Client One
Steven is a 47-year-old male, who has come to see you to increase his muscular strength. Steven has
never participated in much organised sport or dedicated physical activity, however he has been
working as a bricklayer for the past 25 years, a job which is very physically taxing and he therefore
considers himself ‘pretty active’. Steven has always been considered to be a ‘Clydesdale’ at work, in
that he is incredibly strong and can carry and lay many more bricks than any other bricklayer.
Recently, Steven’s older brother Mark has been told by an Exercise Physiologist he needed to start
exercising more and started going to the gym. After many attempts by Mark, Steve was finally
convinced to go along to the gym to ‘give it a crack’. To Steven’s surprise, while at the gym he
discovered he was able to lift more than almost anyone else in gym. As a result, Steven caught the
eye of a local power-lifting coach who trains athletes for the Masters Games, and he has asked
Steven to join his squad as he has a lot of potential to do very well in such a competition. Steven only
works 3 days per week as he has done well out of his business, so has decided he would like to try
and get as strong as possible, and potentially compete at power lifting at the upcoming Masters
Games.
Steven has two border collie dogs which require a reasonable amount of exercise, so he and his wife
take the dogs for a 45-minute walk on most days of the week, but apart from that he does not
currently do any other physical activity apart from work. While he is very strong, he is inexperienced
in the gym as he has only been once before (when he was spotted by the power lifting coach). He
has no known health conditions that may impact his ability to participate in exercise, and he has
been lucky in that bricklaying has not caused any major musculoskeletal issues for him. Steven is
willing to train as much as is recommended by his trainer (you) in order to get as strong as he can
over the next 3-6 months, but he has requested you create a one week training program for him so
he can ‘get a feel for it’. The power lifting events Steven would be most likely to compete in at the
masters games are the Squat, Deadlift and Bench Press.
On the recommendation of his brother Mark, Steven figured it would be a good idea to undergo a
consult and some exercise testing with an Exercise Physiologist to ‘make sure everything is working
OK’ before he undertakes a training program. The testing was conducted on a number of different
parameters, but had a focus on overall strength. The results of the consult and exercise testing are
below.
Client information
Name: Steven Mass (kg): 92 kg
Sex: Male BMI (kg/m2): 26.6 (Overweight, 25.0-29.9)
Age (years): 47 Body fat %: 17.3 (NORMAL)
Height (m): 1.86
Results of Adult Pre-Exercise Screening System: LOW RISK
Physical activity status: Sufficiently Active (combination of walking dogs and laborious occupation)
Additional issues noted by Exercise Physiologist/special considerations: None
Summary of exercise testing
Physiology
VO2max [estimated] (mL/kg/min) = 38.4 (NORMAL)
Strength
1RM Squat (kg): 120 (GOOD) Plank hold time (seconds): 25 (POOR)
1RM Deadlift (kg): 135 (GOOD) Grip Strength (kg): 65 (EXCELLENT)
1RM Bench (kg): 100 (GOOD)
Other fitness parameters
Sit and Reach (cm relevant to toes): -10 (poor)
Vertical Jump (cm): 44 (normal)
Client Goals/Needs
Goals
1. Increase muscular strength in the next 6 months
Increase Squat 1RM to 150 kg
Increase Bench Press 1RM to 130 kg
Increase Deadlift 1RM to 170 kg
Increase Barbell Shoulder Press 1RM to 70 kg
2. Increase core strength and flexibility to avoid injuries during training programs and work
• Double Plank hold time in next 3 months
• Be able to touch toes (sit and reach score of 0) in 3 months
3. Reduce body mass to be able to compete in lower weight division
Lose 6 kg in next 6 months
Likes/Dislikes
• Client has identified he enjoys the gym environment but has only been on one occasion
• HATES running!
• Understands that power lifting is taxing on the body, but doesn’t want to get injured for
work so would like to reduce impact and injury risk where possible while ‘getting used to it’
• Has no issues with time management and is happy to train as often as is recommended
• Has previously tried stretching/yoga sessions with wife but found it boring, but wants to
increase flexibility as he believes it is good to prevent injuries. Not sure how he can do it
without getting bored.
__________________________________________________________________________________
Section 1: (1000 words - equivalent)
This section of the report has two parts:
1.1. Client Performance Test Summary: Your first task is to assess the information
provided to you in the client's ‘exercise testing report’, and generate a summary
which concisely describes the results of this report (500 words). The summary should
be structured as follows:
1.1.1 Identify any general areas (such as whole body strength, aerobic
endurance, flexibility, reaction time) in which your client is weak or strong.
1.1.2 Describe in detail the specific strengths and weaknesses that have been
identified during particular tests, and how these may impact on your client’s ability
to function in their chosen sport/activities of daily living.
Note: Use the feedback from Portfolio Task 2 and the report rubric to ensure that
you have responded to all of the marking criteria.
1.2 Training program (first week ONLY) (NOT included in the word count but is
equivalent to around 500 words worth of work): Based on the information provided
for your chosen client and the strengths and weaknesses you have identified,
develop a training program which addresses the goals and needs of the client. Your
client has asked you to only develop the first week (7 days) of the training program,
as they want to see how they feel about the program before committing to a longer
time period. The training program should consist of a mixture of both resistance and
endurance training. However, it is fine to focus primarily on one training modality if it
is in line with the client's goals.
The training program should detail the number of days on which exercise will be
performed, and the number of rest days. For each day of resistance exercise, you
should prescribe 5-8 different exercises, in line with the needs and goals of your
client.
For each exercise, you should indicate the intensity of the exercise (as a % of their 1
repetition maximum), and if relevant, the number of reps and sets, and the duration
of rest between each set. The overall duration of the exercise, distance covered,
etc., should be considered and clearly stated where appropriate.
The client anticipates that the training program will include some resistance and
some endurance training. The resistance exercises can be taken from the list of
exercises provided in the ‘resistance training cheat sheet’. (You are welcome source
all of your exercises from the list if you want to).
The training program must not be longer than 2 pages in length, including all
exercises, sets, reps, load and durations.
Section Two (1000 words)
In this section of the report, you are required to answer the questions below about
the information you have provided in Section One, based on your understanding of a
range of key concepts which are discussed in this course relating to the strengths,
weaknesses and goals of the client you are assigned.
You should refer to the teaching video and reading material provided for the relevant
weeks to make sure that you are answering these questions effectively.
You must include appropriate, relevant, credible references to support your
responses. Sources must be referenced using the APA referencing system outlined
below.
2.1 Why have you chosen the exercises within the training program? (approx.
200-300 words) Justify the exercise selection based on the clients strengths,
weaknesses and goals.
2.2 Why have you prescribed the exercises in this way? (approx. 200-300
words) Justify, where relevant, the loading, number of reps and sets, duration of rest
between sets, distance covered, speed etc, based on the clients strengths,
weaknesses and goals.
2.3 If the client were to continue training with you, how would you provide
progressive overload? (approx. 200 words) Explain why progressive overload is
important for the client, and explain and justify how progressive overload could be
provided in the training programme.
2.4 If the client were to continue training with you, how would you periodise their
training? (approx. 200 words) Describe and justify your selection
of one periodisation strategy.
2.5 What steps have you taken to ensure the safety of the client during the training
program? (approx. 100 words). These could include steps like pre-exercise
screening, spotting, and how you could regress your chosen exercises if they are too
hard for your client.
Helpful hints
When writing your report on the strengths/weaknesses of your client, begin
with a general overview (what are the overall major issues/strengths). Once
you have established this, address the specifics in detail (for example, what
the poor score they had on test XX actually means to their function).
Make sure there are rest days throughout the training program.
Use the Resistance training cheat sheet to help to develop your program.
In Section Two, you are expected to refer to relevant literature to
demonstrate that your exercise prescription is evidence-based. For example
Reading 6.1 is a good starting point to help you justify a resistance training
prescription.
It is better to be conservative and include fewer exercises, rather than far too
many. When prescribing exercise to individuals, it is important you do not
overload the client at the beginning of the program. This is likely to result in
excessive muscle soreness or injury, and will have a detrimental effect on the
adherence of the client to the program you have developed.
