Fitness Assessment and Program Design
What this domain tests
Fitness Assessment and Program Design tests screening, test selection and order, interpretation, and safe program construction. The exam favors practical decisions: what to measure first, what a result means, and how to apply FITT-VP.
Core rules and concepts
- Screen before testing: informed consent, PAR-Q+, health history, medications, risk factors, and red flags. Refer when symptoms suggest medical clearance is needed.
- Standardize conditions: same time of day, equipment, cueing, and rest. Test order generally moves from resting measures (heart rate, blood pressure, height, weight, waist) to body composition, cardiorespiratory fitness, muscular strength and endurance, then flexibility.
- Heart rate: 220 − age is a rough estimate with about ±10–12 beats/min error; Tanaka is 208 − 0.7 × age. Karvonen target = (HRmax − resting HR) × intensity + resting HR.
- Program design: needs analysis, SMART goals, warm-up, conditioning, cool-down. Cardio: 150 min/week moderate or 75 min/week vigorous. Resistance: 2–3 days/week, 2–4 sets, 8–12 reps for general fitness, 48 h recovery per muscle group. Flexibility: 2–3 days/week.
- Progression: increase volume or load by roughly 5–10% when technique and recovery hold; use periodization with macro-, meso-, and microcycles and planned deloads.
Worked example
A 40-year-old client has a resting heart rate of 70 and wants 60–70% heart-rate reserve. HRmax by Tanaka is 208 − 28 = 180. HR reserve = 180 − 70 = 110. Target at 60% = 110 × 0.60 + 70 = 136; at 70% = 147. A sensible start is 3 days/week of full-body resistance training, 2 sets of 10–12 reps at RPE 6–7, plus 150 min/week of moderate cardio.
Traps that cost marks
Do not max-test before screening; do not treat BMI as body-fat percentage; do not prescribe spot reduction; do not confuse sets with reps; do not progress every session; and do not omit the cool-down or recovery week.