Why Assess?

If you’ve hung around OPEX for long enough you’re bound to have heard someone say the words, “assess, don’t guess.”

This mantra informs how all of our gyms operate, implementing the OPEX Body, Move, Work assessment during intake. Every OPEX Coach has their individual flair and specialties, but their coaching is grounded in a consistent starting point–clear assessment data.

Here are 5 Reasons Why We Insist that Every Fitness Program Starts with an Assessment:

1) Identify ability

Everyone who trains at a OPEX Riverdale receives a program that is designed to meet them where they’re at and nudge them towards their goals at a sustainable rate. To design this, an OPEX Coach needs to understand their client’s current ability. This includes measuring their body composition, their movement quality, and their work capacity. 

2) Highlight priorities

Every individually designed program begins with an assessment. This helps your coach identify your priorities. It’s impossible to program for everything at once, so your coach will use your assessment data to highlight what they need to focus on for each training cycle. 

3) Address imbalances

Assessing structural balance allows your coach to program in a way that develops balanced strength that supports your function and longevity. Your OPEX coach uses a system of percentages to make sure your squatting, bending, pulling, pushing, core, single-leg, and single-arm strength is balanced. They will also screen work capacity to make sure you have a balance of aerobic and anaerobic fitness, based on the requirements of your life and sport. 

4) Prevent injury

A movement assessment is a valuable tool for screening for any potential limitations, past injuries, or contraindications. For example, an assessment can determine whether you have adequate overhead mobility for pressing or knee stability for squatting. This will help guide your coach to design your program to avoid potential injuries and build strength and stability where you need it. 

5) Monitor progress

An initial assessment provides clear data on your starting point that you can refer back to over time. This way, you know objectively whether or not you’re making progress. It tells your coach if your program is doing what it’s designed to do–get you results! If things aren’t tracking like they should be, they can adjust accordingly. Seeing your progress through assessment numbers over time is also a great way to stay inspired. It can be easy to forget how far you’ve come, so it’s important to look back and be proud of your fitness journey!

You can read about our Body, Move, Work system of assessment by clicking here.

Stop by OPEX Riverdale and schedule an assessment to better understand where you are today, so we can help you get where you want to go!

#LifeThroughFitness  #OPEXRiverdaleNYC  #WeAreOPEX