Express Strength

Semester Evaluation Report

Ashlee Yamashita

Mission Statement:
To help participants feel strong and confident by improving overall
body strength.
Goals:
Improve upper body strength by 10% as measured by bicep curl
test.
Improve lower body strength and endurance by 15% as measure
by timed squats in 1 minute.
Attendance goal of 75% total participants each week.
The purpose of this class was to increase overall strength, in your lunch
break to help participants feel energized for the second part of their
day as well as increasing overall health and wellness.

Number of Participants

Number of Consistent Participants

12
10
8
6
4
2
0

Month

I started the semester with about 12 people in the class, as the

semester went on I lost quite a few participants. 2 people had some
health problems and couldnt continue the class. One person was on
my role and never showed up, I emailed and emailed her but no
response and she never came to class. I lost another participant due to
some family health problems, so she was not able to continue with the
class. The graph shows the average number of consistent participants
per month. A lot of different factors contributed to this decline in
consistent participant attendance; the fact that all of the participants
work on campus they often had meetings during their lunch time that
would prevent them from attending, I also had a couple that could not
attend class on Fridays.

Particpant Attendance Percentage per Week

Percentage

100
80
60
40
20
0

Weeks in Semester

My goal was to have an average of 75% attendance per week. I

very rarely hit that goal throughout the semester. Again, I lost
participants due to the reasons stated above, also another reason
participation was inconsistent was that a lot of the participants work in
OSH and were in the process of moving to a new building to prepare for
the tear down of OSH in spring. Some of them also got new jobs that
required them to attend training during their lunch breaks. Although I
tried my best to encourage attendance with monthly and weekly
contest for the person or people who attended class the most, I
couldnt ask them to blow off their work commitments to attend class.

1 Minute Bicep Curl

Number of Reps

40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0

Pre
Post

Participants

One of the pre and post testing parameters I did was a timed 1minute bicep curl test to assess upper body strength. My goal was to
see a 10% increase, although I didnt achieve that goal, I did see an
increase in weight they used as well as better form and technique
during the test in their post testing as compared to pre testing.
Another thing I noticed was there were greater increases in number of
repetitions performed in 1-minute based on the consistency of the
participant. For example, participants 1, 2, and 4 were my most
consistent participants throughout the semester. Although their pre
and post testing numbers arent far from each other the weights they
used were 5 pounds heavier in post than they were in pre testing.
Throughout the semester since the class was 3 days a week, I did a
day devoted to arms one day and one day devoted to legs, and the last
day was a total body workout. So they got 2 days of some kind of arm
workout out of 3 days of class. During the days dedicated to arms, I
always workout each aspect and muscle group of the arm; biceps,

triceps, deltoid, forearms, wrists, as well as some chest and upper back
work. Also 2 of my participants werent there for post testing.

1 Minute Squat
50
40
Pre

30
Number of Reps

Post

20
10
0
Participant

To assess lower body strength I decided to do a 1-minute timed

sumo squat test. I did this test because the participants are all older
and they expressed to me that sumo squats are better on their knees
and hips than normal squats so I opted for the sumo squat, and the
sumo squat uses a little more inner thigh than normal squats also. My
other goal for the class was to improve lower body strength and
endurance by 15%, I dont think I accomplished this goal, but its not
that I didnt try. As stated above, out of the 3 days per week this class
was, I did 1 upper body/arm day, 1 lower body/leg day, and 1 total
body day, so the class was getting 2 days of some kind of lower body
or leg workout. I did my total body day on Fridays mostly, and because
the attendance was very sporadic on Fridays there could have been
some differences between individuals pre and posttest numbers. Also
just in general I think that leg days tend to intimidate my class, so I
dont think they worked like they should have during the lower body
workouts.
I dont know if my high quality standards were maintained, I saw
improvements throughout the semester but I think it is hard to keep
your strength and endurance maintained if your attendance in the
class is very hit and miss. I think I saw the biggest strength gains and
maintenance in strength gains in the participants who consistently
came to class, which is to be expected. I always tried my best to make
sure everyone was progressing but there was only so much I could do,
if they didnt come to class and help in the maintenance process.
As far as accomplishing my goals for this class for the semester, I
accomplished some and not others; the explanations and assessment
of my goals are shown in the above charts.
Overall my comments from the semester evaluation were good.
Majority of the participants who responded seemed to really enjoy the
workout and expressed that they would like to make things harder,
which I did after reading the comments and the class seemed to really
respond to that. I got a lot of nice comments about how nice and
approachable I am which I thought was very nice. The participants said
I do a good job with modifications and form corrections; which I was
very happy to see because I really try to make sure they are doing
these correct to help them in the future so I was happy to see that my
efforts didnt go unnoticed.
A couple of comments surprised me a lot; the first was the
comment about not liking the warm up. Because the class is already so
short I wanted a warm up the class could just start on as soon as they
got there instead of waiting for more people to show up and have to go
over the warm up everyday. No one ever expressed to me that they

didnt like it, so it surprised me a lot to read that but soon after I fixed
the warm up and made it different everyday. The second thing that
surprised me was, about the cool down. In my opinion a cool down
should be a time to slow your body down and get everything back
down to rest and stretch the major muscle groups we used during the
exercise. I try to always do different stretches that stretch the same
muscles so it is not repetitive but there is only so many things you can
do in a cool down.
This class was honestly so fun to teach, the class was all ladies.
The age of the participants was very diverse, they ranged from I would
say 30s all the way up to about 50s, now that is just an estimate.
Majority of the participants work or worked in the same office, so the
class dynamic was great. One thing about the class I loved was they
were really up for anything and everything, whenever I wanted to try
something new or do a fun activity they were all for it. One participant
in particular, was especially great. There were a few times in the
semester where the only person to come to class was this participant,
so it gave us a chance to bond and I learned more about her and her
life and family, and she got an opportunity to get to know me a little bit
more. I really enjoyed the motivation and drive this group of ladies
had, they worked really hard and always told me how great the class
was and what they liked.
Weekly Health tips
September 7-13
I sent out an article from prevention magazine about breathing while
exercising, because a lot of people tend to hold their breath and then
they get light headed and feel weird. So the article had 4 breathing
mistakes that people make, they were; not exhaling during exercise,
not sucking in and holding core tight, being slumped over, and short
shallow breaths. It went over each problem and gave ways to help.
September 14-19
This weeks health tip was actually a recipe for no bake energy bites. I
thought this was a good recipe because it was all healthy ingredients
like peanut butter, raw oats, honey, shredded coconut, flax seeds, and
chocolate chips. I also thought they would be a good and easy thing to
make to bring to work and eat before they came to class or when they
start to feel their energy drain.
September 20-26
Screen time has been increasing more and more in the past couple
years because of the insane amount of technology around from our cell
phone to computers and television we spend the majority of our day in
front of a screen. The My Plate website has some great tips on how to
reduce screen time by taking a walk with your family instead of
watching TV, limit inactive video games and start being active during
video games, and limiting your screen time outside of work.

September 27-October 3
The health tip this week was all about water and making sure we are
getting enough liquids during the day to make sure our bodies are
properly hydrated. I found an article on the mayo clinics website. It
states that women should consume 2.2 liters of liquids per day,
consisting on mostly water. Although it doesnt say how much of the
2.2 liters should be water exactly.
October 4- 10
I chose to send out the link to the My Plate website. My Plate consists
of 5 food groups; fruits, vegetables, grains, protein, and dairy. Within
each of these groups you can click on each and it goes over what foods
are in that group and how much you should be eating bases on gender
and age. There are also links that explain why that food group is
important to eat and what health benefits they have.
October 11-17
This week was fall break so there were no classes but since my classes
are so close and they all get along really well I asked if they wanted
some exercises they could all do together during class time. So I gave
them some body weight exercises like pushups, squats, calf raises,
planks, and tricep dips they could do outside in a shaded area because
it was still pretty warm outside.
October 18-24
I sent out another recipe again this week, since it was in the middle of
fall I thought it would be fun to send out a recipe for health pumpkin
spice cookie dough for one. The recipes go over really well with my
classes they really enjoyed them the most.
October 25- 31
This week was the week of Halloween so the tip I sent out this week
was a picture of all the popular Halloween candy, and how many
calories are in each one and a little exercise to burn off the calories
from that candy. For example for one bite size Butterfinger, you have
to do 26 minutes of trick or treating with your kids, and one bite size
bag of skittles is 16 minutes of cycling. All my participants were really
excited about this and came back and said they did it and were so
proud.
November 1- 7
Portion control is something that is very prevalent in our society right
now, fast food places and even sit down restaurants have larger
portions than they did 10 years ago. There are still ways to cut down
on the portions you eat, even at a fast food place. Instead of getting a
cheeseburger with 2 patties, get a kids burger or just a regular
hamburger. Instead of getting larger order of onion rings or French fries
ask for regular of kids fries, that alone cuts 200-300 calories.
November 8- 14
Going back the My Plate website, the section on weight management.
The majority of participants are wanting to lose weight and feel better

about themselves. The weight management section has great tips on

how to track what you are eating and drinking as well as helping you
with ways to improve your eating habits, and making better choices
about what you eat and drink in the future.
November 15- 21
BMI is a popular way of determining if you are in a healthy weight for
your height and weight. This week I sent a link to a BMI calculator on
the mayo clinics website as well as attached the picture from the
ACSM textbook for BMI classification index.
November 22- 28
Similar to the Halloween candy burn off chart, this one was a
thanksgiving dinner one. It had all the popular thanksgiving foods and
an exercise with each food. And with each second helping they had to
do twice of what the original exercise was.
November 29- December 4
This week I sent out a paper with all the different exercises we have
done this semester, broken up into upper body (biceps, triceps,
shoulders, back and chest) and lower body (quads, hamstrings, calves)
as well as core exercises. So over the break while there arent any
PEAK classes they can pick 2 or 3 from each group and do a few reps
and sets of them to keep their fitness levels up over the holidays with
no classes.
December 5- 10
The holidays are always stressful and that takes a toll on everyones
health because our immune system is so run down that it cant fight off
a lot of the illnesses we pick up. The CDC has tips for staying healthy
during the holiday season, like; washing your hands often, staying
warm, mange your stress and get enough sleep, travel safe, avoid
smoking and breathing in others smoke, get checkups and
vaccinations, watch your kids carefully for illnesses, prevent injuries,
handle and prepare food safely, eat healthy and be active.
I had the best time teaching this express strength class, when
the semester started I handed out note cards for them to write down
their goals, and most of their goals were to get stronger and feel strong
and healthy. By the end of the semester I had a few participants say to
me, I never used to be able to do this, or when I started I was using 5pound weights and now I am using 10 pounds. Hearing things like that
and to see an improvement in everyones strength really makes me
happy, and I think that is my biggest success I experienced this
semester. I love helping people achieve something and improve their
health and be a positive influence on their lives in some way even if it
was for a short amount of time.