Scope of Practice for a Group Exercise Instructor

The most commonly asked questions on any of my instructor courses are around scope of practice.  It is not possible to guide every possible scenario especially when dealing with the public. Most importantly for us is to know where we fit in the fitness professional training arena.  As a group training instructor is when to refer to doctor, physiotherapist or a bio.

We often forget that the general public do not spend most of their day in our environment and for us it is a second home but for most of them it is all new and uncomfortable.  As specialist, we need to guide, motivate and educate in our field.

I suggest getting to know your fitness centers emergency procedure. Emergencies are common in our type of environment when people are placing their bodies under strain exercising intensely.

We often have clients training when Ill or before they have recovered from an injury or going to hard to fast after sometime off from training.As instructors, we need a valid CPR certificate.  It is a great idea to take it to a level 1 First Aid and perhaps further, if possible, to feel more confident in an emergency situation.

Creating a network of therapists in your area that you can refer to and perhaps communicate with concerning clients will go a long way in assisting our members.

It is advisable to be at a class as early as possible before it commences to give clients an opportunity to discuss any concerns they might have with recent surgeries or injuries.  They might not want to volunteer the information in front of the entire class.

Once the class is all set up, the announcements are an excellent time to identify new clients, both to the class or to the gym itself.  The class titles are not always descriptive enough so explaining content of the next 55 minutes will give the member idea of what to expect and if it is what they looking for.

Most importantly is to ask the group for injuries, recent operations, discomforts or pregnancies so that we can firstly decide if they are in the correct environment and to be ready to adjust the exercise type and intensity for these individuals.  All too often I see instructors ask for injuries and then ignore that client for the rest of the session.

Once we are aware of a complication, it is essential to check up on these members throughout the session.

In general, if the client is returning from surgery, they need to be able to confirm that they have been cleared by their practitioner to be there.

If they are suffering from an injury, it is advised to not work through pain.  If there are any exercises within your prepared class that might worsen the condition, rather to advise alternative classes or refer to bio or physiotherapist or GP.

We are not able to diagnose but any pain being experienced is a sign of a problem and should not be ignored.