frontal plane rotates
about the anteroposterior axis, and movement in the transverse plane rotates about the
longitudinal axis.
The line of gravity of the body is an imaginary vertical line passing through the center.
Term Definition
Anterior The front of the body (ventral)
Posterior The back of the body (dorsal)
Superficial Located close to or on the body surface
Deep Below the surface
Proximal Closer to any reference point
Distal Father from any reference point
Superior Toward the head (higher)
Inferior Away from the head (lower)
Medial Toward the midline of the body