What types of practical exams can I choose?
Depending on the training and certification courses that you have completed you may choose the following exams:
- RM1 & RM2
- RR1 & RR2
- RM1 & RR1 (RMR1)
- RM1, RR1, RM2 & RR2 (RMR1 & RMR2)
- RM1, RR1, RCCB1 (RMR1 & RCCB1)
- RM1, RR1, RM2, RR2 & RCCB1 (RMR1, RMR2 and RCCB1)
- Full Certification
Additional information
- Exam material is cumulative
- You must receive a score of 80% in order to achieve certification
- Different clients may be used if the exam is longer than 1.5 hours
- You must provide an appropriate patient for your examination
What is the best preparation for the practical portion of my exam?
In addition to fully understanding the material conceptually and physically reviewing the exercises, the best preparation for the practical exam is the practice teaching of as many different people as possible (e.g. family, friends, classmates) to apply your knowledge, adapt it to many different body types, improve your teaching skills, and become comfortable with your teaching experience. Practice teaching within the specified timelines and meeting at least the minimum number of exercises.
What is required prior to sitting for my exam?
RM1, RM2, RR1 and RR2
- 18 hours class instruction and supervised teaching (each course)
- minimum 6 hours observation
- minimum 10 hours physical review
- minimum 10 hours practice teaching
RCCB1
- 24 hours class instruction and supervised teaching
- minimum 10 hours observation
- minimum 15 hours physical review
- minimum 10 hours practice teaching
RCCB2
- 18 hours class instruction and supervised teaching
- minimum 10 hours observation
- minimum 10 hours physical review
- minimum 10 hours practice teaching
Completion of all required course hours; in class, observation, physical review and practice teaching for each course. You will be required to submit logs to your examiner on the date of your exam. If the student fails to submit all the logs within 7 days from the exam, the entire exam will be void.
What will I be asked to do for my practical exam?
The time allotment for each practical exam is
- RM1 & RM2: 1.5 hours
- RR1 & RR2: 1.5 hours
- RM1 & RR1 (RMR1): 1.5 hours
- RM1, RR1, RM2 & RR2 (RMR1 & RMR2): 2 hours
- RM1, RR1 & RCCB1 (RMR1 & RCCB1): 2 hours
- RM1, RR1, RM2, RR2 & RCCB1 (RMR1, RMR2 and RCCB1): 2 hours
- Full Certification: 2 hours
Information gathering (5–10 minutes)
In the initial five minutes of the exam you should clearly describe the case history of your subject. You will be required to discuss the following:
- Relevant demographics of the patient (age, social, workplace demands)
- Diagnosis or movement dysfunction
- Relevant diagnostic assessment information
- Pain history – severity, irritability, nature, provoking movements/positions
- Contraindications/precautions of movements/positions/loads
- Functional impairments
- Relevant contributing factors that should consider:
- Postural contributions
- Areas of gives and restrictions
- Form closure, force closure, motor control and emotions/awareness dysfunction
- Local and global system muscle dysfunction
Stated focus (5–10 minutes)
Based on your case history. You are also required to provide a goals and stated focus of workout. You should consider the following:
- Rehabilitation goals
- Specific positions or movement patterns that you will be avoiding
- Specific positions or movements patterns that you will be facilitating
- Specific props and modifications you will use
- Specific Basic Principles that will be focused on
- General description of the muscles that you determine should be the focus of the workout and other areas of concern (range of motion, gives and restrictions, facilitating or inhibiting local and global muscle systems) and how you will address them
Five Basic Principles (5–10 minutes)
Next you will take your subject through the Five Basic Principles in proper sequence, using clear imagery and movement cues to help the subject properly achieve biomechanical body awareness. You must clearly explain why each of the principles is important and demonstrate the proper cueing and correcting of the subject.
- Breathing
- In through the nose, out through the mouth with pursed lips
- Emphasis is on 3-D breath especially into the posterior and lateral aspects of the rib cage, because these tend to be under utilized areas
- Exhaling deeply can also help activate the deep support muscles by engaging the transversus abdominis
- Explanation of the action of the transversus and how it stabilizes the lumbo-pelvic region, especially in neutral position
- The gentle contraction of the deep pelvic floor muscles also aids in firing the transversus abdominis
- This breath pattern helps avoid unnecessary tension in the neck and shoulders
- This breath pattern helps relaxation
- The rib cage opens out and up during an inhale, promoting spinal extension and closes in and down during exhale, promoting spinal flexion
- Pelvic placement
- In neutral pelvic placement, the natural lordotic curve of lumbar spine is present
- ASIS and Pubic Symphysis lie approximately in a horizontal plane drawn parallel to the floor when lying supine
- Neutral promotes good shock absorption and efficient movement patterns throughout body
- Neutral is usually used during closed kinetic chain activities
- Imprinted position is a slight posterior pelvic tilt with slight lumbar flexion cannot be maintained and often used during open kinetic chain activities
- Imprint involves shortening of obliques without activation of glutes
- Rib Cage placement
- Emphasis is put on breathing into the posterior and lateral aspects of the rib cage
- Abdominal wall attaches to the lower ribs. Be aware of maintaining abdominal engagement and not popping the ribs
- Abdominals stabilize rib cage and therefore spine during movement of the arms
- Used to keep the spine neutral and stable
- Scapular movement and stabilization
- Scapula lacks bony attachment to the ribs and spine (only attaching to clavicle), thereby providing mobility to the upper limb, which must be counterbalanced with stability
- It is important to balance the surrounding muscles and to control the movement of the scapulae
- The scapulae should lie flat on the rib cage and glide across it without winging
- Protraction, retraction, elevation, depression, upward rotation and downward rotation are available movements
- Stabilizing the scapulae is necessary during the initiation of every exercise
- Head and cervical placement
- Cervical spine should hold its natural curve (anterior convex) and the skull should be balanced directly above the shoulders in sitting or standing
- Pads or pillows may be needed in supine or prone to prevent hyperextension of the cervical spine
- Cervical spine continues the line of the thoracic spine in neutral, during flexion, extension, lateral flexion and rotation
- Cranio-vertebral flexion, flexing the cranium on the first two vertebrae of the cervical spine, not jamming the chin into the chest, occurs initially when flexing the upper torso from a supine position
- Use these methods to (dynamically) stabilize the cervical area and avoid strain
The Workout (remaining time – see table below)
The remainder of the practical exam is dedicated to taking your subject through an appropriate workout. The time allotted for the workout portion of the exam will not allow for the completion of all exercises in the full repertoire. You must ensure that the exercises chosen represent a well-rounded workout that address all aspects of movement (i.e. flexion, extension, rotation, etc.) and cover the minimum required number of exercises, while being appropriate to your ‘patient’.
RM1 & RM2
Approx duration: 90 min
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It is important to incorporate the Fitness Circle®, Flex-Band® and Arc Barrel into the workout
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- Matwork
- Min 7 RM1 exercises
- Min 7 RM2 exercises
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RR1 & RR2
Approx duration: 90 min
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- Reformer
- Min 7 RR1 exercises
- Min 7 RR2 exercises
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RM1 & RR1 (RMR1)
Approx duration: 90 min
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It is important to incorporate the Fitness Circle®, Flex-Band® and Arc Barrel into the workout
|
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RM1, RR1, RM2 & RR2 (RMR1 & RMR2)
Approx duration: 120 min
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- RM1 & RR1 (RMR1)
50–55 min
- Matwork: 25–30 min
- Reformer: 25–30 min
-
RM2 & RR2 (RMR2)
50–55 min
- Matwork: 25–30 min
- Reformer: 25–30 min
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- Matwork
- Min 7 RM1 exercises
- Min 7 RM2 exercises
- Reformer
- Min 7 RR1 exercises
- Min 7 RR2 exercises
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RM1, RR1 & RCCB1 (RMR1 & RCCB1)
Approx duration: 120 min
|
- RM1 & RR1 (RMR1)
50–55 min
- Matwork: 20 min
- Reformer: 30 min
- RM1 & RR1 (RMR1)
50–55 min
- Matwork: 20 min
- Reformer: 30 min
- RCCB1
50–55 min
- Cadillac: 15 min
- Stability Chair: 15 min
- Ladder Barrel: 10 min
- Spine Corrector: 5 min
- Arc Barrel: 5 min
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- Matwork
- Reformer
- Cadillac
- Stability Chair
- Ladder Barrel
- Spine Corrector
- Arc Barrel
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RM1, RR1, RM2, RR2 & RCCB1 (RMR1, RMR2 and RCCB1)
Approx duration: 120 min
|
- RM1, RR1, RM2 & RR2 (RMR1 & RMR2)
50–55 min
- Matwork: 20 min
- Reformer: 30 min
- RCCB1
50–55 min
- Cadillac: 15 min
- Stability Chair: 15 min
- Ladder Barrel: 10 min
- Spine Corrector: 5 min
- Arc Barrel: 5 min
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- Matwork
- Min 4 RMR1 exercises
- Min 3 RMR2 exercises
- Reformer
- Min 6 RMR1 exercises
- Min 3 RMR2 exercises
- Cadillac
- Stability Chair
- Ladder Barrel
- Spine Corrector
- Arc Barrel
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Full Certification
Approx duration: 120 min
|
- RM1, RR1, RM2 & RR2 (RMR1 & RMR2)
50–55 min
- Matwork: 20 min
- Reformer: 30 min
- RCCB1 &RCCB2
50–55 min
- Cadillac: 15 min
- Stability Chair: 15 min
- Ladder Barrel: 10 min
- Spine Corrector: 5 min
- Arc Barrel: 5 min
|
- Matwork
- Min 4 RMR1 exercises
- Min 3 RMR2 exercises
- Reformer
- Min 6 RMR1 exercises
- Min 3 RMR2 exercises
- Cadillac
- Min 2 RCCB1 exercises
- Min 2 RCCB2 exercises
- Stability Chair
- Min 2 RCCB1 exercises
- Min 2 RCCB2 exercises
- Ladder Barrel
- Min 1 RCCB1 exercises
- Min 1 RCCB2 exercises
- Spine Corrector
- Min 1 RCCB1 exercises
- Min 1 RCCB2 exercises
- Arc Barrel
- Min 1 RCCB1 exercises
- Min 1 RCCB2 exercises
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You should incorporate props whenever necessary in order to modify the exercises appropriately. If exercise variations are being used, you should state the goal of the exercise and the reason for the modification. During the practical exam, if done in person, expect to be questioned periodically on the exercises and your choices. The test is designed in this way to evaluate the depth of your understanding of the exercises and how to administer them to your subject.
How will I be evaluated?
The following areas are evaluated
- Reported case history
- Goals and stated focus of workout
- Understanding of the Five Basic Principles – application in orientation session and to all exercises
- Ability to cue – use of verbal skills including imagery, kinesthetic cues including palpation, and demonstration where necessary to aid in guiding the subject through exercises and transitions
- Ability to correct – use of verbal skills including imagery, kinesthetic cues including palpation, and demonstration where necessary to ensure correct alignment and proper execution of exercises
- Programming skills/Ability to modify for subject – correct rationale for exercises chosen, appropriate exercise progressions and applying adaptations and modifications per individual as necessary
- Knowledge of content – name of exercises, start positions, breath and movement
- Teaching manner – attitude, motivational and rapport with individual
- Rhythm and pace – competing minimum standard of number of exercises, transitions and flow of workout, pace of exercise appropriate to individual
Note
- Expect to be questioned periodically on the exercises and your choices. This is to evaluate the depth of your understanding of the exercises and how to administer them. After working on each individual piece of equipment you may be asked to teach a few exercises of the examiner’s choosing to “spot check” your knowledge of the entire repertoire. Completed Observation and Practice Logs must be brought to the practical exam as exams will not be processed unless accompanied by these logs. If the student fails to submit all the logs within 7 days from the exam, the entire exam will be void.
RM1 & RM2
Since we would prefer that you use real clients with real injuries for your exam, and we know that they may not have the endurance for a full exam then a different client may be used for the RM2 repertoire, on a different occasion. Approximately 25 minutes will be allocated to complete the RM2 portion. The Five Basic Principles only need to be demonstrated with the first client but a written description of the case history and focus of workout will need to be provided for the second client prior to the commencement of the exam.
RR1 & RR2
Since we would prefer that you use real clients with real injuries for your exam, and we know that they may not have the endurance for a full exam then a different client may be used for the RR2 repertoire, on a different occasion. Approximately 25 minutes will be allocated to complete the RR2 portion. The Five Basic Principles only need to be demonstrated with the first client but a written description of the case history and focus of workout will need to be provided for the second client prior to the commencement of the exam.
RM1, RR1, RM2 & RR2 (RMR1 & RMR2)
Since we would prefer that you use real clients with real injuries for your exam, and we know that they may not have the endurance for a full exam then a different client may be used for the RMR2 repertoire, on a different occasion Approximately 35–40 minutes each. The Five Basic Principles only need to be demonstrated with the first client but a written description of the case history and focus of workout will need to be provided for the second client prior to the commencement of the exam.
RM1, RR1, RM2, RR2 & RCCB1 (RMR1, RMR2 and RCCB1)
Since we would prefer that you use real clients with real injuries for your exam, and we know that they may not have the endurance for a full exam then a different client may be used for the RMR2 repertoire, on a different occasion. Approximately 25 minutes will be allocated to complete the RMR2 portion. The Five Basic Principles only need to be demonstrated with the first client but a written description of the case history and focus of workout will need to be provided for the second client prior to the commencement of the exam.
Full Certification
Since we would prefer that you use real clients with real injuries for your exam, and we know that they may not have the endurance for a full exam then a different client may be used for the RMR1 & RCCB1 and the RMR2 & RCCB2 repertoire, on two different occasions. Approximately 50–55 minutes each. The Five Basic Principles only need to be demonstrated with the first client but a written description or short verbal case history and focus of workout will need to be provided for the second client prior to the commencement of the exam.