When developing your programs early on in your instructing career, put in as much detail as you can – planning is the key!
- Make sure you have considered both modifications and extensions – this will ensure that everyone in your class is being catered for.
- Don’t include too many new exercises into one class, this will potentially just confuse participants – drip feed your new ideas.
- Allow enough time for participants to settle into a movement/exercise – jumping from one exercise to another too quickly won’t allow the participant to get maximum benefit from the movement e.g. increases in heart rate or developing the required co-ordination to perform the exercise.
- Adversely, don’t leave participants doing an exercise for too long – this may result in fatigue in specific muscles and/or boredom.
- Where possible, hop in the water and run through your exercises – see if they flow and also get a feel yourself for just how difficult they are…or are not.
- Practice demonstrating your exercises in a mirror – is your technique sound? Consider what cues you will use for your exercises – verbal and physical.
- Work in all of the different planes of movement – it’s very easy to have a heavy focus on the sagittal.
- For older clients, keep in mind the daily functional movements they regularly use and build your programs around these.
- Keep a balance of short and long lever work.
- Incorporate movement/traveling into your program – don’t allow your clients to get glued to the spot!
Julie Stevens
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