Client Assessment Day Reflections

[Nidan Melbourne]

Today I was asked by my PT and his employer to do an Assessment of a few clients today; fortunately I had 6 trainers there to assist me with supervising the groups doing their assessments. And with consent of the Trainers AND the participants, I thought i'd share some info of today whilst withholding any identifying information. 

Split of Clients: 14 Female, 10 Male and 4 Inter-sex. 90% (25 Clients) were aged between 40 - 60, with the remaining 10% (3 Clients) were 18 - 24. 

So today I had a total of 

- 14 New Clients 

- 14 Existing Clients 

So with 7 of us total; I was able to organise everyone for 1 of 4 x 90 minute sessions for their assessments. 

I was the most "educated" of all the staff as I was the only one with a Bachelors Degree or Higher. The rest have Certificates in Personal Training, but one is actually in a position to be studying Exercise Science (which is my qualification) and their doing their placement hours now so they are getting good practice at what we had to do today. 

So between the 7 of us we did 

• Height + Weight (= BMI even if not accurate)
• Resting Blood Pressure, Resting Heart Rate 
• Girth Measurements (with tape) - Thighs, Hips, Waist, Chest, Arms 
• Flexibility - Sit and Reach
• Mobility - Goniometer 
• 3RM - Leg Press, Leg Curl, Chest Press, Lat Pull Down 
• Bruce Protocol (Treadmill) (Sub-Maximal) or Beep Test (Sub-Maximal) 
• Sit to Stand 

Then with their consent; I performed a Blood Glucose Test where I tested their Blood using the Finger Prick Method in a Sterile Environment (or as close to) and it was done over the course of 3 hours. Which separated them from those from performing exercise testing today, and their going to get their turn next week. All of which (10 participants) were clear with their resting Blood Glucose. 

As the gym didn't have the equipment to perform Maximal Aerobic Capacity; we went with a choice of Sub-Maximal Tests which allowed for a choice depending on the health of the participants. 

This was in addition to taking the time to talk to each person getting their history, or updating their history to keep the centers records up to date. 

What was interesting; those who were already signed up had mentioned that they had never done such an extensive Pre-Exercise or Exercise Assessment before in their lives or since High School. But at the end of the day, they learnt a lot more about their bodies than what they have done previously and where they are at physically. 

So I sat down after we finished, discussed results with the other trainers to see what we found and immediately contacted the relevant participants of their results and what steps should be taken next if required. So of the 28 Clients we tested today, we found the following; 

• 6/28 were "Exceptional" in several components 
• 18/28 were considered "Average" in all areas
  • Safe to exercise; No Absolute Contradindications to Exercise
    • There may be some "Relative" Containdications; but with observing those issues and appropriate management it is ok to work with. 
    • Speak to Doctors about these issues either way
• 4/28 were "Below Average" in several areas, these 4 were referred to their General Practitioners for further treatment
  • All had "Absolute" Contranindications = No Exercise till further advisement
  • Cardiovascular Health was of the highest priority. 
  • Abnormal sounds were heard - Recommendation - Cardiologist

 

Now you might be asking "how did you get uniformity across all trainers?" - that was actually quite easy because we went through all tests prior to the first group and I showed them where to collect the data from and how to do it. Along with providing Information Sheets/Diagrams of where to collect the data from. 

I've collected some interest from those participants and trainers to assisting me in doing to 12 Lead ECG Practice; as I am preparing to applying for my Masters Program once things calm down from my personal life. Which means now I just have to organise a time at my old University to book one of the rooms and have people come in over a period of a few weeks to practice and collect data. 

Then I'll be doing the same type of thing with Karate Practitioners at different levels, with the help of the university (Sports Physiologists and Exercise Physiologists as I will be dealing with Athletes and the General Population) as I am looking at doing some research into Karate Practitioners at different levels. 

[Nidan Melbourne]

Did the 12 lead ECG with 10 clients today, and had the PHD Students who were assisting do the placement of the electrodes. Male PHD Candidate with Male Client, and same for Female PHD Client. 

With the consent of all participants to have me in the room making notes and asking questions around their results and observing under exercise conditions. And was fascinating around how the results came out. 

Since I was doing the ECGs, to prevent issues surrounding interference of clothing. Males wore no Tops, and females for privacy and comfort wore a sports bra. 

I have the PHD candidates and the Researching Dr looking over the ECGs and giving me their input so I can be getting the best information possible.