Sneak Peek

SHORT COURSE PHYSICAL FITNESS

This course is jam packed with information, as well as suggested learning experiences beyond simply reading the notes and studying the many illustrations.  It helps you to understand human fitness and wellbeing, for your own benefit, or for the benefit of others you might work with. The course can be completed in around 20 hours; but if you want to learn in greater depth, and have the time to devote to learning, it can be given a lot more time, for a lot more learning.

The course helps you understand physical fitness in the broadest sense. All aspects of fitness are considered -aerobic, muscle, skeletal. psychological. A very large range of techniques for improving and maintaining fitness are covered – from gentle to high intensity techniques. Safety, biology and health/injury issues are also covered.
This is an exceptional course, which is equally useful for the everyday person wanting to better understand and improve their own wellbeing; through to people working in the health or fitness professions who will find serious benefit doing this course for professional development.

The contents of the course

Lesson 1 Human Biology & Aerobic Fitness

• Sources of atp
• Energy definitions
• Energy production pathways from different foods
• What happens during exercise
• Resistance training
• Types of resistance training
• Muscle contraction
• Terminology
• Resistance training program components
• Misconceptions about training
• The major muscle groups in training
• Training response
• More on fatigue
• Recovery from exercise
• Other factors affecting performance
• Human anatomy
• The muscular system
• The respiratory system
• The circulatory system
• The physiology of the circulatory system
  

Lesson 2 Equipment & Facilities

• Where to exercise
• Outdoor areas
• Clothing and footwear
• Music
• Characteristics of equipment
• Examples of equipment used in aerobic activities
• Other types of equipment specific to aerobics classes
• Aerobic home equipment
• Maintaining equipment
• Outdoors/park equipment used for aerobic exercises
  

Lesson 3 Exercises

• How often, how hard
• Exercise movement components
• Running/jogging/walking
• Cycling
• Swimming
• Rowing
• Stepping & climbing
• Skipping
• Ball sports
• Surfing
• Horse riding
• Skating
• Skiing
• Jumping
• Tai chi (tai qi)
• Wilderness areas
• Safety
• Gym/class exercises
• Stretching
• Muscle conditioning
  

Lesson 4 Special People & Situations

• Pregnancy
• Older adults
• Children
• People with disabilities
• Overweight people
• Other health problems
  

Lesson 5 Safety

• Aerobic classes
• Safety related issues
• Safety in other aerobic activities
• First aid considerations
• Identifying hazards
• Pre-screening of clients
• Legal liabilities for fitness instructors
  

Lesson 6 Fitness Testing/Assessment

• What do we test?
• What can we measure?
• Designing fitness tests
  

Lesson 7 Programming, Motivation & Leadership

• Fitness/aerobics class design
• Programming an exercise session
• Designing exercise programs
• A typical aerobics class
• Writing an exercise program
• Classes for different types of people
• Configurations or patterns for movement
• Motivation
• Dealing with complaints
  

Lesson 8 Back Pain and Injury Management

• Anatomy and physiology
• Basic back health
• First aid treatment of injuries
• Types of injury
• Assessment and screening
• Professional treatments
• Patient rehabilitation

Everyone's Fitness Needs are Different

Aerobic exercise should be tailored to meet the needs of the individual. For most people the main concern is their level of fitness - if they are not fit and exercise sparingly, they should probably undertake relatively low intensity, low impact and short duration exercises. In contrast, a person with above average fitness will need to exercise for longer periods at a higher intensity in order to maintain or improve their aerobic capacity.

There are many other types of people however, who require special consideration due to unique factors which can impact upon them when undertaking aerobic exercise. Some people have a temporary or permanent condition (physical or physiological) which affects what types of exercise they can or should do.

Why Study this Course?

• To improve your own fitness
• To help others improve their fitness
• As a foundation for better understanding human biology and wellness
• As a foundation for working in the fitness or wellness industries - a good first step.