Personal Training Case Study

This is what my teacher wants me to do:
We are going to start with question 4 of your case studies. In this question it specifically asks you to discuss fitness tests and methods of evaluation that should be used to assess the client. What you first want to do before starting any kind of physical training is to go through the following:
– professional responsibilities (ex: establishing medical clearance from a physician, establishing your fees and pricing and establishing what your clients goals are throughout the training program. You can find this information in Unit 12 of your text book.
– methods of assessment testing (ex: body composition test, flexibility tests such as the sit and reach, strength and cardiovascular endurance and muscular endurance tests that include your 1 Rep Max tests for upper body and lower body, the 12 minute run/ walk test and the 1 minute sit up and push up tests. You can find this information in Unit 13, starting on page 371 in your text book.
Make sure you explain what assessment tests you choose and why you have chosen these specific assessment tests.

For question 5 it specifically asks you to provide a detailed, comprehensive, 12 week periodized training program including sets, repetitions and exercises.
– To help you start a program you first need to take into account your clients baseline assessments. To clarify after you find out the 1 rep max of this persons upper body and lower body you know where to start their weight and how many repetitions and sets they should be doing. Knowing that your client is a beginner the general rule is to start them off on 1-2 sets and 12 repetitions. This is because you want a beginner to get a feel for each exercise that they are doing.
– In your periodized program you are going to split up their overall exercise program into mesocycles. For example Weeks 1-3, Weeks 4-7, Weeks 8-12. For each mesocycle you are going to design an exercise program that is based on the clients goals. Usually throughout an periodized program you start with lower sets and reps and by the end of your program or the 12th week your program should improve in terms of sets and repetitions will get higher as well as exercises will become more sports specific. For example if you know your client is playing golf by the last mesocycle weeks 8-12 you would design an exercise program based on that specific sport.
– As long as your program improves from weeks 1-12 and includes various exercises, sets and repetitions there is no wrong answer. As well you will need to provide a rational and explanation for your program at the end of question 4. You will do just fine. For periodization I suggest you review Units 14, 15 and 16 in your text book.

For question 6 it specifically asks you to discuss nutritional strategies and supplement recommendations.
– For your nutrition section what we look for is the use of the BMR and Daily Caloric Requirement. So you want to think what are the total amount of calories this client is going to need if he is training this much for 1 week. So if you have a client training 3 days you are going to want to calculate how many calories he is going to need for that added activity. As well you can use one of the nutritional strategies thoroughly explained in the text book including the 1, 2, 3 approach or the zig-zag approach.
– You can find this information in Units 17, 18 and 19.

Basically for your overall program each part including questions 4, 5 and 6 needs to be thoroughly thought out and explained. It is up to you how you would like to design your program and as long as you provide a detailed program that includes exercises from the text book, as well if you wanted to use outside research you can. This is a chance for you to use your creativity and to show us that you can design a long term program for a client. As well if you get stuck on what exercises to use if you go on our website on issatrainer.com and go under resources we have an exercise lab available to you that includes a data base of many exercises to choose from.

My text book name is:
Fitness-The Complete Guide,
Official Text for ISSA’s Certified Fitness Trainer Course

I also have a sample case study on how the format should be. This is it:
Sample Case Study – 1. Jocko Johnson

Age

Gender

Height

Weight

Body Fat %

30 Male 73 inches 200 18
Jocko was an athlete in high school playing a variety of sports including football, track (100- 400 meter events) and baseball. He has come to you because he has recently had his 30 th birthday and wants to get back in shape. While he is in decent shape already, Jocko wishes to get in excellent shape with an eye on perhaps competing in a local bodybuilding show in the future.

Sample Case Study Answer:
While Jocko may appear to be a dream client on the surface, I realize that his athletic background and mid- life crisis that brought him here will probably lead to more than a little impatience on his part. At my initial consultation I would explain to him that I would need at least a three- month commitment from him to ensure his getting started on the right foot. In my experience most clients need about this long to really get in the swing of things and start seeing some results. At this time I would establish my fees, get him signed up and give him a health history questionnaire to fill out for our next meeting.
After this I would set up our first appointment. I would plan on having enough time in the first session to have him complete a release of liability form and go over his health history questionnaire. If he had any red flags or other concerns we would hold off on training until I had spoken to his doctor and he had gotten a doctors release. Otherwise we would get started on the enclosed program. Before starting I would do circumference, bodyweight and bodyfat percentage measurements so we can track his progress.
I would follow the enclosed program for a few reasons. First, the first mesocycle is a low volume, low intensity one that is designed mainly to increase tendon and ligament strength and allow him to get back in the groove of working out without asking too much of him and discouraging him. After a foundation has been set I would want to increase the intensity and volume levels resulting in a routine geared towards muscle growth. Next I would work on limit strength by introducing a mesocycle that had very high intensity levels and moderate volume. We would then reassess his goals and see where to go from there.
My nutritional strategy for this client would consist of 5 high calorie days and 2 low calorie days. I would suggest he follow a 1-2-3 or 1-2-4 macronutrient ratio depending on his metabolism and mesocycle. The higher intensity mesocycles would warrant more carbs and the lower intensity ones would not need as much fuel. I would suggest he get around 160 grams of protein a day and get his fat from “healthy” fats such as olive oil and hemp seed oil. The easiest way to estimate his daily caloric requirements is to have him keep a food log for a few days and see where he is at now. It will be much easier to make adjustments to his diet if I have a reference point.

Sample Workouts
Strength training: Weeks 1- 3

Exercise

Reps

Sets

Squat/ Leg Press 10-15 1-3
Incline Bench Press 10-15 1-3
Leg Curl 10-15 1-3
T- Bar Row 10-15 1-3
Standing Calf Raises 10-15 1-3
DB Shoulder Press 10-15 1-3
Crunches 20 1-3
Seated DB Curl 10-15 1-3
Back Extensions 15 1-3
Cable Pushdowns 10-15 1-3
Exercises to be performed in a circuit fashion. Workout to be performed on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

Weeks 4- 9
For this mesocycle we will use the following split:

Monday

Wednesday

Friday

Quads Pecs Back
Hamstrings Biceps Triceps
Calves Abs/ Low back Shoulders

Monday:

Exercise

Reps

Sets

Squat 8- 10 4
Stiff Leg Deadlift 8- 10 4
Leg Extension a1 12 2
Leg Curls a2 12 2
Seated Calf Raises 6 2
Standing Calf Raises 12 2
Note: a1 and a2 designate two exercises that are to be done in a superset fashion. Do one set of the a1 exercises and while you are resting perform one set of the a2 exercise. Repeat until you have completed all prescribed sets for those exercises before moving on to the next exercise(s).

Wednesday:

Exercise

Reps

Sets

Incline Bench Press 8- 10 4
Pec Deck 12 2
Preacher Curl 10- 12 2
Russian Twist 8 3
Back Extensions 10 3

Friday:

Exercise

Sets

Reps

Pull- up 8- 10 4
Cable Rows 8- 10 3
Lying Tri Extensions 8- 10 3
DB Shoulder Press 8- 10 2
Lateral Raises 8- 10 2

Weeks 10- 12
For this stage we will use the following split:

Monday

Wednesday

Friday

Quads Pecs Biceps
Hamstrings Back Triceps
Calves Abs/ Lower Back Shoulders
Note: Allow at least one days rest between weight training days.

Monday:

Exercise

Reps

Sets

Dead Lift 3- 5 6
Stiff Leg Deadlift 5 4
Seated Calf Raises 8 5

Wednesday:

Exercise

Reps

Sets

Bench Press a1 3- 5 6
Pull- up a2 3- 5 6
Russian Twist 8 3
Back Extension 8 3

Friday:

Exercise

Reps

Sets

Barbell Curl a1 5 5
Close Grip Bench a2 5 5
Military Press 5 5

Aerobics:
•Weeks 1-3
Tuesday/Thursday – 20- 45 minute run
Saturday – 30 seconds jog/ 30 seconds sprint- 5 minutes total
•Weeks 4- 9
Tuesday – 30 seconds jog/ 30 seconds sprint- start 5 minutes and add 1 minute each week
Thursday – 30- 45 minute run
Saturday – 30 seconds jog/ 30 seconds sprint- start 5 minutes and add 1 minute every other week
•Weeks 10- 12
Thursday – 30 minute run
Saturday – 30 seconds jog/ 30 seconds sprint- start 10 minutes and add 1 minute each week

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