Your First In-Home Session Is Always Free - Here's What Happens The basic idea is for us to get to know each other, and for you, as a prospective client, to get a feel for what it would be like to work with us. We'll ask you a bunch of questions about your health and fitness background, discuss your fitness objectives, and then lay out an overall program to get you where you want to go. The procedure goes something like this: We complete a Medical Health Questionnaire. This helps determine: a) whether you should get a doctor's clearance before beginning a serious exercise program, b) whether there are problem areas we should work around, and, c) whether there are old injuries or weaknesses that we can help with therapeutic type exercises. Next comes a Lifestyle and Activity Analysis. We'll start by gathering some basic information such as your height, weight, and so forth, calculate your BMI, and do a body fat analysis using electrical impedance. The rest is mostly a history of your exercise patterns. Most relevant is what you've been doing recently, but everything counts. If you were very active 10 or 20 years ago, it will be much easier to get back in shape than if everything is brand new. We then discuss: "What do you want to get out of an exercise program?" There will probably be some give and take here because we want to insure that your goals are challenging but realistic. For example, we want any weight loss to be permanent, not based on water loss or unhealthy eating patterns. At this point, it is up to us to use everything we have learned about you to lay out a balanced, healthy exercise program, and, if you wish, make some recommendations on your diet. Most programs will include elements of cardio, strength and flexibility work. Everything we've learned about you will be grist for the mill. We go through an "Exercise Recommendations" form which includes space for: Aerobic exercise recommendations - type of exercise (treadmill for example), frequency, duration, and intensity level, based on heart rate. We'll explain the concept of your training heart rate zone and how to use it in your training. In the strength training section, we typically recommend 12 to 14 different exercises to get at all of the major muscle groups of the body. The mix will largely be determined by your objectives and exercise background. We will also be careful to include any appropriate rehab or preventive maintenance exercise. Flexibility work is often overlooked but is extremely important, particularly as we age. We will describe some basic stretches useful for everyone, and then those that are especially good for your individual circumstances. We will probably expect you to do part of the recommended program on your own, and other parts with us. Usually that means doing your cardio work on your own and strength and flexibility work with us. We will establish your cardio program and monitor your performance, but we will generally not stand there and watch you walk on a treadmill, for example. If you chose to work with us, we can at this point start talking about scheduling future appointments. If not, you can just take our recommendations and train on your own. In either case you've received a full hour of one-on-one attention from a highly qualified fitness professional. Give us a call, and we can set up convenient time for one of our trainers to come to your home. Go Back