Assessing Justin 1

Leticia R. Jensen

Professor Long Nguyen

EF310 Current Trends in Exercise and Fitness – Aging Well Across the Life Span

April 08, 2017

Unit 3 Assignment:

Assessing Justin

The Physical Activity Readiness Questionnaire (PAR-Q) and the Health Screening

Questionnaire (HSQ) are two forms designed to assist fitness professionals in determining the

risk level of new clientele and to determine whether they should require a consent from their

physician before creating a fitness program for them. Knowing additional information on a

client’s personal and close family history, current medications being taken, and current activity

level will all give better insight to the level of caution they will take with their client. For this

assignment, I will be using Justin’s information to fill out the PAR-Q and the HSQ forms and

determine his level of risk, level of fitness, and areas to target in order to improve his personal

fitness and health and to assist him on his path of making the football team as an offensive

lineman next school year.

I will begin with the PAR-Q, which is specifically created for persons from the ages of

fifteen to sixty-nine. Justin is thirteen years old and outside of the age bracket for this form, but

his parents have informed me that all seven questions are answered as “no.” The seven questions
 Assessing Justin 2

on this form will tell me if I should require a physician’s consent, which I would not in Justin’s

case, but I would follow the recommendations to start slow and progressively increase his

training while also evaluating his improvements. I would update this form every twelve months

(Howley, 2012, p. 19-20).

Next, I would fill out the Health Screening Questionnaire (HSQ) which is a more in depth

look at Justin’s family history as well as his own. Without knowing all the answers to complete

this form, I would make sure to check any medications that he was taking, check his blood

pressure, cholesterol, and family history due to the fact that everyone in his family is obese.

Based on the information from this form and without knowing more specifics, I would consider

Justin a moderate risk client because his BMI is 30 and he is currently physically inactive

(Howley, 2012, p. 22-23). I would proceed with a fitness program because his physician stated

that he would like to see Justin’s health, weight, and activity improve. I would update this form

along with fitness testing, as recommended, three months after beginning a training program

with Justin, and then twice a year after (Howley, 2012, p.29).

Once my initial assessment has been completed, I would move forward in creating a

suitable program for Justin based on two factors: recommended exercise guidelines for his age

group and cohort and his current activity level. Based on his age, the minimum activity he should

be partaking in would be a mixture of aerobic exercise three days a week, muscle and strength

training three days a week, and bone strengthening exercise three days a week, totaling an hour

every day, according to the 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines. Justin is not currently meeting the

minimum requirement as he spends most of his time with a tutor studying scholastically, playing
 Assessing Justin 3

video games with his friends, and is not encouraged to play outside by his brothers or parents.

Justin has minimal physical activity at school except for occasional fitness testing and when he

was on the football team this past year he experienced very little active time on the field.

Based on Justin’s assessment and current routine, I would recommend that the initial goal

would be to meet his minimum guidelines for physical activity. Because he likes to play sports

related video games with his friends, I would challenge him to play real sports with his friends

outside or in a gym instead of on the couch. I would recommend and increase to more vigorous

activity like sprints, lunges, box jumps, squats, push-ups, sit-ups, pull-ups, jumping, and distance

running (Morris, 2001), which he can do on his own or with his friends with no extra equipment

and these activities will help to improve his football skills. This is a time replacement and will

not interfere with his study and tutoring time. I would also encourage Justin to continue cooking

healthy meals and try to get the whole family involved to improve his support system and the

health of the family. The combination of proper diet and exercise will maximize his weight loss

goals.

As Justin’s fitness level increases he should start incorporating more challenging and

sports specific training and add weights and resistance in order to meet his goal of getting on the

football team as an offensive lineman. Working out at a gym would be the most helpful to

increase his total body strength and allow for more specific training, but I would recommend that

he have guidance and oversight by a coach or fitness professional throughout his weight loss and

activity level progress.

 References

2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans Summary. (n.d.). Retrieved April 02, 2017,

from https://health.gov/paguidelines/guidelines/summary.aspx

Howley, E. T., & Thompson, D. L. (2012). Fitness Professional's Handbook (6th ed.).

Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.

Morris, S. (2011, September 23). Seven Steps for Building the Perfect High School Lineman.

Retrieved April 08, 2017, from https://www.elitefts.com/education/training/seven-steps

-for-building-the-perfect-high-school-lineman/