Gathering personal background information about a client can be very valuable. It can help you to understand a client’s physical condition and can also provide insight to what types of imbalances they may exhibit and other health issues that may arise.
Medical Questionnaire (Right Click or Open in New Tab to download Medical Questionnaire in Apple Numbers)
The medical screening has been designed to help qualify the client prior to exercising. Furthermore, it aids in identifying people for whom certain activities may not be appropriate or who may need further medical attention. Don’t be afraid of referring out to someone more specialized in the fear that you may lose that client. What you will find is the client will see how much you care for their health and will want to continue to work with you in your specialized area. What you will also find that the specialist that you referred the client to will often refer new clients to you in the future. This is not only a win, win situation but the client benefits from the mutual partnership.
The medical screening is also directed toward detecting any possible cardio respiratory dysfunction, such as coronary heart disease (CHD). It is a good beginning point for gathering personal background information concerning a prospective client’s cardio respiratory function; however, it is only one component of a thorough profile. While this information is extremely important, however there is far more involved than most traditional fitness industry questioners cover. By asking other appropriate questions can provide valuable information about a client and their state of health.
General History
Asking some very basic questions concerning a client’s history and/or personal background can provide a wealth of information. Two important areas to start are occupation and lifestyle.
Occupation
A client’s occupation provides the you with an insight into what their movement capacity is and what movement patterns they perform most of their day. By obtaining this information you can then begin to recognize some important clues about the structure and ultimately the function of the client. In turn, this allows you to begin designing an appropriate program.
Lifestyle
Questions pertaining to a client’s lifestyle reflect what a client does in their free time or time away from work. This is generally known as their recreation and/or hobbies.
Recreation in this context refers to a client’s physical activities outside of their work environment. By finding out what recreational activities a client performs, you will be better able to design a program to fit these needs. For example, many clients like to golf, ski, play tennis or a variety of other sporting activities in their spare time. Thus proper forms of training must be incorporated to ensure that the client is trained in a manner that optimizes the efficiency of the kinetic chain for these activities, without predisposing it to injury.
Hobbies in this context refer to activities that a client may partake in regularly, but may not necessarily be athletic in nature. Examples include gardening, working on cars, playing cards, reading, watching television, spending time on the Internet, etc. In many of these cases, the client does not receive a lot of physical stimulation (with exception to gardening and working on cars). In these instances, it is necessary to take into account the increased demand for a properly planned integrated training program, but it may not be at the same level as someone who plays a lot of tennis for example.
Medical History
Finding out a client’s medical history is absolutely crucial. Most importantly, it provides you with information about any life threatening chronic diseases (CHD, high blood pressure, etc). Furthermore, it provides information about the structure and function of the client as well. Some important areas to cover include past injuries and surgeries and chronic conditions.
Medications
Many clients coming into the fitness industry will be under the care of a medical professional and may be required to use any one of a variety of medications. It is not the role of the fitness professional to administer, prescribe or educate on the usage and effects of any of these medications. A fitness professional should always refer to the primary medical professional for information concerning a potential client and any medication they may be using.
There are many additional questions that may be asked (refer to medical assessment provided). The more information that can be gathered the better. Just don’t get too carried away with asking unnecessary questions.