My name is Haneen Hafiz and I am n athletic training major with a minor in kinesiology. I was drawn to the Public Safety Wellness and Resiliency Summer
Impact Team Project because I was interested in learning about movement and
fitness testing and analyzing data. I also wanted to get more out of my minor by challenging myself through
this research on how to build strength and conditioning programs for police
officers and firefighters. This research project over the summer has helped me with my long-term goals by exposing me to collection of data points, analyzing data, and creation of reports and
protocols. As a future athletic trainer, I will constantly interact with others and the program has taught me better
communication skills through conducting assessments on many subjects. The knowledge I have
gained through this experience will help me with identifying body compensations during movement
and building exercise programs for future patients.
On a weekly basis, I attend meetings, work for lab services, conduct fitness testing, build reports and programs, and
schedule subjects for their testing. For lab services, I work in the S.M.A.R.T. Lab in the
freedom center on the GMU Manassas campus, and I assist with VO2 Max and Resting Metabolic
Rate testing. During baseline and fitness testing, we take subjects anthropocentric measures, check for
movement compensations, and test their overall fitness capabilities. Using the
information from testing, we build a program with corrective exercises, strengthening, and conditioning workout plan.
From this research, I have discovered that collecting data can be tedious,
however, using the data to formulate programs can be a challenge. Each subject has a different body type with
their own goals that they want to reach, and it’s our job to make a program that suits
them. This summer has showed me and made me understand the extent of people’s research and
why it takes long periods of time to get the results people are looking for.
