The job of a personal trainer is to take you from point A to point B, as it relates to your fitness goals. While it’s always important to reach your destination safely when travelling, along the way you need to know you’ve followed the right roads and made the correct turns. In this vein, personal trainers use periodic assessments to gauge a client’s progress and response the current program being followed.
The client’s progress assessment can consist of several different criteria. Some of those may include: weight, body fat %age, resting heart rate, and measurements of a client’s waist, chest, legs, and biceps. Other items to consider may be cardiovascular endurance or even flexibility. Oddly enough, if you are incorporating pilates into your program, you may measure your height, as some movements can elongate the spine as they increase flexibility.
Most important in the review process is to record the starting point. Before beginning any fitness program, the personal trainer should do a full fitness assessment recording the same information that will be gathered in future assessments. This will give both client and trainer a clear view of what is ahead and how to proceed.
After each evaluation, it is then time to analyze the results. The analysis should provide both client and trainer with an idea of how the client is responding to the program. This is a time to make adjustments. New exercises may be added, while others are scrapped.
Ultimately, a little self-evaluation never hurts. The beauty of progress assessments allows you to keep a fitness program fresh and effective. Unlike people who stagnate, performing the same exercises regularly without using a personal trainer and have been doing the same exercises for years with little progress.
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