Flexibility Assessment and Prescription
Maxine B. Friedman, MEd
ISBN: 9780736074582
This online course provides you with a variety of opportunities to assess a client's flexibility and to apply common stretching techniques to an exercise prescription. You'll learn to develop individual stretching prescriptions for both fitness and performance training. You'll also create flexibility prescriptions for clients in physical rehabilitation programs. The course is supported by the Savvy Stretch Coach Version 2.0 CD-ROM. (Please note that there is no Mac version of this product).
You'll be working at a fitness club, Fitness, Inc., throughout this online course. Fitness, Inc. is hiring new trainers and would like you to join their team, but they think that your current knowledge and experience in flexibility are somewhat limited. You should have a good understanding of both anatomy and physiology before beginning this course. You should also understand how to design and develop exercise prescriptions.
Kelly, one of Fitness Inc.'s most experienced trainers, will work with you to help you learn more about designing and developing hands-on flexibility prescriptions. She'll also help you evaluate your new knowledge and skills.
Flexibility Basics
Your first session with Kelly will be a review of the basic components of flexibility. By the end of this session, you should understand the overall benefits of flexibility training. You should also be familiar with the basic terminology and techniques. You'll be able to explain the stretch reflex to your clients and to describe what limits the range of motion (ROM) of the body's joints. Kelly will help you learn the various techniques for stretching. The session concludes with a quiz designed to help you assess your learning.
Program Design
This session focusses on the fundamentals of program design. Kelly will walk you through the steps required to develop a safe and effective flexibility program. You'll begin with a client interview. Your next step is to assess your client's ROM. Using this information, you'll design a stretching program that will target specific muscles and muscle groups. Using the information you have learned about your client's general fitness level, medical history, ROM restrictions at the joint, activity-related goals, and schedule, you'll select the specific stretches that are most appropriate for your client. Kelly will give you a quiz to help reinforce the key concepts associated with stretching program design.
Stretching for Fitness
In the third session, designing stretching programs for fitness, you'll learn to gain an understanding of the flexibility training goals that are specific to general fitness programs. Kelly will discuss how to modify stretching programs for clients with hypermobile joints, who are pregnant or are older adults. Stretching can be used to enhance fitness. You'll work with Kelly to learn what role stretching plays in strength training programs. A brief quiz will help you assess your understanding of the concepts and principles associated with stretching for fitness.
Stretching for Performance
You'll be able to build on your knowledge of stretching for fitness when you work with clients who want to stretch for performance. Kelly will help you to examine the unique aspects of designing a flexibility program for athletes. You'll work with a sprinter, a golfer, a tennis player and a softball pitcher. By the end of this session, you'll be able to select appropriate sport-specific stretches. You can test your progress with the review quiz questions.
Stretching for Rehabilitation
In the final session of the course, Kelly discusses stretching for rehabilitation with you. She helps you to understand the special goals and other considerations you must address when developing stretching programs for clients who have chronic injuries or are rehabilitating from traumatic injury or surgery. The basic guidelines that you've followed when developing flexibility programs for clients who want to improve general fitness or increase performance will also apply to your clients who need to rehabilitate an injury. Regardless of the client's general goal (e.g., fitness, performance, rehabilitation), during the course of a client interview you will obtain information your client's goals, schedule and history. You'll use this information, in conjunction with what you learn during the ROM assessment, to choose specific stretches and determine appropriate stretching techniques. When developing flexibility programs for rehabilitation, your ability to assess ROM, modify stretching programs, and to communicate information about the client with other health and fitness professionals comes into play. Safe return to activity, whether for general fitness or a high level of sports performance, depends on suitable rehabilitation. This session concludes with a brief quiz designed to help you review the key concepts and principles presented in the session.Course Test
Finally, you'll take the online course test, which covers material from the interactive study guide and from the reading assignments.
System RequirementsThis course is designed to work best when your computer and Internet browser are configured to the following technical requirements and setup specifications:
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