Design an Exercise Program for a Special Population

For the Final Project in this course, you will act as a Certified Fitness Specialist who will design an exercise program for a special population of your choice. You must choose one of the special populations discussed in the course text. Review the Required Resources for Week Five prior to completing this assignment. (Assume your client has been cleared by his or her physician to participate in an exercise program; therefore, you do not need to complete a preparticipation health screening for the individual).

Part I

1. Create your client for this assignment, providing demographic information (i.e., gender, age, height, weight, and health history).
2. Identify the compromising condition of your special population.
3. Compare and contrast the compromising condition of the human body in your special population to those without this compromising condition. (For example, compare and contrast the function of the human body in an individual who has arthritis compared to someone who does not). Why does this condition make the individual compromised in regards to physical activity/exercise?
4. Explain the chronic physiological and psychological benefits of exercise specific to your special population and health condition.

Part II

1. Choose a cardiovascular health-related physical fitness test described in the text that you would use to assess the beginning fitness level of your client. Pretend to complete the fitness test on the individual and provide results from the test to use as a baseline to create the individualized exercise program.
2. Design an individualized cardiovascular fitness program for your client using the FITT-VP principles. Clearly define intensity levels by the MET level method, Heart Rate Reserve (HRR), or Rating of Perceived Exertion.
3. Integrate basic nutrition guidelines that your special population should follow along with his or her exercise regimen (i.e., daily caloric intake, fat intake).
4. Develop a chart to show progression of the exercise program for the initial week and two aIDitional weeks to demonstrate how you would progress the client. (Progression is not necessary in each of the FITT principles. Some clients, especially special population groups, may only be able to increase their frequency or time in the first few weeks before improving their intensity).

The Final Project

• Must be a minimum of eight double-spaced pages in length (not including title and reference pages) and formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.
• Use APA headings throughout the assignment.
• Must include a separate title page with the following:
  • Title of project
  • Student’s name
  • Course name and number
  • Instructor’s name
  • Date submitted
• Must use at least four scholarly sources in aIDition to the course text.
• Must document all sources in APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.
• Must include a separate references page that is formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.