Exercise is beneficial to everyone – even the special populations.
In the case of special populations participating in a fitness program is a crucial part of living a healthy life. They include people with disabilities like autism, cerebral palsy and the likes. People with a spinal cord injury or an amputation are also considered part of special populations.
The more you exercise, the greater the health benefits are for the body and also the mind.
So how exactly do you create an exercise program for special populations?
There are four things you can do and we will cover each one in this post.
If you’re ready, here are the four things you need to do to effectively design an exercise program for the special needs population.
STEP 1: Make a preliminary health assessment.
People who fall under the category of special populations usually suffer from one chronic disease or another. If you’re going to train someone from this category, know if they’re suffering from hypertension or if they have a heart disease or even asthma.
Since exercise requires a lot of cardio, not knowing if the person you’re training with suffers from chronic diseases can become fatal for them.
To avoid this, make sure that you do a preliminary or initial assessment. Include a thorough examination of their health history. It’s also best to secure a clearance from your client’s physician before starting them on an exercise program.
Take note: People who suffer from chronic diseases can still exercise. Regular exercise has been proven to improve overall health. Staying active is also proven to reduce the risk of chronic physical and mental health. These include conditions like dementia, anxiety, depression and even mood disorders.
This is where having a Special Education certification comes in. By getting certified to train special populations, you get the necessary knowledge you need to do an initial assessment. When you do this, you can gauge their ability and capacity to engage in an exercise program.
Once you’ve done this, you can move on to Step no. 2.
STEP 2: Let your clients communicate their goals.
People exercise for a variety of reasons. Some exercises improve balance. Others help build your muscles. Some are meant for strength training. Some people exercise to improve the endurance of their hearts. Some like to do a mix of exercises to help with their overall health.
However, not all people are aware that exercise has a variety and that each variety targets a specific health concern.
This is another time when the expertise of a professional fitness trainer comes in.
When you create an exercise program for people with special needs, you need to know exactly what their goals are.
Do they need to strengthen their cardiovascular health?
Then a good dose of aerobic exercises to improve their heart rates and breathing would be recommended.
Do they need – or want – to be stronger?
Then strength training is the ideal exercise program to go for.
Do they need help with balance and coordination?
Then start them with lower body exercises that target the body’s balance.
Some may have ZERO idea on the kind of exercise they need until you tell them simply because they don’t have the know-how.
So instead of telling them the many different exercises they can try that could overwhelm them, let them tell you their goals.
Once they do, create the best exercise program that would fit into those goals they mentioned. By this time, you can get them started on getting better physically.
But before you do that, make sure that you do the next step first.
STEP 3: Before you plan, prioritize what’s most needed.
In this case, don’t just consider yourself as a fitness trainer.
Consider yourself a trained health professional who knows better than your client at this point.
By now you already know any health condition that your client may have. They are also able to communicate their goals. Hopefully, their goals align with their physical ability and capacity to perform the physical activities you’re already creating in your mind.
However, you must act the consultant and gauge if the strength training they said they want is what they really need at this point.
Be the one to make the assessment.
What’s more needed with their present condition? Aerobic exercises? Strength training? Or flexibility and balance routines?
This part of creating the exercise program is very important because you can only get the best results for your clients when you are able to create the right exercise program for them.
You can do this by performing an actual fitness assessment.
It’s sort of a ‘test run’ of the actual fitness program you’d like for them and gives you insight on the best kind of exercises to include in their program.
Here are three things you should take note when doing an assessment:
- body composition including body fat, lean body mass and body mass index (bmi);
- range of motion or body movement; and
- fitness level and capacity
You need to do this because some people have no idea about their fitness level. Much more if they belong to special populations. By doing an assessment on these areas, you can get a baseline on where to start their exercise program.
Once this is out of the way, you can now go to the last part which is none other than:
STEP 4: Plan.
Planning is your last step when creating an exercise program for special populations.
Once you know their health history, take note of their goals and learn about their fitness level, the next step you need to do is plan the actual program.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recommends that you spread out a total of 150 minutes of moderate physical activity in a week. You can do half that time with just 75 minutes ensuring that you do vigorous activities instead for greater and better health benefits.
But this is where you need to plan well.
Following the recommendation of the HHS might be ideal. But then again you have to take note of your client’s goals, fitness demands, time, frequency and even their level of enjoyment for doing physical activities.
When you take these things into account, you can create a personalized exercise program that best fits your client’s needs.
You should know as well that while you may have a fitness program already, it’s not 100% foolproof.
There will be times when progress seems slow for you and your client, but you need to be patient. This is normal whenever you begin a new exercise program.
To make things easier for you and your client, you can extend their fitness program even at home. How? Incorporate physical activities into their daily routine.
Here are some ideas for you:
- Jumping on a trampoline
- Walking
- Swimming
- Dancing
- Stretches
- Carrying things, like groceries
- Running on a treadmill
- Using a stationary bike
- Working with resistance bands
Before we wrap things up, here are a few things you need to remember:
No two exercise programs are the same. No two individuals – special populations or not – are created equal. So when you create a fitness program for special populations, consider an individual approach to make each exercise program unique.
Do you want to learn how to create an Exercise Program for Special Populations? Are you interested in adaptive fitness and nutrition to help the special needs population?
Get started today with the Certify Strong Adapted Special Needs Fitness & Nutrition Course and get certified to help people with special needs reach their fitness goals.