One of the subjects that has been on mind for sometime now is Assessments. I’m referring to the Postural and Movement assessments currently being taught to FItness Professionals.
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First off, lets get one thing clear – I do not disagree with using some sort of assessment nor do I deny the importance of looking at movement. I personally use my own hybrid of Gray Cook’s FMS.
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That said, I do have concerns that this Assessment boom has brought with it confusion and misunderstanding. Heck, I get confused about the subject and I have lots of expirence and soeak with top PT’s on a daily basis!.
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I’m afraid our industry (the Fitness Industry) maybe getting overly caught up thinking we need to “fix” everyone’s problems because I regularly see fitness clients being treated like a re-hab patients and not nearly enough actual Strength & Conditioning is getting done.
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So, in the hopes to add some clarity to some of the confusion surrounding Movement Assessments, I put together this multi-part series called Assessing Our Assessments.
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To kick off part 1 – I wanted to provide you with some information on the scope of practice between a Fitness Professional and a Physical Therapist. And, discussing the definition of the two different professions. My good friend and colleague, Coach JC Santana has done a great job clarifying the two practices.
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Check out theses insightful words from JC Santana taken from his book “Essence of Program Design”. Which by the way is my favorite book on Program Design!
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“At the Institute of Human Performance, we rarely test or undergo formal assessment procedures. We believe that observing clients is what trainers do best. We also believe orthopedic assessments and tests are the specialty of physical therapists and orthopedic specialists, not personal trainers.”
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“Looking at some of the techniques and courses being offered to personal trainers, we wonder if the providers of the courses realize that the audience is made up of personal trainers. The content of the material we have seen at conferences and in educational materials targeting personal trainers is more appropriate for therapists and doctors. Here is our reasoning for not jumping onto the assessment bandwagon.”
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Before we even get into the efficacy of an assessment strategy, let’s first talk about the scope of practice of a personal trainer. As of this writing, I have only been able to find two organizations that have attempted to delineate the job description of a personal trainer: the ACSM and the NSCA. According to the ACSM, “The ACSM Health Fitness Instructor conducts exercise programs and provides health education for apparently healthy people.” Likewise, according to the NSCA, “The NSCA-Certified Personal Trainer trains active and sedentary, physically healthy individuals, as well as the elderly and obese.
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” Now, let’s compare this to the job description of a physical therapist. According to the Maine Physical Therapist Practice Act, ”physical therapy” means the evaluation, treatment and instruction of human beings to detect, assess, prevent, correct, alleviate and limit physical disability, bodily malfunction and pain from injury, disease and any other bodily condition; the administration, interpretation and evaluation of tests and measurements of bodily functions and structures for the purpose of treatment planning; the planning, administration, evaluation and modification of treatment and instruction; and the use of physical agents and procedures, activities and devices for preventive and therapeutic purposes; and the provision of consultative, educational and other advisory services for the purpose of reducing the incidence and severity of physical disability, bodily malfunction and pain. Now, where do you feel the assessments of muscular imbalances, compensations and other orthopedic problems belong? If you ask me, and based on the above job descriptions, they are the job of therapists and orthopedic specialists.”
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I am not suggesting you should not be educated in various areas of the allied health professions. I encourage education in any field of interest. However, practicing what you learn is another story. Heck, you can watch all the Discovery Channel you want; it still does not make you a surgeon.”
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I hope you enjoyed reading those quotes as much as I do because Coach JC Santana does make some compelling points and you cannot deny the industry definition of the two professions.
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I’ve got plenty more to the Assessing Our Assessements series. So, stay tuned!
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In the meantime, tell us what you think about today’s post?
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