Why Evaluate?

It’s easy to just jump into an exercise program and tear it up.  In fact I would prefer to do that myself.

50 or 60 years ago that would have been much easier to do than it is today.

Even 30-40 years ago.  Unfortunately our lifestyles have changed so much that it is nearly impossible to jump into a training program without risking injury or causing more harm than good without a solid evaluation first.  Evaluations come in many forms but the fact that some sort of evaluation must occur before a structured training program can begin.

But why you may be asking?  This is a loaded question so let me start with the most important reason: performing and evaluation can open the eyes of the professional as to where weaknesses, muscle imbalances, inflexibilities, immobilities lie within their clients body.  From an evaluation  a professional can then move in a direction that will best suit not only the clients needs but also their reasons for seeking out your services to begin with.

But why is that important?  Well let me put it this way; lets say your goal was to feel better and be without pain on a regular basis.  What if I had found that one of your glutes was more flexible than the other and performing stretches not only made it more flexible but also allowed you to become stronger and more confident with exercise that you decided to become a runner?

How about another example: What if your main goal was to lift heavy stuff and get bigger and stronger.  Well, during my evaluation I found that your abdominals were weak with stabilization and resisted rotation movements and that just a few exercises during your warm up and the beginning of your workout would help make them stronger which would translate in increased strength and size increases?  Would you be ok with an evaluation then?

Evaluations, are necessary there is no way around it.  Finding discrepencies within movement and correcting them will truly unleash your abilities to lift more weight, get stronger, become more lean, enable you to become much more active, and build a more healthy lifestyle overall.  Hitting your weaknesses and challenges also will promote longevity in a fitness program.

Further, it’s also proven that an effective warm up (effective being operative word) will promote better gains and a higher output if performed before a workout.