Health Fitness Professional

The field of health coaching offers a truly exciting and rewarding opportunity for individuals who are passionate about health and wellness to actively collaborate with clients, assisting them in unlocking their full potential to live healthy lifestyles. From managing stress and setting goals to eating healthy and regularly engaging in physical activity, the health coach serves the unique role of empowering people to take ownership of their own health, and to discover their own motivation for lasting behavior change. This course is designed to give you both the knowledge and skills needed to assess a client’s lifestyle behaviors and then support them through behavior change. This course is designed to help you prepare for the ACE Health Coach Certification exam.

Prerequisites: Completion of 25 credit hours of courses in Health Fitness Professional/Exercise Science, Allied Health Care

Designed to help prepare students to take and successfully pass the ACE Personal Trainer Certification Exam.

This course examines the dimensions of health and wellness with a focus on restorative exercise, injury prevention, optimal nutrition and stress management. Students participate in self-assessments to understand functional movement patterns, optimal nutrition, risk stratification and various modalities of exercise. An emphasis will be placed on understanding common injuries associated with occupational demands and completing specific functional and occupational assessments that are the foundation for strength recommendations and functional restorative exercises. Students will gain a deeper understanding of risk stratification for weight, blood pressure and cholesterol and will learn wellness strategies to improve and maintain overall health.

An introduction to the core sciences specifically tailored to the practice of being a fitness professional. These sciences include Human Anatomy, Exercise Physiology, Applied Kinesiology, Nutrition, and Physiology of Training. Basic knowledge gained in this course sets the foundation for future in-depth study and prepares students for the science requirements of national certification exams. Prerequisite: Placement into ENGL110M.

This course will provide the Health Fitness Professional with a background in general and exercise nutrition, energy balance and weight management concepts while emphasizing the use of practical information to help guide clients towards healthier lifestyle choices. Through examining the role nutrition plays in health, fitness and exercise performance and investigation of current nutrition trends and research, the Health Fitness Professional will be able to sort through nutritional misinformation so that they may provide clients with sound nutritional coaching within their scope of practice.Prerequisites: Placement into ENGL110M and placement into MATH145M.

As an introduction to various organizations and careers within the Health Fitness Profession, during off-campus site visits students will have the opportunity to observe and question professionals employed in various Health Fitness settings including personal training studios, public and private fitness centers, corporate fitness facilities, cardiac rehabilitation, physical therapy, sports medicine and health education/wellness programs. In-class lectures will focus on professional responsibilities including scope of practice, communication, leadership, behavior change, legal issues and business fundamentals. Prerequisite: Placement into ENGL110M.

This course will introduce students to the skills and responsibilities required to develop a professional relationship with prospective clients. The focus will be on building client rapport and initial information gathering through the use of various health forms and lifestyle questionnaires. Students will learn how to administer health assessments such as BMI, resting heart rate, blood pressure and body composition. Prerequisite: Placement into MATH145M Corequisite: HFIT111M or permission of the instructor.

This course focuses on the interrelationship of the respiratory, cardiovascular and metabolic systems at rest and during physical activity related to health, fitness and performance. Theory knowledge will be applied in hands on lab work including, maximal and submaximal assessment of the pulmonary, cardiovascular and metabolic systems and the development of individualized cardiorespiratory programs designed to facilitate specific physiological adaptation. Assessments and programming tools will be utilized in the different cardiorespiratory training phases to progress clients from sedentary to performance level. Prerequisites: HFIT105M with a grade of “C” or better; HFIT109M.

This course will focus on the nutritional coaching process and the role and scope of practice of the Health Fitness Professional in guiding clients to reach their health fitness goals. The course concentrates on hands-on learning in which students will experience leading clients through the nutritional coaching process, from gathering information and conducting assessments to helping client’s implement and achieve S.M.A.R.T goals through the use of behavior change and nutritional strategies. Whether it is guiding clients in making healthier food choices or incorporating physical activity into their day, students will learn how to help client’s turn small changes into long term habits. Prerequisites: HFIT109M, HFIT112M.

This course introduces relevant concepts in functional assessment and training, with the focus on conducting basic postural and flexibility assessments. Students will learn to conduct effective movement screens on their clients and then designs restorative exercise programs to address existing postural compensations. Students will also gain a deeper understanding of the mechanics of movement, learn how to successfully condition the core region and train primary movement patterns of the human body. Prerequisites: HFIT105M with a grade of“C”or better; HFIT112M.

This course will focus on the loading phase of resistance training exercise and program design. The emphasis of theory will be placed on resistance training principles, assessments, program design and implementation. In lab students will learn and teach safe and effective exercise techniques as well as progressions utilizing many different modes of resistance exercise including but not limited to free weight, cables, tubing, bands and balance oriented equipment. Prerequisites: HFIT105M, HFIT135M.

This course is designed to prepare students to understand how group exercise, small group training and effective leadership techniques can address the physical and psychosocial needs that various populations face throughout the lifespan. Through discussion, observation, teaching lab and a service-learning experience, students will put theory into practice and develop confidence in the ability to design and modify group exercise programs and communicate effectively to motivate participants. Prerequisites: HFIT105M, HFIT112M, HFIT113M, HFIT135M, HFIT213M, HFIT220M.

This course focuses on the science of sports conditioning and training of energy pathways and then delivers a systematic approach to designing sports conditioning sessions and programs. It covers skill-related parameters of fitness (i.e., balance, agility, coordination, speed, reactivity and power). Students will learn how to tailor sports conditioning drills for specific population groups along with progressions in intensity, complexity and movement that are suitable to their skill and conditioning level. Whether for fun or performance, the exercises, drills and movement patterns learned will add a new dimension to programming. Prerequisites: HFIT105M, HFIT113M, HFIT135M, HFIT213M.

This capstone course allows students to develop hands on skills related to successful employment and business development as a health wellness professional. Students will focus on the job search process including identification of skills and interest, researching job opportunities, resume writing, interviewing techniques and networking. Skills needed for job retention, developing and maintaining a health wellness business will also be included. Students will gain hands on experience in their area of interests through community service, projects, observations and work experiences within the MCC fitness center and local businesses. Prerequisites: HFIT100M, HFIT105M, HFIT111M, HFIT112M, HFIT113M, HFIT135M, HFIT213M, HFIT220M, HFIT225M, HFIT230M. Corequisites: HFIT218M, HFIT240M or permission of instructor.

This course will provide the students with the opportunity to practice and refine effective verbal and non-verbal communication and rapport building skills with a diverse population in a work-related setting through volunteer hours at a community wellness facility. Students will learn and create ways at which they can be effective at enhancing a positive client experience aiding in adherence and retention. Students are required to complete volunteer paperwork which includes background check prior to registering. Students will be required to have up to date CPR/AED certification and provide transportation to/from the facility. Prerequisites: HFIT112M, HFIT113M, HFIT135M, HFIT213M.

Focuses on the integration of theoretical and applied aspects of human motion. Applied anatomy and analysis of exercise from a biomechanical and kinesiological perspective are the major themes. A weekly laboratory session is congruent with the theoretical component. Prerequisites: BIOL106M and BIOL107M or BIOL110M, HFIT105M, HFIT135M, HFIT213M.

The course will focus on the Health Fitness Professional’s role in working with clients who have experienced and/or suffer from common musculoskeletal injuries. Primary emphasis will be placed on how to recognize, address and implement pre and post-rehabilitative strategies to help limit exposure to further injury allowing clients to maintain physical activity. Prerequisites: HFIT105M, HFIT112M, HFIT135M, HFIT213M, HFIT230M.