certificate iii / iv in fitness session 6 & 7 applied personal training

Certificate III / IV in Fitness

Session 6 & 7Applied Personal Training

Session 6 & 7Todays session will cover the following topics

Body Composition screening

Personal Training • prepare personal training

exercise plans• implement training plans• improve client adherence to

exercise

• review and modify training goals• planning a fitness facility

• Weekly review• Question time

Screening clients

– When screening clients for their nutrition health status, fitness trainers are attempting to identify a number of common nutritional risk factors

– Questions around the following can help identify to what degree a client is potentially at risk:

• Unintentional weight loss in last three months

• Current appetite and any difficulty taking and retaining food

• Issues with diarrhoea or vomiting

• Special diets

• Multiple recent injuries and history of chronic conditions

Screening clients

– Other questions that can help identify risk:• Current eating patterns, how often do you eat

breakfast/lunch/dinner, how often do you snack

• How much water do you consume daily, what other liquids

• Do you eat fast food

• Are you vegetarian

• Do you take dietary supplements

• How would you rate your eating behaviour, are you interested in changing these behaviours

• Are you dissatisfied with your body shape

Body composition appraisals

– Body Mass Index (BMI) expresses the relationship between weight and height

• Does not differentiate between body fat and muscle mass

• Calculation: BMI = Weight (kg)/Height (m2)

– Waist-to-hip Ratio (WHR) is the ratio of a person’s waist circumference to their hip circumference

• Carrying extra weight around the mid-section (central obesity) has a high correlation to health risks

Body composition appraisals

– Waist Circumference (WC) as with the WHR, a high measurement is associated with the risk of developing chronic illness

• To determine the WC, palpate the iliac crest and place a measuring device around the abdomen, ensuring you do not compress the skin. WC differs for men and women:

– For men:

» 94 cm or more relates to increased risk

» 102 cm or more relates to substantially increased risk.

– For women:

» 80 cm or more relates to increased risk

» 88 cm or more relates to substantially increased risk

Classification of overweight and obesity

Metabolic syndrome

– Metabolic syndrome is a group of diseases that often occur together, it is characterised by the following metabolic conditions:

– abdominal obesity: excessive fat deposits in and around the abdominis as identified by waist-to-hip measurements

– dyslipidaemia: disorders of the blood fat that may include high TGs, low HDLs and high LDLs, precursors of cardiovascular disease and stroke

– increased blood pressure, known as hypertension (WHO defines high blood pressure as systolic blood pressure of 140 mmHg or more, or diastolic blood pressure of 90 mmHg or more)

– glucose intolerance or insulin resistance, which is a precursor of diabetes.

Determining energy requirements

– Energy expenditure is comprised of;

• Basal metabolic rate (BMR): the amount of energy expended to maintain life

– Males: [66.47 + (13.75 × weight in kg) + (5 × height in cm) – (6.76 × age)]

– Females: [655.1 + (9.56 × weight in kg) + (1.85 × height in cm) – (4.68 × age)]

• Thermic effect of food: the amount of energy expended to ingest and digest food

• Thermal effect of physical activity: the amount of energy expended to perform work

Exercise programming for management of body composition

– Following a sequential process will assist fitness trainers in planning exercise programs:

• Client induction and screening, including dietary habits and disorders

• Development of goals, using short-term goals according to healthy weight ranges in order to develop positive eating behaviours

• Outline importance of exercise adherence techniques

• Perform assessments

• Apply FITT principle

• Monitor and record progress

• Review goals

Exercise guidelines for obese clients and/or dyslipidaemia

– Refer to an AHP if client complains or presents with joint pain or deformity

– The age and weight of the individual should determine the appropriate activities and exercise modifications, encourage incidental activity and limit sedentary behaviours

– Set realistic goals and contracts including two short training sessions

General dietary requirements of children and adolescents

– The role of the trainer in providing dietary guidelines to children and their parents is just that – to provide guidelines only

– The recommended carbohydrate intakes are as follows:» three to seven serves per day for 2 to 7 year olds

» four to nine serves per day for 8 to 11 year olds, and

» four to eleven serves per day for 12 to 18 year olds

– A child who has weight problems needs support from their trainer, their social network, and their immediate family

General dietary requirements of children and adolescents

– As a trainer, it is important that when working with children you are able to ensure that the program is enjoyable and that the training sessions can be replicated at home

– It is also suggested that other members of the family be allowed to be involved in the dietary intervention and training sessions, thereby increasing the social support

– Refer to an AHP when conditions include; GI disease, eating disorder, cancer, epilepsy and liver or renal disease

Plan and deliver personal training

The session involves application of the following topics: prepare personal training exercise plans implement training plans improve client adherence to exercise review and modify training goals planning a fitness facility

Definition of personal training

– Personal trainers provide one-on-one exercise instruction to individuals requiring a program tailored to their specific needs

– The planning of personal training session/s should be governed by the client’s goals and expectations

– The utilisation of a variety of training modalities that are based on sound training principles expedites goal attainment

Definition of personal training

– It is common for the personal trainer to prepare training sessions that emphasise energy expenditure, and functional training that incorporates compound exercises utilising a range of equipment

– Functional compound exercises may include:» squats, lunges and bent-legged dead lifts

» abdominal exercises

» lower back exercises

» pushing exercises (e.g. military and bench presses)

» pulling exercises (e.g. lat pull-downs and seated rows)

Professional registration

– Fitness Australia (FA) has varying categories of registration for exercise professionals

– The levels of registration below indicate the vocational roles the industry is currently offering:

– gym instructor personal trainer

– specialised trainer freestyle group exercise

– leader group exercise pre-choreographed group exercise

– children’s instructor children’s trainer

– older adult’s instructor older adult’s trainer

– aqua instructor aqua trainer

– yoga

Professional registration

– Depending on their qualifications and experience, personal trainers may offer a range of services including (but not limited to) the following:

» postural analysis

» nutritional analysis and weight management

» rehabilitation (pre- and post-surgery)

» group exercises and walking and running groups

» sport-specific training

» behaviour modification

» corporate fitness

» gym programs that may include one or a combination of resistance training (e.g. strength, power, hypertrophy), cardio (e.g. aerobic, anaerobic, interval and fartlek training) and circuit training

Using public spaces

– The demand for public space to conduct fitness training by individual or commercial personal trainers and fitness groups is growing fast. This gives rise to a number of issues:

» Public liability: Do you have the required qualifications or insurance?

» Equity of access: Is there a potential conflict with regular users? What are the environmental impacts? Is the public land being exploited by commercial operators?

» Facility management: Is it fair for councils to collect fees as a mechanism for users to contribute to the upkeep of parks, ovals, etc.?

» Noise pollution

Using public spaces

– As a consequence of this growth, a number of local governments have developed policies and regulations which aim to:

» provide a safe and enjoyable experience for all participants

» ensure equity of access to public parks, ovals, reserves, etc.

» decrease the impact of commercial fitness operators and personal trainers on the environment

» minimise the concern brought on by public liability

– Leave no trace!» walk/run on most durable surface, dispose of waste appropriately,

respect wildlife, vegetation and other visitors, recycle

A personal trainer’s knowledge base

– As a personal trainer you will need to alter your delivery method from being the trainer to the educator, or both

– You must be able to employ a range of instructional techniques aimed at modifying or correcting movement

– You should be able to demonstrate the following attributes:

» Accurate screening, assessment and client goal setting

» Developing, implementing, reviewing and modifying plans for clients

» Employing instructional technique to achieve the best for the client

A personal trainer’s knowledge base

– Learning styles:» Generally people will learn using a combination of three styles:

visual, auditory and kinaesthetic

» People learn using a combination of styles, often with emphasis on one style

» Fitness trainer may achieve a better response from their client if they expose them to different tasks, learning contexts, resources and experiences

Planning personal training programs

– When a client hires the services of a personal trainer, questioning in regards to needs and expectations is essential for determining goals

– Often an individual’s training or progress will plateau, or they are a distance away from achieving their goals, or they simply require a kick start back into training

– For these reasons and many more, personal trainers need to ask a range of questions in order to gain a good understanding of their clients


– The interview may be considered one of the more important components of the screening process:

» Question appropriately, listen actively, show empathy

» Discuss range of services and options

» Take responsibility and follow up

» Take note of complaints, it is YOUR responsibility to remedy the problem

– Work with the client:» Develop rapport

» Conduct the screening and develop preliminary goals

» Book in for assessment


– The pre-exercise screening and risk classification is vital to:

» Meet needs of insurers (is the trainer competent in what the client needs)

» Determine trainer challenges such as time constraints and location

» Make sure that the client fully understands what they are entering into

– The trainer checklist at interview:» PAR-Q

» Waivers and contracts

» Informed consent

» Testing procedures


– Determining a client’s risk:» A pre-exercise screening tool is designed for exercise

professionals to use when evaluating the category of risk clients pose before embarking on an exercise program

» The use of the Adult Pre-Exercise Screening Tool helps to classify clients who are either at low, moderate or high risk

» If you are unsure if you should proceed use the following indicators:

* medical conditions that may be contraindicated to exercise, and consequently will exclude the client from exercise

* any risk factors associated with the cardiovascular system

* significant disease symptoms that may be exacerbated by exercise

* special requirements of clients when exercising

* any other sign or symptom that may place the client at increased risk of adverse health

status when exercising


– Risk factors are broken into three groups; non-modifiable, modifiable and lifestyle factors

» Non-modifiable: age, family history, gender, ethnicity

» Modifiable (chronic conditions): CHD, stroke, cancer, diabetes, arthritis, osteoporosis, asthma, COPD, renal disease, oral disease

» Lifestyle: overweight, sedentary, stress, smoking, alcohol

– Trainers should become familiar with signs and symptoms associated with risk factors such as:

» Breathing difficulty and cough, tightness in chest, dizziness and fainting

» Swelling, calf pain with exercise, fatigue after exercise


– A history of the client taken before training should include:

» Lifestyle questions: motivation to exercise, obstacles and barriers to exercise, history of compliance to previous attempts to exercise, exercise experience, current and recent condition and injury status

» Training status: is the client currently exercising? How much? When?

– It is critically important that personal trainers take into consideration a client’s genuine training needs. Doing a Training Needs Analysis is vital, and can include:

» Biomechanical evaluation of sport, activity of exercise

» Physiological requirement of sport, activity of exercise

» Injury assessment of sport, activity of exercise

Fitness testing

Fitness testing is used to:» measure health- and skill-related components of fitness

» gather baseline data to compare with normative values

» establish goals so that a safe and effective training program can be developed

Procedure for testing:1. Get medical clearance if needed

2. Consider the risk: is the test appropriate, are you qualified

3. Inform client of procedure

4. Reassure the client during the test

5. Be prepared

6. Provide feedback on result

Fitness testing

– Order of testing for general clients:» resting tests

» non-fatiguing tests

» muscular strength tests

» local muscular endurance tests and submaximal tests

– Order of testing for advanced clients:» the above tests

» adding: agility, maximum power and strength tests, sprint tests, anaerobic capacity tests and maximal or submaximal aerobic capacity tests

Fitness testing

– The following reasons must cause premature end to fitness testing:

» cardiac concerns

» breathing concerns

» request by the client to stop testing

» blood pressure concerns

» signs of shock

Implement training plans

When discussing a program with a client it is recommended that you:

» further develop the client file

» provide and explain to the client the outcomes of the fitness assessment

» reach agreement on SMART goals

» explain the program and its delivery method

» explain the instructional approach to be used

» establish a reassessment date for fitness testing

» book the client in for the first session


Use the following steps when planning each workout:

» Step 1: Think of movement as an opportunity, not an inconvenience

» Step 2: Be active every day in as many ways as you can

» Step 3: Put together at least 30 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity on most, preferably all, days

» Step 4: If you can, also enjoy some regular, vigorous activity for extra health and fitness


ACSM and AHA guidelines for resistance exercise for general health benefits (for healthy adults under the age of 65) are as follows:

» Exercise twice each week

» Do 8 to 10 resistance training exercises

» Do 8 to 12 repetitions

» Fatigue affects technique and poor technique increases the chance of injury

» Do resistance training with machine and free weights


– Training sessions should include:» warm-up

» stimulus phase (resistance training, cardiovascular conditioning, flexibility training)

» cool-down

– The recognition of signs and symptoms of fatigue and blood lactate accumulation will allow the personal trainer to adjust exercise intensities accordingly.


– The following are signs and symptoms of muscle fatigue:

» muscle weakness

» twitching

» reduced activity levels

» weak grips

» localised muscular weakness

» lack of attention

Limiting factors in energy pathways

– The exercise intensity and its duration are the determining factors for the body’s energy pathway selection

– The body will supply energy for metabolic requirements and muscle contraction via three pathways:

» anaerobic system: does not require oxygen for the production of energy and comprises two systems:

* the ATP-PC (or phosphate system)

* lactic acid system

» aerobic system (or oxidative system): utilises oxygen in the production of energy; when oxygen is present cellular respiration is efficient, producing the most ATP per molecule of glucose

Improve client adherence to exercise

– Consider motivation as the intensity of effort towards a particular direction. For the personal trainer and the client, it requires channelling of mental and physical forces in an attempt to accomplish an action or goal

– When faced with a reticent client read literature on sport and/or motivational psychology to broaden your skills in:

» demonstrating skills

» feedback

» goal setting

» client confidence via self-appraisal


– In order to have your client safely and competently execute exercise you must be able to demonstrate effectively via:1. Demonstrate safe and appropriate use of fitness equipment at normal speed

and without commentary

2. Explain and highlight the key points as you go and how each exercise is relevant to the client’s goals

3. Position your client in an optimal viewing position so they can see the demonstration from different angles

4. Evaluate and provide feedback following a period of practice


– Feedback refers to a personal trainer’s ability to provide ongoing information in a timely manner. Feedback should encourage:

» self-reflection

» self-awareness

» future learning and development

– The personal trainer has two main forms of feedback at their disposal: formal and informal.

» Formal feedback relates to premeditated tasks, occurs at scheduled times and covers specific areas

» Informal feedback occurs on a regular basis


– Following are the features of good feedback:» It should be well timed

» It should be specific

» It should be constructive

» It should be given in an appropriate setting

» It should allow for client input


– Motivational strategies to increase client adherence by encouraging:

» Self-appraisal so clients rate themselves on areas such as training, accomplishment, strengths, weaknesses, difficulties

» Working out with a partner or as part of a group

» Keeping a journal

» Developing indicators of progress or short-term goals

» Rewarding themselves

» Being organised – have their training gear ready for the next day

» Establishing a genuine, deep desire, not an imposed one for a healthier lifestyle


– Other means of improving a client’s adherence to exercise are as follows:

» Identify what external factors and influences a client will need to deal with while developing an exercise habit

» Identify situational dilemmas (e.g. non-preferred times, travelling workers, exam times for students, influx of tax returns for accountants)

» Obtain as much information as possible in the initial screening

» Set realistic goals that contribute to lifelong behavioural change

» Undertake relevant fitness appraisals

» Use a vision board: ask the client to collect images that inspire them to act

Planning a fitness facility

– A number of factors need to be considered when designing the layout of a facility, including the following:

» Is the facility a gym or a small personal training studio?

» What is the predicted maximum attendance at any one time?

» What types of programs are to be delivered?

» What are the occupational health and safety issues?

» Does the facility comply with manufacturers’ requirements, legislative requirements and Australian Standards for the use of electrical equipment?

» What equipment should be purchased and from where?

» Are there any relevant local council requirements?


– Placement of pieces of equipment needs to be structured so that there is adequate space between them, allowing for movement around the equipment without impacting on other clients’ exercise space or safety

– Another issue in facility design is the placement of mirrors, water stations, hand sanitisers and disinfectant spray:

» Mirrors need to be positioned to ensure that clients are able to observe their technique without compromising it

» Water stations, hand sanitisers and disinfectant sprays need to be easily accessible but away from doorways and electrical equipment


– Do your homework before making a purchase to reduce the possibility of making purchase errors

– Consider the following points, and then determine what section of the consumer market you are looking at:1. Who is going to be using the equipment

2. Will the equipment fit safely in the space available? What features do you really need in each piece of equipment?

3. What does the warranty cover?

4. What about customer service?

5. Is the dealer reputable?

6. Will they deliver and install?


– Regularly check equipment:» Stop using if it rattles or doesn’t work smoothly

» Check electrical cords for good condition, are they Tested and Tagged?

» Check emergency shut-off

» Install and Maintain to manufacturer specification

» Ensure a good stable surface

Take home message from todays session:

• Do you understand the importance of Body Composition screening?• Do you understand how to prepare personal training exercise

plans?• Are you able to implement training plans and improve client

adherence to exercise?• Do you understand how to review and modify training goals?

certificate iii / iv in fitness session 6 & 7 applied personal training

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