Personal Trainer profile and their perception of physical assessment before starting a training program

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Physical Exercise (PE) is today a primary source in the search for a better quality of life and health, fighting sedentary lifestyle and bringing benefits related to its practice. Regular exercise can reduce the development of coronary heart disease, stroke, diabetes, dyslipidemia, metabolic syndrome and hypertension. In addition, it promotes the loss of fat mass, develops cardiorespiratory fitness, muscle strength and endurance, reduces depression and improves cognitive functions. However, many people cannot adhere to a PE program without the help of the Personal Trainer, who is a Physical Education professional (PEF) responsible for individualized training and also for evaluating/re-evaluating the health conditions of individuals in order to propose adequate PE.
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the profile of the Personal Trainer in the city of Divinópolis and the importance of primary physical assessment of its students.
METHODS: Cross-sectional study with 40 PEF, mean age of 33.7±7.52 years who worked as a Personal Trainer. A previously structured questionnaire was applied, with 24 questions prepared by the authors. In the data analysis, descriptive statistics, mean and standard deviation were performed using the Microsoft Office Excel program.
RESULTS: Among those surveyed, 67.5% (n=27) were women, 50% (n=20) have been in the market for more than 10 years and only 45% (n=18) have specialization. As for the physical evaluation before the beginning of the training, 95% (n=38) of the professionals demand or do the evaluation and 85% (n=34) see great importance and try to make a complete and detailed evaluation.
CONCLUSION: The professionals have been working in the follow-up for more than 10 years, serve a diverse audience, have the gyms as their main place of action and have partnerships with other health professionals. Most participants consider the primary physical assessment of their students to be of paramount importance and perform it before the start of training.