Methodology / Step 01
Before we program anything, we look at how your body actually moves. The assessment is the foundation everything else rests on.
I walk you through the basic patterns your body needs for life and for training: hinging, squatting, pressing, pulling, rotating, walking, and breathing. Each one tells me something different about how you load, where you compensate, and what is going to limit you when we start adding weight or volume.
For each pattern I am watching three things at once: your range of motion, your ability to actually use that range under load, and the places where the pattern breaks down. Those breakdowns are usually where the most leverage is hiding.
It is not a test. There is nothing to pass or fail. You are not graded on how much you lift or how long you hold a position. You move, I watch and ask questions, and we both learn something we did not know before.
Plan on roughly 60 to 75 minutes for the first session, which includes the assessment itself, a short conversation about what you are training for, and a first version of your program.
By the end of the assessment we both have a clear picture of three things: what is strong and ready to be loaded, what is restricted and needs attention, and what the highest-leverage thing is to train first. That picture becomes the input for everything that follows.
Plan on roughly 60 to 75 minutes for the first session. That includes the assessment itself, a short conversation about what you are training for, and the first version of your program.
No. The assessment is a starting line, not a fitness test. People come in from every direction: never lifted before, lifted for years, coming back from an injury, never really stopped. We start from where you are.
It is purposeful movement, not max-effort lifting. You will move, breathe, and try positions you might not have tried in a while. Nothing about the assessment is designed to push you to a limit.
Whatever you would normally wear to train. Clothes you can move in, shoes you feel grounded in. Bring water.