Assessment Frauds

I admit it! For years I was into assessing people, I wanted to know everything, I wanted to know what was wrong and how to fix them. Good thing for me, there was and is no shortage of assessment systems that claim to identify everything that is wrong with you. Let me tell you, after being involved in most of them, they are mostly a waste of time.

What?! Why?! Don't we have methods that can tell you exactly what is wrong with someone? NO! The body is immensely complex and even more so, the nervous system is amazingly complex. Lack of sleep? Yep, that will mess you up! Didn't eat well? Yep, that will mess you up! Had a fight with your husband or wife? Yep, that will mess you up! Have a cold? Yep, that will mess you up! You see, there are a ton of simple reasons that people may not perform well in testing situations, very simple things that often get overlooked for more complex things that try to seem amazing.

Sure, the science of all these systems sounds great! Oh yeah, they make sense when you talk about them, unfortunately, they don't usually pan out in the real world. There are too many issues that could be going on with someone that makes it impossible to identify one single factor that would fix someone.

I feel that all these systems distract people from the true need which is better coaching and identifying the correct exercises for people. The majority of tests we give people are simply failed because they are new to those that are being tested. If we took as much time to coach people as we did test them, we would have a lot more people that moved and felt better.

A perfect example is bear hug sandbag squat. I have wowed people by taking those that have terrible squats and clean them up dramatically by having them perform this movement. It isn't rocket science, in the squat most people that have problems squatting need some sort of feedback and counterbalance for their nervous system. What happens? Magically because of the weight distribution of the sandbag, people that normally bend too forward at the waist remain far more upright.

No, we didn't stretch them, do corrective exercises, or whatever else people recommend, we just gave them the appropriate exercise. Sure, maybe these people could use some other help, but wow, I have seen it work on some people that are pretty bad off!

So, while it is good to be aware of how people move and their weaknesses, it really becomes much more of an art than a science. See how I describe one of the best "corrective" sandbag exercises.