PFT Certification Course, Los Angeles, California, December, 2015
There are many factors that can influence a firefighter’s movement patterns (e.g. strength, endurance, aerobic capacity, awareness, perceived risk, experience, coaching, motivation, work/sleep schedule, etc.). The role of a Peer Fitness Trainer (PFT) is not to diagnose the underlying reason why a client has performed in a
particular manner, but instead to simply recognize whether or not select key motions have been used. The most experienced coaches cannot see what muscles are working nor can they make any specific judgments based entirely on observations made during one activity. The purpose of evaluating clients’ capacity is to identify an appropriate starting point for training. This module will discuss the factors that can influence a client’s capacity, and review the advantages and disadvantages of formal and informal assessment protocols.