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Students Get Fitness Education At Metro State

DENVER (CBS4) - As unemployment stays high, many workers are reinventing themselves by going back to school. Metropolitan State College has a program that's training the next generation of fitness professionals.

Resting blood pressure is one of the numbers that doctors say you should know for your health, along with cholesterol and blood sugar. Students at Metropolitan State College say body mass index and aerobic capacity numbers are also important to know to be truly healthy.

"It's important to find a baseline so that we know what we're working with," said Tara Knight, a student in the Adult Fitness & Exercise Science program at Metro State.

Knight and her classmate, Sara Fox, showed CBS4 how to do a full fitness assessment on the Polar Tri-Fit computer program.

"So what it does is it gives us information so we can write an exercise prescription for them," Knight explained.

Fitness assessments is one of the skills these students learn as part of their degree. Skills they'll learn as they work with clients in their careers.

"There's a big misunderstanding about when someone gets a degree in exercise science… a lot of people think we're all going to graduate and go be personal trainers and that's just not the case at all," Knight said.

Knight and her Prof. Joe Quatrochi say there are a wide variety of jobs available to fitness professionals. They'll work in rehab facilities, and wellness programs. They'll work with children and senior citizens. Whatever these students choose to do, they will have a foundation of knowledge in anatomy, physiology, and kinesiology behind them, bringing the full force of science into the gym.

"Not everyone who represents themselves as a fitness professional have undergone what these students are going through," said Quatrochi.

Written for CBSDenver.com by CBS4 Special Projects Producer Libby Smith

Related Links:

Adult Fitness & Exercise Science Major at Metro State

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