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Preparing to teach – space, equipment and environment considerations
Irwin and Morgan risk stratification tool
This tool takes the form of a simple traffic light system highlighting the categories of risk as low, medium and high. See appendix.
It’s your responsibility to risk assess the exercise environment. The instructor should be aware of how many participants can comfortably fit into the space. Participants should be able to walk two steps forward and two to the side without interfering with another participant. An occasional obstacle you will face as an instructor will be pillars and columns in undesirable places. For safety reasons these might require you to adapt you group exercise class e.g. if you are including travelling routines, or if you need your participants to be able to see you/your demonstrations. The number of participants will affect the shape and structure of the exercise class. Preferably this will be known prior to the class; some centres insist participant’s book in advance which assists the instructor in organising the space with consideration to numbers. The type of flooring in the studio should be considered when planning. If it’s a sprung wooden floor (compared to a solid concrete surface) you can incorporate impact into the routines as the wood allows for some of the impact to be absorbed. For body conditioning classes you might consider using body bars, dumbbells, barbells, benches, steps and rubber tubes. The key point here is to check that you have enough equipment for the participants and that you have considered the implications of people performing the exercises freely without interfering with other participants. Exercise mats need to be checked for cleanliness and must be in good condition. In an ideal situation, participants bring their own mats or place a towel over the top.
It’s the instructor’s responsibility to ensure that all the equipment is in a safe working condition. It is advisable that the manufacturer’s manual is adhered to for each piece of equipment (particularly music machines). All equipment should be periodically inspected for cleanliness and damage. Any unsafe equipment should be marked, or preferably removed. The sound equipment should be easily accessible and in good working order. The instructor must ensure that any trailing cables are kept away from the class. Water bottles should be placed away from all electrical equipment. Music should be prepared before the class. There is nothing more frustrating than having come prepared for a class only to be delayed while the instructor is frantically sorting CDs. Many instructors are now using MP3 players as all the music can be stored in one place and playlists can be managed easily. Part of being professional is ensuring that the environment is left in an acceptable condition after use. The instructor should ensure that all equipment used is left in a clean and tidy state. Mats should be rotated to ensure the same ones are not being used all the time. Damaged equipment must be taken out of use and reported to a manager or appropriate person.
Principles of planning and delivering group exercise | Manual | Version 1.0 © YMCA Awards 2018 17
