Assessment

Before anyone starts working out at White Rock, they have a thorough assessment with Arron. This involves completing a few forms to make sure you are okay to workout without a Dr's approval. (FYI - you can download these from the website and bring with you to shorten your assessment).

The second half of the assessment is a functional movement screen. This takes about 15 minutes and involves a few simple movements that show Arron if he needs to make any modifications to the workouts. As a result of my assessment, I will be starting with modified squats. Arron has promised to pass this info along to the trainer who will be teaching the class I plan to go to.

I was surprised at how easy and quick the assessment was. Discussing my workout concerns with Arron made me feel more assured that my specific needs would be met, and I am more comfortable with starting workouts next week. Check out photos of the assessment at www.facebook.com/whiterockfit.

A word about weights: most assessments include a weight and body fat percentage. However, I am a strong believer that if you eat optimally and get enough physical activity, your body will find its healthy weight naturally. I have seen repeatedly when someone starts working out at WRF they first gain muscle. If they are watching the scale, this might show up at weight gain (because muscle weighs more than fat). When they see the scale, this scares them. However, muscle burns calories. So what happens next is the muscle they built increases their metabolism, burns fat, and then they lose weight (opposed to crash diets which cause sudden weight loss by breaking down lean body mass - this is not healthy and results in eventually gaining more weight than what was lost). I am confident that by increasing my physical activity my body fat is going to decrease and my lean body mass increase, so I chose not to get on the scale. Besides, the scale often causes more harm than good. The numbers can be discouraging and it is easy to forget that you are getting healthier regardless of your weight.