What things do you do for your fitness assessment? - Personal Trainer Community - Forum

[fitnessgrl]

I'm trying to decide which things I should have my clients do at their first initial assessment. I was thinking squats, chest press and crunches? Then test flexibility and do some cardio. What do you do ??

[Christina]

Hi Angie,

I am launching an in home training business and these are the tests I am going to conduct:

resting heart rate
blood pressure
weight
body fat/BMI
waist to hip ratio
sit and reach (as well as a few additional flexibility tests)
step test
YMCA bench press
partial curl up

I purchased BSDI software (Fitness Analyst) and it creates really nice, colorful graphs. All of my clients will be presented a notebook containing their results.

Christina

[suzukideb]

I just subscribed to ptonthenet.com it helps you make programs for your clients, but I am really interested in finding out about the BSDI software. Is it expensive? ptonethenet.com doesn't work when my internet is down which is often for me.
Thanks
Deb

[rbd]

I am sure you will find a lot of opinons on this topic, especially now with where the assessment game is currently in our industry. Some are assessing the hell out of individuals then others think assessments are very over rated. I personally feel you assessment should be based on the individual and what they want. I don't like set assessments and I think the ACSM battery is very outdated, with most of the test very overrated and pointless.

I think you should start first with a needs analysis of the client to see what they want, then assess based on that. You could do anythig from postural test (which everyone should learn to do), FMS or some type of movemeng screen (everyone should be do something in this area), ROM testing for mobility vs flexibility, stability test, strength test, blood pressure, body fat (many do not want to know), circumferences, submax test (not a huge fan), etc. I don't think you should have everyone go through the same battery of test and I don't think you should assess to just assess. Each assessment should have a specific reason for assessing in order to help with your program design. If it does not, probably a waste of time for you and the client.

I think to many fitness professional just assess to asses to make themselves look more professional, but really don't use the data in their program desing. That to me is a waste of time. Test like the sit and reach, submax test, crunch test often don't tell you a lot of reliable data.

I hope this helps.

[Christina]

I almost prefaced what I listed by saying "Not all trainers believe in fitness testing." Jeff, does NASM not really encourage testing? There was a guy on a forum I used to visit who was NASM certified and he did not believe in doing more than 1 or 2 fitness tests. I was taught by ACSM, NSCA, as well as my instructors to conduct fitness testing in order to establish a baseline and to use the info to design a program. (?) I remember when I had trainers years ago none of them ever tested me and I was never really sure if or how much progress I was making. I am confused by so many thoughts on this subject.

Deb, go here and ask them about their free trial.
http://www.bsdifitness.com/
Here is less expensive software. Do a trial on this one too.
http://www.bioexsystems.com/

[rbd]

Christina,

No NASM is big on testing, but not your tyipical ACSM protocol, which I think is very outdated. NASM is big on posture, movement assessment, ROM testing, manual muscle testing and muscle imbalances.

As for the confusion - it will only get worse with all the different opinons and money to be made in this industry.

The problem with the whole you need a baseline argument is the fact that most people don't want to be tested and they will see the results without you wasting their time testing them and then comparing to norms, which is another big mistake we make in this industry. I do think you should do some type of assessment, but don't it needs to be this specific battery of test that most do. Your exercise session and program should always be your guiding force and an assessment in itself. People know when they have lost weight, clothes fit better, they are lifting more weights now, their work capacity has improved, etc. Do we really need to perform some pointless test to tell them what they already l know and can see for themselves. I guess I just never want to waster someones time or do something just because it is traditiion or everyone else is doing that. I honestly believe most individuals really don't utilize the basic fitness test results to design the program anyway and already have a program in mind before the assessment.

Again, this is just my opinion and I am speaking from 10 years of experience doing a variety of different testing protocols and listening to a number of experts on this topic. I think their is medium ground, but strongly feel the assessment should be based on what the client wants, not what some organization or school told you to test.

[Christina]

Thanks for your thoughts on this subject, Jeff. It really helps to hear other trainers' perspectives especially since I am just starting out.

Christina