Providing the safest possible personal training for our athletes on the autism spectrum is of the highest importance at Adaptive Exercise. A number of different strategies are used to emphasize safety in all of our personal training sessions. We use number of different proven ABA teaching strategies, adaptive equipment, follow personal training guidelines, create individualized exercise programs, and use both formal and informal assessments to ensure safety. Beginning of exercise program increases the chance of soft tissue injury, but by not engaging in regular physical activity people put themselves at a much higher risk have a number of different health ailments.
Prior to developing a personalized exercise program for any client, the personal trainer must first obtain baseline data through formal and informal assessments. This information is used to determine the client’s current level of fitness and their abilities. It is impossible to develop the personalized exercise program that is appropriate without this information. Rather than beginning with series of formal assessments, our trainers use informal assessments over the course of the first few sessions to determine the client’s level of fitness and abilities. Some formal assessments may be utilized during this time period, but in order to prevent exercise from being aversive to the client, our trainers focus on building rapport early in the process. Because the assessments are stretched out over the course of the first few sessions and video recorded for later review, the client can feel more comfortable beginning their exercise program.
This baseline data collected over the first several sessions is the first step in developing a personalized exercise plan. Each personalized exercise plan is individualized for the client. It consist of goals, exercises and that clients level of independence in regards to different exercises. The personal trainer then can utilize different ABA teaching strategies and added sports to safely progress the client through their program. The informal and formal assessments can be very useful in determining where to start in what exercises to begin with. This information can also be helpful to personal trainers, when prompting clients through their exercise programs. Any movement disorders or muscle imbalances maybe identified in the baseline assessment period. This information is critical to providing the safest personal training.
The personalized exercise plan is a collection of benchmark objectives, goals and recommended exercises. This plan is developed after several sessions of formal and informal assessments and after the video review. Similar to ABA programming, we use baseline data to develop appropriate goals for our clients to reach. Through the use of different ABA teaching strategies and added supports, our trainers to provide effective personal training. The PEP helps uphold our standards of safety by informing trainers of what exercises they should be working on and how much support each individual needs. The goal is to help progress our clients through their fitness programming, but this must be done in a safe manner. Individual exercises are not progressed until an individual has shown the ability to consistently perform that exercise accurately. A client who cannot perform an overhead press safely, would not begin to use weights until they have shown the capacity to do so consistently. The PEP can also indicate to the trainer when an exercise needs to be regressed. Sometimes exercises that have previously been mastered need to be retaught to be done with proper form. By not doing so clients are putting themselves at risk of becoming injured. The PEP is utilize in each personal training session, so trainers are always aware of what they should be working on and the safest practices to do so.
The equipment used at Adaptive Exercise may look different from equipment people are accustomed to seeing in traditional fitness centers. People usually think of metal barbells, dumbbells, and fixed resistance training machines. Much of the equipment used by our trainers at Adaptive Exercise is sand based. Equipment like soft medicine balls, sand bells, sand kettle bells, and sand bags. This equipment it Is safer to use with beginner athletes. Dropping a metal dumbbell can result in major injury, dropping sand bell is highly unlikely to result in any injury. Also because our service is in home, these sand based weights are less likely to cause damage within the home. Another benefit to using sand based equipment is that our trainers can progress exercise movements by increasing the speed exercises are performed at. With metal weights increasing the rate of speed exercises are performed at can be very dangerous. Because of the malleability of sand trainers can progress the speed without the same potential risk for injury.
Similar to ABA programming we use data to monitor each individual’s performance in their exercise programing. This data is collected through their personalized exercise plan, regularly monitored and reviewed for safety, as well as progression. This data indicates what level of independence an individual can complete an exercise accurately. Data can also indicate how many reps, sets or level of resistance should be used for each exercise. This information is extremely important in ensuring safety in all of our exercise sessions. By progressing exercises too quickly children are far more likely to become injured. Personalize exercise plan is just one of the tools we use at Adaptive Exercise to provide the safest possible personal training for children on autism spectrum.
Video review and analysis is another way we ensure safety in our exercise program. The data collected in our personal training sessions through the personalize exercise plan is extremely useful for our trainers. However data does not indicate everything that is going on an exercise session. By video recording our sessions, trainers see errors in movement that may not be evident in the personal training session. Certain ABA teaching strategies like physical prompting, can limit the degree observation from the personal trainer. If a trainer is prompting a client to do a squat pattern, they may not see everything that is happening in that movement. By recording each session and collecting data, our trainers are more equipped provide the safest possible personal training for people on the autism spectrum.