Chapter 7 Reducing the Incident and Likelihood of Injury
Reducing the Incidence and
Likelihood of Injury
A
t all times, the Personal Trainer must do due diligence
to keep the client safe and free of injury. This includes
proper health screening, proper program design, adequate
instruction and supervision, choosing appropriate exercises, and
understanding the potential risks that may be associated with
regular physical activity should the program guidelines not be ad-
hered to.Health Screening and Scope of Practice
T
he Personal Trainer must understand the scope of practice
regarding injuries. There are chronic or overuse injuries
that last for greater than six months and there are acute
injuries that may be the result of changes in types or intensity of
activity, over-training, or unsafe exercise techniques. Our scope
of practice only permits us to work with apparently healthy adults
without injury.A Personal Trainer is able to work with someone who has filled
out a Physical Activity Readiness Questionnaire (PAR-Q) and
has not answered ‘yes’ to any of the questions. Obviously, a per-
son that is injured, recovering from injury, or lives with a chronic
injury is very likely to answer ‘yes’ to at least one question on the
PAR-Q.If an individual answers ‘yes’ to any of the questions, that indi-
vidual must be sent to their physician with a PARmed-X. If the
PARmed-X is returned to the Personal Trainer with the recom-
mendation of unrestricted physical activity, then the trainer is
able to work with the individual.However if the physician has outlined any physical restrictions,
the individual must be referred to the appropriate health profes-
sional or therapist (e.g. kinesiologist). The Personal Trainer is
not permitted to work with individuals that have any physical re-
strictions, as this is outside of their scope of practice.The Personal Trainer must always health screen individuals prior
to working with them. However even while working with a client,
the Personal Trainer should be screening them prior to every
session. This can be accomplished by asking the client if there
are any changes since the last visit. It is recommended that the