Personal Fitness Professional - March/April 2015 - 24

EDUCATION TRENDS
Nick Clayton | Personal Training Program Manager | National Strength and Conditioning Association | www.nsca.com

If you're not assessing, you're guessing
The popularity of small group training has exploded in recent
years and by most accounts is expected to continue for the foreseeable future. Why? It provides clients semi-individualized programs along with coaching at a fraction of the cost of personal
training, along with a social/team component. For the personal
trainer teaching the class, it increases revenue per hour and can
lead to future one-on-one clients.
While small group training is a great option to offer, it does pose a
couple of unique challenges; how do you efficiently perform assessments on a group of clients and how do you program the workouts
to meet the different ability levels of the group appropriately? If you
are offering a boot camp style class with mostly bodyweight and
light implement exercises, the following three exercises can simplify
the assessment process and not take time away from the workout.

finish, compare their score, looking to see if one side was significantly different than the other. Also, ask clients if their hamstrings
cramped during the exercise.

What to do with this information
Once you have this information you can use it to add value to the
program, build your professional credibility, and guide your exercise programming.
}

}

Have the clients perform one set to failure following the beat of a
metronome (yep, there's an app for that) set to one-second intervals. Your job is to grade their technique during the exercise, not
count their reps.
}
Tip: create a chart for each of the following exercises with "what to
look for" and a space to enter a score, along with a comments section. Grading is as follows; 1 = needs significant work, 2 = needs
some work, 3 = clear.

Provide mobility and stability "homework" to clients who
scored less than a "3." This is a great way to increase the
client's perceived value of the program and adds to your professional credibility.
When designing the workout programs, provide three variations for each exercise. Clients that scored a "1" should
perform the most basic version of an exercise. This will save
you from having to adapt programs on the fly and provide the
most appropriate exercise variation for each client. For example, if a client can't sufficiently perform a hip hinge, how do
you think they'll do at kettlebell swings?
Make sure to train the movements you test frequently and
reassess the same exercises at the end of the program, then
tell everyone how amazing they did and provide them with a
sticker or pat on the back!

Exercise #1: Push-up

Nick Clayton is the Personal Training Program Manager for the National Strength and Conditioning
Association (NSCA). He has 16 years of experience
as a personal trainer and strength coach and earned
his Master's degree in Exercise Science and his MBA
from the University of Florida.

In addition to upper body muscular endurance, push-ups will tell
you about a client's trunk and shoulder stability. You are looking
to see if they have a straight line from their ankles through their
head and whether they can maintain this throughout the exercise
(e.g., do they lose a neutral position when fatigue sets in? Are their
shoulders shrugging up into their ears? Are they able to keep their
elbows at about 45 degrees from their body?).

Exercise #2: Bodyweight squat
The bodyweight squat will tell you about lower body muscular
endurance, mobility and stability, as well as general athleticism.
You are looking to see if they can get their hip crease below the
level of their knees, maintain a neutral spine and keep their knees
tracking in-line with their feet.

Exercise #3: Single-leg bridge
The bridge is one of the easiest ways to determine hip mobility
and stability, and is a precursor to more advanced hip hinging exercises like the Romanian Deadlift and kettlebell swing. Look to
see if clients can maintain a neutral spine and can refrain from rotating at the hips. If they are hyperextending their spine, it's a sign
of tightness in the hip flexors and lack of core stability. Once they

24

| WWW.FIT-PRO.COM | MARCH-APRIL 2015

Certification and continuing education organizations
American Aerobic Assoc.
International (AAAI)

National Strength and
Conditioning Association (NSCA)

American Council on Exercise (ACE)

Savvier Fitness

www.ACEfitness.org

www.TabataBootcamp.com

National Federation of
Professional Trainers (NFPT)

SCW Fitness Education

www.aaai-ismafitness.com

www.nfpt.com

www.nsca.com

www.scwfitness.com



Personal Fitness Professional - March/April 2015

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Personal Fitness Professional - March/April 2015

Contents
Personal Fitness Professional - March/April 2015 - Cover1
Personal Fitness Professional - March/April 2015 - Cover2
Personal Fitness Professional - March/April 2015 - 3
Personal Fitness Professional - March/April 2015 - Contents
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