Program Implementation
Program Implementation tests the delivery side of training: screening, instruction, cueing, safety, monitoring, motivation, and documentation. The exam asks what you do in the session, not just what you write on the card.
Core rules
- Screen before training: health history, readiness questionnaire, risk factors when indicated, and movement screening.
- Teach one or two external cues at a time; 'sit back' or 'push the floor away' often works better than a long anatomical explanation.
- Warm up specifically for the session, then progress from stable to unstable, simple to complex, and low to high intensity.
- Monitor effort with RPE or heart rate, and document attendance, loads, adverse responses, and progression.
- Regress before you coach through pain: reduce load, range, speed, or complexity.
Worked example
A client's knees collapse inward during a goblet squat. You notice it at 12 kg but not at 8 kg. Rather than yelling 'knees out' repeatedly, reduce to 8 kg, cue 'spread the floor' for two sets, and add a band around the knees for feedback. If alignment holds, return to 10 kg next session. Reasoning: the fault appears under a specific load, so the teaching point is control at a manageable load; adding complexity before control is a coaching error, not a motivation problem.
Traps
Do not cue five things at once. Do not continue a session through sharp joint pain, dizziness, or chest pain. Do not rely on verbal instruction alone; demonstrate and use tactile or visual feedback when appropriate. Do not skip documentation, because without records both progression and risk management suffer.