My typical day starts at 8am. I’ll do some safety checks, check my emails, etc. Working with a team of nurses, dietitians, and physiologists, we’ll complete a patient handover. We’ll discuss the patients’ needs, health status and progress. The clinics and patients’ assessments for the day are also presented to the team.
There’ll typically be between four to six fitness assessments per morning. I’ll be checking medical histories and assessing patients’ risks to exercise. I’ll also discuss the patient’s goals and activity levels. An exercise test is then performed, usually a cycle or walk test while monitoring cardiovascular vital signs (ECGs, blood pressure, heart rate). Once the test is complete, the patient will start the exercise I prescribe.
In the afternoon, we deliver and supervise two exercise classes lasting 90 minutes. There could be up to 30 patients in each class. The classes consist of 15-minute warm up, up to 40 minutes of individually prescribed exercise and 10-minute cool down. Our role is to provide a safe environment for effective exercise.
The day will typically end with me adding the results of fitness assessments and exercise classes to a patient’s record.