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SYLLABUS CONTENT
How can exercise assessment and prescription be personalised?
Explain the importance of using a pre-exercise questionnaire and undertaking relevant health screening by exercise and fitness professionals
Pre-exercise questionnaire
A pre-exercise questionnaire is a written form completed before beginning an exercise program. It is a self-reported tool that provides information about a participant’s health, lifestyle, and goals. Fitness professionals use it to ensure exercise is safe, tailored, and effective. The key goals of a pre-screening are:
Identify Health Risks – Pick up medical conditions or risk factors before starting exercise.
Personalise Programs – Tailor training to fitness levels, goals, and experience.
Prevent Injuries – Adjust activities to avoid aggravating past or current injuries.
Legal Protection – Shows duty of care and reduces liability for professionals.
Build Trust – Promotes safety, honesty, and a strong client–professional relationship.
Pre-exercise questionnaire
Read through pages 156-157 of your textbook. Then answer the following:
Identify 3 demographics that pre-screening is especially critical for.
Choose one of your demographics and outline why it is so important.
Compare the pre-screening focus for elite vs recreational athletes.
Activity
Complete the Exercise Science and Sports Australia (ESSA) pre-screening form for young people.
Young People Pre Screening Tool 2021 - Young Person.pdfApplication: Case Study
Mia is a 15-year-old who has just signed up at her local gym. She wants to start a training program to improve her netball performance, especially her fitness for playing goal defence. Before beginning, the gym’s exercise professional asks her to complete the ESSA Pre-Exercise Screening Questionnaire.
As Mia works through the form, she ticks “Yes” to a few important questions:
Do you have asthma or a respiratory condition? → Yes (Mia explains she uses an inhaler before sport).
Have you had a recent injury? → Yes (Mia sprained her right ankle last month and has just returned to light jogging after being cleared by the physio).
Do you currently play sport or engage in physical activity? → Yes (She plays two netball games a week and one training session).
The trainer now needs to review Mia’s answers and decide how to keep her safe, meet legal requirements, and design a program suited to her goals and health status.
Reflection:
Answer the following questions regarding the case study:
What health risks did Mia’s questionnaire reveal and why must the trainer identify these before starting a program?
What safety steps should the trainer take for Mia’s asthma and ankle?
How could the trainer personalise her sessions to support both performance and safety?
Health Screening
Health Screening
A health screening is a more detailed assessment that occurs after a pre-exercise questionnaire if the responses indicate possible risks to a person’s health or safety. A health screening goes deeper by collecting extra details. This may include physical measurements, medical checks, or referrals to health professionals to ensure exercise can be undertaken safely.
Health screenings are needed when there are potential warning signs that exercise may be unsafe without further assessment. These may include:
Health screening is recommended if a participant has:
A heart condition.
History of stroke.
Unexplained chest pains.
Faintness or dizziness during exercise.
A serious asthma attack in the past year.
Muscle, bone, or joint problems that could be made worse by exercise.
Video Activity
Video Activity
Watch the following video of a pre-screening. Discuss why the PT said the client must get a GP health screening prior to beginning training.
Quiz:
Access the digital textbook and undertake the short quiz assessing your understanding of the topic.
WRITING TASK - RESPONSE WRITING
WRITING TASK - RESPONSE WRITING
CUBE the following question. Then, use your verb sheet and ALARM matrix to formulate a response:
Explain the importance of using a pre-exercise questionnaire and undertaking relevant health screening by exercise and fitness professionals. 5 marks.
WRITING TASK - GLUE
WRITING TASK - GLUE
Assess your response by applying the ALARM method. Highlight the following:
Green - Identify
Blue- Describe
Yellow- Explain
Red - Examples
Other colours for further progression (Analyse/Assess).
Award yourself a mark.
Annotate what you did well and areas for improvement.
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