Written by Nick Young – Personal Trainer.
Whether it’s a yoga class, a personal training session or other physical activity, if you’ve ever taken part in a session with Aurora Mind and Body, we’ll have asked you to fill out a form about your medical and exercise history and readiness to participate (as should all exercise professionals). There are a few reasons why we do this and it’s not because we enjoy paperwork! We may also need to ask you a couple of follow-up questions depending on your responses to the form.
Firstly, and most importantly, we need to ensure your safety. If you have a health condition, some forms of exercise may be unsuitable for you or even dangerous to your wellbeing. In such a circumstance we always aim to be empathetic and helpful but we’re not doctors. If we don’t know what your condition means from an exercise perspective, please understand that we may ask you to see your doctor for clearance before participating in some cases. It’s a part of the REPs code of ethics that all exercise professionals sign up to, to train you ‘safely and effectively’.
Secondly, we want you to get the most out of your exercise. We recognise that you’ve made the effort to invest in your personal health and fitness, and we want to encourage that. With no two people the same, what one person finds easy, another person will find difficult. There are many different ways of getting the same exercise benefit and if we know about any aches, pains or ailments before your session, we can modify those exercises to work with your body rather than against it.
“…it’s not because we’re nosey but because we want to ensure your exercise is as safe and enjoyable as possible“
Finally, we have to consider the legal aspect. Some conditions require special training and we’d be considered negligent if we trained you when we don’t have specialist knowledge of a condition or limitation you have. To do otherwise would be contrary to the REPs code of ethics that we adhere to. It’s therefore important that you’ve taken medical advice if you answer ‘yes’ to any questions on your health form.
We also know that your health and fitness changes over time, so even if you’ve filled out a health form before, we ask that you let us know if anything changes. We may also ask you to fill out a new form if you haven’t filled one out for a while. So as you can see, health forms aren’t required because we’re nosey but rather because we want to ensure your exercise is as safe and enjoyable as possible!