Once you are qualified, being a trainer is a beautiful blessing. You have the opportunity of watching your clients successfully achieve their goals, changing their habits, lifestyle, and mindset and above all being respected for what you do. But a fundamental part of all of this is assessing your client’s abilities, assuming you have already prospected and signed a client, then you will need to assess them. Today’s blog will be looking at the best fitness test you put your clients through to effectively test their fitness level, you will be assessing them on their upper and lower body strength, flexibility, mobility and cardiovascular endurance.
First, begin by walking your client through a basic structure of what they will be tested on and how they will be assessed, now is the time to explain the areas of your choice which you will cover. It is important to design a basic fitness test template to assess all your clients on, however, it is also important to adapt any parts of the test to suit the client based on their needs and abilities. Our fitness test suggestions for the average client are as follows:
- Cardiovascular test – 2.4k Cooper run, assess the time it takes to complete the distance
- Upper body strength test – Push-up test, how many push-ups in 1 minute and sit-up test, how many sit-ups in 1 minute
- Lower body test – Squat test, how many squats in 1 minute.
- Flexibility test – sit and reach test
Once you have explained the layout of the test it is crucial you ask about any current or past injuries they may be experiencing, they will almost always say no and this will usually be wrong. It is perfectly normal for a client to not express any of their injuries with you, it is most likely their first prolonged encounter with you and they do not yet feel comfortable sharing information like this or they genuinely do not know how important it is for you about injuries, your job is to get an answer regardless. Do not be too persistent but phrase your question politely in different ways, for example:
[PT] Do have any current injuries?
[CLIENT] No
[PT] Any broken bones? Surgeries? Have you ever fallen over before? Even when you were a child?
[CLIENT] I did break my arm once…
Most of the time a client will have or have had an injury at some point which they may have honestly forgotten, but you need to know this when training them. Don’t be too invasive asking them on this subject, as they may genuinely not have any pressing issues, but be cautious. Now it is time to move onto the test, your goal during the test is, of course, to assess their fitness level, looking out for their strengths and weaknesses and taking note of form and motor chain patterns to gauge a better analysis of their mobility. However, this is also a great time to build a rapport with your client and better connect with them on an emotional level, understand their wants, desires, and drives. By the end of the test you should, through your detailed knowledge and attractive charisma, be able to sign the client and move forward with their fitness journey.
If you found this post insightful, why not check out some of our previous posts on our blog page or if you are interested in becoming a qualified personal trainer check out our main page for course information and if you have any questions feel free to email us at info@focusfitnessuk.com.
Written by Daniyal Siddiqui.