NEW FAD 2: Initial Assessment

So, where are you?

in terms of the following things
1)flexibility
2)motivation
3)goal setting
4)muscularity
5)level of fitness for your goal/sport
6)injuries current and prior

and there might be some I'm leaving out.

these are some of things I go over with my clients.

one of my clients, Pearl Johnson, wrote me a fantastic testimonial, where she talks about how she needed, and more importantly, WANTED to make a change. you can find pearl's testimonial here:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mega-Marty-Nutrition-Fitness/115549985162377

so once you have gotten in the door, that is my job (or yours) to decide how badly you "want it"
it really does boil down to that. if 2 weeks from now, are you going to say "this sucks" and run away with your tail between your legs? what is YOUR definition of fun? whats YOUR definition of hard work? aside from a few crazy freaks like myself, I bet your definition is different from mine.

working on my body is FUN. its beyond exhilarating. its WHAT I WANT more than ANYTHING in the world.

do you have to have this mentality? no.

BUT

you DO have to want it. when it gets "hard" whenever that will be, you have to stick to the course.

hard, however, should NOT be joint pain, and weird pain, other interesting things (see my post on Muscle Soreness)

so, once the "want" is out of the way, we can look at some newer better things

flexibility. some people/trainers will put you through a series of tests/stretches to see where you're at. I like putting people into the positions of the exercises i would ideally use, and see what they look like. an example of some things i look for are :
are their shoulders popping?
is their lower back rounding on the squat?
are they trying to recruit different muscles than the intended ones?

once we get through that, I can then make an educated assumption.

special attention should be made to injuries. people with injuries, i recommend you get a competent trainer/massage therapist to assess this, instead of doing it on your own. this can REALLY set you back if you just "work through it" to find out you've been damaging something pretty severely.

don't come into the gym without goals.

why are you here? look good? feel better? more energy?
sure, those are fine and dandy but you need to get a bit more specific. as in
in 2 months i want to know how to bench press effectively and get my weight to X.
or
I want to squat without my lower back hurting
or
I want to compete in a bodybuilding competition in 2 years.

all are just examples. weight loss, toning, shaping, all these other things DEFINITELY come into play as well.

so, where are you muscularly? is this your first BBQ? or have you been doing this for a while now and looking for an edge? did you play sports in high school? or were you sedentary and drank and did drugs throughout highschool? these DO play factors!

also, different goals DO have different approaches. a marathon runner vs a male bodybuilder will have vastly different workouts (once at the intermediate phase) and vastly different nutritional requirements and regimens.

so, lets use my marathon/bodybuilding example. have you done marathon before? are you a runner? how often? when? etc.

bodybuilder: have you trained the muscle groups before? do you know proper technique? have you competed before?

just SOME of the questions a professional in the field will/should drill you with before you start.

these meetings I have with people can last from 30 mins to an 1 hour 30 mins. this should take some time. yes, writing it down helps a LOT