Week 5 – Discussion

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Your initial discussion thread is due on Day 3 (Thursday) and you have until Day 7 (Monday) to respond to your classmates. Your grade will reflect both the quality of your initial post and the depth of your responses. Refer to the Discussion Forum Grading Rubric under the Settings icon above for guidance on how your discussion will be evaluated.

Observe a Special Population

In Week Two, you chose a special population to observe and design an exercise program for. In Week Four, you set up a time to observe your chosen special population participating in some form of physical activity or exercise, and this week, you will complete the observation hours. Some suggestions include observing heart patients in a cardiac rehab program, patients with lung disease in a pulmonary rehab program, elderly participating in an activity at a nursing home, older adults working out at a Zumba Gold session, youth in an after school program, women working out at Curves, or pregnant women in a yoga class. There are many facilities that work with special populations that can provide you with an opportunity to observe them and learn about this special population. You need to observe the special population for a minimum of two hours. After completing your observation hours, post your experience in the discussion, addressing the following areas:

• Describe the special population you observed (i.e., pregnant women, heart disease patients, elderly, obese etc.).
• Explain where you went to observe the special population.
• Compare and contrast how this special population’s condition compromises their health compared to healthy individuals. Use a reference to support this comparison.
• Explain the physiological and psychological benefits of exercise specific to this special population. (For example, if you chose to observe patients with heart disease, explain the chronic physiological benefits for the cardiovascular system from regular exercise)
• After observing this special population, elaborate on whether or not you would like to work with this group in your future career. Explain why or why not.

Support your work with your course text and at least one additional scholarly source. Your initial post should be at least 250 to 300 words in length.

Poster Design: General Principles of Exercise Prescription

Before you can design an exercise regimen for a special population, you need to be cognizant of the general principles of an exercise prescription. After reviewing Chapter 6 of your course text, you now have the opportunity to design a poster entailing the general principles of exercise prescription. You may use the enclosed PowerPoint poster template or any other poster template of your choice.

Be sure to include the following elements within your poster:

• Select one target audience for your poster design:
  • Beginning or deconditioned exercisers
  • Intermediate exercisers
  • Advanced or very experienced exercisers
  • Older adults
• Compile the FITT-VP evidence-based recommendations for each of the following:
  • Cardiorespiratory endurance
  • Resistance exercise
  • Flexibility exercise
  • Neuromotor exercise
• Select images to make your poster visually appealing for your target audience.

Feel free to add additional comments and elements, as desired. Have fun being creative!

The Poster Design: General Principles of Exercise Prescription Assignment

• Poster should not exceed one page in length.
• Must include all elements, as outlined in the prompt. APA style formatting, as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center (Links to an external site.), applies for citations and references used.
• Must include images for a visually appealing poster.  
• Must use at least the course text for the poster creation.
• Must document all sources in APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.

Week 4 – Discussion

3232 unread replies.4646 replies.

Your initial discussion thread is due on Day 3 (Thursday) and you have until Day 7 (Monday) to respond to your classmates. Your grade will reflect both the quality of your initial post and the depth of your responses. Refer to the Discussion Forum Grading Rubric under the Settings icon above for guidance on how your discussion will be evaluated.

General Principles of Exercise Prescription for Apparently Healthy Adults

For this discussion, you will focus on apparently healthy adults and examine general principles of exercise prescription. This will provide you with a strong basis prior to examining populations with chronic disease and health conditions in your final week.

After studying Chapter 6 of your course text and the required resources, address the following elements:

• Analyze the purpose and FITT-VP principles of exercise prescription. Provide an example of each of the FITT-VP principles.
• Assess factors that must be considered when designing exercise prescriptions to individuals.
• Select two of these identified factors and explain why they must be considered. Examine potential effects, if such considerations are neglected.
• Appraise the components of an exercise training session (Box 6.1) and each component’s physiological benefit to the exerciser.

Support your work with your course text and at least one additional scholarly source. Your initial posting must have a minimum length of 250 to 300 words.

Week 3 – Discussion 2

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Your initial discussion thread is due on Day 3 (Thursday) and you have until Day 7 (Monday) to respond to your classmates. Your grade will reflect both the quality of your initial post and the depth of your responses. Refer to the Discussion Forum Grading Rubric under the Settings icon above for guidance on how your discussion will be evaluated.

Case Study: Rose

For this discussion, assume the role of a non-physician who is trained in conducting clinical exercise testing. The following events happen on a sunny day in August: You receive a call from Jake, a personal trainer at XYZ Gym. Jake is with a client, Rose (age 26), who has decided to lose weight. She wants to start cardiorespiratory endurance training and take some group fitness classes at the gym. Rose’s goal is to work out five times per week for one hour each day to get in shape by December, as she is engaged to be married on New Year’s Eve. However, Rose has never exercised before; she has a BMI of 36 and has Type 2 Diabetes. She has a family history of cardiovascular disease. She has not seen a practitioner for 10 years, and therefore, no other health-related data is available. Jake does not feel comfortable administering an exercise test on Rose and is therefore referring the client to you. Rose does not feel she should be tested as she feels fine. She has expressed her readiness to exercise and lose some excess weight.

Given this scenario, address the following in your response:

• Analyze whether Rose should undergo clinical exercise testing. Support your decision with a clear rationale. 
• Explain your role and duties to Rose, as well as your recommendation for or against clinical exercise testing. Be convincing in your explanation so that Rose fully understands your recommendations and rationale. 
• Assess Rose’s potential risks and complications involved in exercising and/or exercise testing.
• Recommend a specific intensity and duration for daily exercise to Rose. State the rationale for your recommendation. 
• Recommend two specific dietary changes which may aid Rose in losing weight.

Support your work with your course text and the Supervision of Exercise Testing by Nonphysicians (Links to an external site.) article. You may utilize additional resources, as desired. Your initial posting must be at least 250 to 300 words in length.

Week 3 – Discussion 1

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Your initial discussion thread is due on Day 3 (Thursday) and you have until Day 7 (Monday) to respond to your classmates. Your grade will reflect both the quality of your initial post and the depth of your responses. Refer to the Discussion Forum Grading Rubric under the Settings icon above for guidance on how your discussion will be evaluated.

Clinical Exercise Testing

As highlighted in Chapter 5 of your course text, clinical exercise testing is conducted for numerous reasons. The purpose for exercise testing, the client’s history and characteristics, as well as the desired outcomes, should be considered before choosing a test modality and protocol.

After studying Chapter 5 and reviewing the Introduction to Cardio Pulmonary Exercise Testing (Links to an external site.) video, address the following elements:

• Select two specific purposes for conducting clinical exercise testing and explain each briefly.
• For each chosen purpose, summarize the type of clients and their characteristics (i.e., gender, age, history, diagnoses, symptoms), warranting the administration of clinical exercise testing.
• Assess one exercise test modality and its common uses.
• Appraise the need for an exercise protocol and the rationale for individualizing it.

Support your work with your course text and at least one additional scholarly source. Your initial post should be at least 250 to 300 words in length.

Create an Informed Consent

In Week Five, you will design an exercise regimen for a special population. Informing your client of the purpose, benefits, risks, precautions, and contraindications of participating in an exercise program is an important first step which is accomplished through the Informed Consent. Therefore this week, you will create an Informed Consent for your chosen special population. In the Week Two Discussion, you explained the components of an Informed Consent. Now, choose one of the special populations covered in the course text and create an Informed Consent including each of the required components. The informed consent should be created for a special population participating in a cardiovascular fitness program. The special population you choose this week should be the same as the special population for your Week Five Final Project. (Special populations are covered in Chapters 9-11 in the text.)

The assignment

• Must be a minimum of three double-spaced pages in length (not including title and reference pages) and formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center (Links to an external site.).
• Must include a separate title page with the following:
  • Title of paper
  • Student’s name
  • Course name and number
  • Instructor’s name
  • Date submitted
• Must use at least two scholarly sources in addition to the course text.
• Must document all sources in APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.
• Must include a separate reference page that is formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.

Health-Related Physical Fitness Testing

Review Chapter 4 in the course text before completing this assignment. After completing a health history assessment and reviewing the Informed Consent, the next step in designing an exercise program for your special population, or any individual, is to assess the client’s initial fitness level. Physical fitness testing has many purposes such as providing baseline information about your client which can assist you in helping him or her develop fitness goals.

For this assignment, fill out the required template  downloadaddressing:

• Summarize three purposes of health-related physical fitness testing.
• Provide an example of a health-related physical fitness test for each of the following categories: body composition, cardiorespiratory endurance, muscular endurance, muscular strength, and flexibility.

Your assignment must use the template  download(excluding the title page or reference pages) and be formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center. Include the text as a reference.

Week 2 – Discussion

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Your initial discussion thread is due on Day 3 (Thursday) and you have until Day 7 (Monday) to respond to your classmates. Your grade will reflect both the quality of your initial post and the depth of your responses. Refer to the Discussion Forum Grading Rubric under the Settings icon above for guidance on how your discussion will be evaluated.

Medical History and Informed Consent

Read Chapter 3 in the course text prior to completing this discussion. In Week 1, you evaluated 3 case studies to determine if the client needed to receive medical clearance prior to engaging in an exercise program. For this discussion, assume you are working with Louis, Case Study 3 from Week 1.  He wants to begin running at a vigorous intensity three days a week at the local fitness center.   After your client receives medical clearance to begin an exercise program, as the qualified health care professional, your next steps are to complete a health history and review the informed consent with your client.

For this discussion, assume you are working with an individual who has a moderate risk of experiencing health-related problems during exercise. Review the sample Informed Consent  downloadform and then complete the following:

• Identify the components of the Medical History.
• Explain the purpose of the Informed Consent form.
• Expound on the contents included in an Informed Consent form.

Your initial contribution should be 250 to 300 words in length. Your research and claims must be supported by your course text and a minimum of one additional scholarly source. Use proper APA formatting for in-text citations and references as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.

Medical Clearance Worksheet

Prior to completing the Medical Clearance Worksheet,  downloadreview Chapter 2 in the text. Any person wanting to participate in an exercise program should be screened for potential cardiovascular complications that may arise during exercise. The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) preparticipation screening algorithm can be used to determine if a person needs medical clearance prior to starting an exercise program. The ACSM algorithm can be viewed in Figure 2.2 of the text. For this assignment, fill out the worksheet on the following:

• Compare and contrast the function of the human body in someone who has heart disease to someone who does not have heart disease. (Consider what happens within the cardiovascular system when someone has coronary artery disease. Why can this put a person at risk when exercising?)
• Explain four of the signs and symptoms suggestive of cardiovascular, metabolic, and renal disease.
• Read each case study on the worksheet and assess the need for medical clearance.
• Submit the Medical Clearance Worksheet  downloadto your instructor by Day 7.

The Medical Clearance Worksheet assignment:

• Must use the Medical Clearance Worksheet  downloadTemplate.
• Must include a separate title page with the following:
  • Title of paper
  • Student’s name
  • Course name and number
  • Instructor’s name
  • Date submitted
• Must use the course text as a reference.
• Must document all sources in APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.
• Must include a separate reference page that is formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.

Week 1 – Discussion

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Your initial discussion thread is due on Day 3 (Thursday) and you have until Day 7 (Monday) to respond to your classmates. Your grade will reflect both the quality of your initial post and the depth of your responses. Refer to the Discussion Forum Grading Rubric under the Settings icon above for guidance on how your discussion will be evaluated.

Dose-Response Relationship

After reviewing Chapter 1 in the text, the ACSM article on The Quantity and Quality of Exercise (Links to an external site.), and the Physical Activity Guidelines (Links to an external site.) website, consider the following: The frequency, intensity, type, and duration of exercise have a strong correlation to the benefits one can receive from exercise. Therefore, an association exists amid the dose-response relationship between exercise and health. This relationship also exists for special populations; hence, special populations similarly can benefit from a regular exercise program. For this discussion,

• Explain the dose-response relationship.
• Explain the physiological and psychological benefits of exercise.
• Explain the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans.

Your initial contribution should be 250 to 300 words in length. Your research and claims must be supported by you course text and a minimum of one additional scholarly source. Use proper APA formatting for in-text citations and references as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.