I can't believe I'm about to say this, but I took someone's blood pressure the other day. And I'm not just talking about when you screw around in the doctor’s office waiting in that little room for the doc to arrive. I got a quickie tutorial and practiced on myself a dozen or so times (which BTW is not an easy task), and then I had my first appointment with a real live client. I was hoping they wouldn't feel my hands shake as I wrapped the Velcro arm band around their bicep, cuz I was scared-to-freaking death. My work doesn't have any of the fancy new gizmos out there to check BP; we have to do it the old fashioned way. Wrap the arm band just above their elbow, find their pulse on the upper inside of their arm and hold a stethoscope to it, then pump to inflate the cuff. This is when the arm band starts to squeeze tightly over your arm, something all of us have experienced many times before. Then you slowly and carefully release the pressure ... again this is quite tricky as you must hold the pump and turn the dial with one hand, as the other is on the stethoscope. As it slowly deflates you must carefully listen for the heartbeat, which is much softer than I imagined, while reading and remembering the numbers that appear on the gauge.
This may not seem like a monumental event to some people, but I'm kinda blown away that I'm doing this. Little 'ol me !! A lifetime accountant taking someone's blood pressure. Well I guess in some ways it still is number crunching isn't it?
This is the first step in our assessment process at work, and if their blood pressure is high I can't really go further as there are some physical tests that follow. However if all goes well I can finish the assessment. Next I take their resting heart rate, and as I've done it on myself a million or so times before, this part is easy. I then take a few other measurements; height, weight, and waist & hip circumference. This is where I actually have an advantage over the other trainers, as it's time to pull out my trusty calculator and do some quick calculations. Using their height and weight I can quickly calculate Body Mass Index (BMI) and with the others a Waist-to-Hip Ratio (WHR). The results give the client a quick overview of their current body composition and their risk for certain health conditions.
After a brief medical history, I perform a few quick physical tests, which considering most are just joining the gym, they just LOVE this part ;-) Push-ups, curl ups and a 5 minute treadmill test. Once again these results are compared to some industry standards to assess their current muscular strength & endurance, as well as their current cardiovascular conditioning.
In addition to the fitness assessment, the club offers a one-time program design for all new members, and assessments and programs can also be done for free annually upon renewal. I've done a few of these already, and all I can think of is that I can't believe I'm getting paid for this. Remember a while back when I talked about my obsession, and how every Sunday I sit at home and design my workouts for the upcoming week? This is basically what I'm doing, only for other people with vastly different goals. We set up a separate appointment, and in the interim I design their workouts for both cardio and weight training, based on discussions I had with them regarding their goals, experience, and any contraindications that might exist.
At that follow up appointment I walk them through the entire program, showing them how to execute the exercises properly and determining how much weight they should lift. In essence it is training, except it's a one-time deal and just the one, pre-set program. And when I'm doing this, I'm in my fucking glory !! I'm enjoying what I'm doing so much that it doesn't even feel like work :) I hate to say this out-loud, but if I didn't have to work for a living, I'd be happy to provide this service for free. Being able to help someone improve their health and well-being and potentially improving their life in some way is an incredible rush.
I figured out I don't need to register a business to do this; I can just operate under my own name, which is what I've chosen to do … for now at least. I do however need to get liability insurance in place, and I've started to look around and get some quotes. Once that is in place I can start doing PT outside of the gym, but I can start at my new workplace as soon as I find myself some clients !! While I’m super excited that this is now reality and I’m doing (or will be doing) what I set out to do, in many ways I’m also terrified. These people will be relying on me to help transform their lives in some way and to help them reach their own personal goals. Not only is that a lot of pressure, but their success is imperative for my own.
Giddy up :)
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