What if I do not know the exact medical name for my injury?

That's fine and common. Describe it in plain terms (where it hurts, what makes it worse, what a doctor told you if anything) and let the movement screens do the rest of the work. A coach experienced with injury histories does not need a diagnosis code to build a useful first picture.

Will the trainer make me do anything that could hurt during the first session?

No. The first session is deliberately light and assessment-focused, and anything that produces sharp or localized pain gets stopped and reassessed rather than pushed through. The goal is information, not a test of what you can tolerate.

What happens if the assessment finds something concerning?

You get told clearly and directly, and referred to see a doctor or physical therapist before training around it further. This is general coaching information, not medical advice: a trainer's job in that moment is to recognize when something is outside their scope, not to diagnose it.

Do I need to bring medical records to my first session?

Not required, but bring what you have, imaging reports, surgical notes, a physical therapist's discharge summary. A specific written restriction is more useful to a coach than your memory of a conversation with a doctor from eight months ago.

Portland First Session Deep Dive

Your first session, if you have an injury history

Written by Steve, owner of Stick-To-It Fit and a personal trainer in SE Portland for 13+ years, focused on injury-aware assessment. This is a deep dive on top of the general first session guide.
Reviewed August 25, 2026.

The short answer

When you have an injury history, your first session covers the same four parts as any first session (history, movement screens, light guided movement, debrief), but each one goes deeper and slower. The history conversation typically covers injuries and surgeries from the last one to two years specifically, not just "have you ever been hurt," since how recently something happened changes how much load your body can currently tolerate. The movement screens get compared side to side, since an old injury usually shows up as an asymmetry, not a single obvious limitation. And certain answers, sharp pain under load, numbness, dizziness, or a recent surgery without medical clearance, get flagged on the spot rather than trained around. You should leave with a specific, written picture of what your body can currently do, not a generic starting point.

This page describes a coaching process, not medical advice. If you have an active injury or a diagnosed condition, get clearance from your doctor or physical therapist first, and bring whatever they told you to your first session.

What the intake conversation actually digs into

"Have you ever been hurt?" is not a useful question. These are the ones that actually shape a program.

When did this happen, and when did it last bother you?

Timing changes everything. A surgery from six weeks ago and one from six years ago call for completely different starting loads, even if the diagnosis on paper is identical.

What specifically triggers it? Load, range of motion, a particular position?

A vague "my knee hurts" is not programmable. "My knee hurts on the way down from a deep squat, not on the way up" tells a coach exactly what to avoid and what is actually safe.

What has your doctor or physical therapist told you, if anyone?

If you have a restriction on paper, that restriction is the ceiling for the program, full stop, not a suggestion to work around.

What have you tried before, and what happened?

If a movement or a type of training made things worse before, that is data, not a failure on your part. It tells the coach what to avoid repeating.

Are you on any medications that affect how you feel exertion or pain?

Some medications blunt pain signals or affect balance and blood pressure response to exercise, which changes how a coach reads your feedback during the screens.

How the movement screens adapt

The same screens from a standard first session (squat, hinge, single-leg balance, overhead reach, gait) still happen. What changes is how they get read.

Squat and hinge patterns

Depth and load get scaled to what is currently pain-free, and both sides get compared directly, since a limitation usually shows up as one side compensating for the other rather than as a clean, obvious block.

Single-leg balance

This screen matters more, not less, with an injury history, since balance and stability are often the first thing quietly lost around an old injury, long before strength is.

Overhead reach

Range gets tested well short of any position that has caused pain before, working up from what is clearly comfortable rather than testing the edge on day one.

Gait (how you walk)

A limp or an asymmetry that has become so habitual you no longer notice it is one of the more common things a screen picks up that the person walking in had no idea was still happening.

What gets flagged on the spot, not trained around

Sharp, localized pain under light load, as opposed to general muscular fatigue.
Numbness, tingling, or a sensation of instability in a joint.
Dizziness or unusual shortness of breath during light movement.
A recent surgery (roughly the last 6-12 weeks, depending on the procedure) without documented clearance to exercise.
A condition the client mentions offhand that sounds uncontrolled, chest pain history, unexplained recent weight loss, that kind of thing.

First session with an injury history: common questions

An older, stable injury usually gets screened for lingering asymmetry or compensation patterns, since the body has had time to adapt around it, sometimes badly. A recent injury or surgery gets treated more cautiously, with a stronger emphasis on medical clearance and a slower on-ramp, since tissue is still actively healing.

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Bring the whole history, not the highlights

The more specific you are in the first conversation, the more useful the assessment. The studio is at 5609 SE Milwaukie Ave in Portland, on the Sellwood/Westmoreland border.

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