Pre-Exercise Screening
What is Pre Exercise Screening?
Pre-exercise screening is used to identify people who may have medical conditions that put them at a higher risk of an adverse event during physical activity/exercise. It’s a filter or ‘safety net’ to help determine if the potential benefits of ...
What are the qualification requirements for delivering Stage 2 of the APSS tool?
The APSS user guide stipulates that Stage 2 be “administered by a qualified exercise professional (Minimum Certificate III in fitness with completion of screening and assessment units SISFFIT301A and SISFFIT307A)”. SISFITT301A – Provide fitness ...
How do we manage a situation where a client becomes distressed at being asked to seek further guidance from a medical or allied health professional as part of a pre-exercise screening process?
It is true that clients have often overcome quite a few hurdles to even make an inquiry with a fitness or health service, and that the last thing we want to do is turn them away (potentially to competition down the road). It is also true that the ...
How do we manage clients with a disability when conducting pre-exercise screening?
Clients with a disability should be treated in the same way as able-bodied clients and in both cases, pre-exercise screening is imperative to identify any health risks that require further direction and to guide exercise prescription. In any case, ...
What is the process for referring a client for medical guidance if they are undertaking rehabilitation and are using fitness services under the care of a Physiotherapist?
In a rehabilitation situation, a treating Physiotherapist is an appropriate allied health professional to be overseeing the exercise program. If a client attends without a Physiotherapist, having them complete stage 1 of the APSS and provide written ...
Why do I need to undertake pre-exercise screening with my clients?
Pre-exercise screening enables exercise professionals to gather information about the state of health or disease of a person, to help reduce the possibility of a problem occurring during exercise. There are no guarantees that an adverse event might ...
How should I manage record keeping of client pre-exercise screening results?
In line with health and medical records, the APSS results should be kept on file for 7 years. The length of time that client APSS results remain “current” greatly depends on the results. If the client is considered low-moderate risk (i.e. does not ...
Do casual gym users have to complete a form every time they visit or attend a class?
No, one form is sufficient for ongoing attendance. It is recommended that the client management process that is used by a business or trainer should enable screening results to be kept on file and easily checked for casual visitors who wish to ...
How does the APSS apply for casual gym & casual swim clients?
Stage 1 of the APSS tool is the compulsory stage, and so is expected to be used for all casual gym visits (either using gym facilities or participating in a group exercise class) to ensure businesses and professionals are meeting their duty of care ...
Can the APSS tool be pulled apart (i.e. so we can use the parts we like, and edit the rest to our own preferences)?
You can add additional questions that you might ask a new client (e.g. client contact information, risk warnings/disclaimer statements or other information collected for the purposes of delivering your services). However, the questions and the ...