My "Field Exposure" at Seasons Fitness

I just completed a 3 day "Field Exposure Program" at my gym, Seasons Fitness here in Hong Kong. It is a unique program where they allow "trainers-to-be" a chance to work alongside a mentor-trainer for 3 shifts and at the end of it, design a program for a selected member of the gym.

The first 2 days, I had to conduct "Fitness Interviews" with 10 gym members. Some of the questions include:
- What type of exercises do you do at the gym?
- How many time a week do you come to the gym
- What are your fitness goals?
- Do you participate in any of the classes?
- Do you play any sports?
- Do you have any prior injuries that prevent you from doing certain exercises?

From this information, my mentor Henry Chan, who has been a PT for around 15 years, chose one out of the ten members interviewed for me to design a program for.

On the third day, I presented my program for a member who experiences knee pain while running on a treadmill. Both Henry and Sam, the Fitness Manager, were present to critique my program design and give me tips and advice about making it in the industry in HK. They pointed out that while my program started off very good, it progressed the client faster than I should because, well... I have to remember that physical fitness may not be the client's priority, so working them too hard may work against me as a trainer. Makes sense, especially since Seasons is located inside the Citibank building and 95% of the members are bankers!

While I won't be working at Seasons anytime soon (they are fully staffed as far as male PT's go), this experience has taught me a lot and is another entry on my CV (resume). This week I'm going to have to put in some footwork around HK and find me a gig :)