We have a unique training system at Beyond Strength. One that you seriously won’t find anywhere else. There’s one big difference that really sets us apart from other gyms.

We test our members.

Right now, we’re in the middle of testing week. Our members are jumping, rowing, lifting, and biking. They’re learning the truth about their current fitness level.

But why? 

Why does testing matter when we could all just show up and workout…when we could just coast through our gym experience, lifting weights and doing intervals?

Because there’s more to the gym than just showing up and sweating. Because the gym is a conduit to a better body and a better life. Testing shows us exactly how to use that conduit. 

But it’s more than that.

Here are four reasons why we test at Beyond Strength.

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Because F*ck Yo’ Couch!

Modern life is physically easy…maybe too physically easy. A person doesn’t need to express fortitude if they don’t want to. Especially adults that are no longer playing sports.

 

Maybe you grew up competing, but now you’ve settled into the easy comfort of commute, work, eat, sleep. It’s a dull drone that keeps folks alive but not fully living. The deep, comfy couch cushions pull us in as Netflix drowns out the rest of the world. It’s a trap, a slow demise toward unhealth and unhappiness.

 

 

Regular physical challenges, ones that make you toe the line and say “I am” fight back against the slow roll down the hill and into the grave. Yes, you could get those from training. But there’s something about testing yourself against a metric that raises the stakes and asks you to bring out more courage, strength, and life. Tests ask you to narrow your eyes and cut loose. That anxiety you feel before you jump, before you lift, before you row lets you know that you’re still alive and that you’re doing something worthwhile.

 

It says, “Here I f*cking am!” It says I’m still alive and I’m willing to act like it.

 

We test because f*ck your couch and slow death it welcomes.

 

 

Because It’s Better to Know

Objective measures kick us the real deal. And the real deal gives us insight into what we ought to do.

 

Maybe you’re strong for your size.

 

Or maybe you have great joint range of motion.

 

But with all of that strength, you’re lacking aerobic power.

 

And with all that great joint range of motion, you’re lacking the strength to truly control it.

 

Without testing to objectively know where you stand on different dimensions of fitness, you’d likely go on just doing the things that feel good or that you’re already good at. And where does that truly get you? Not far. Just stuck in your own internal echo chamber that says, “look how good I already am. I don’t need to do anything differently.”

 

 

Granted, there’s something to be said for doing things that you enjoy. It helps maintain consistency.

 

But so does aligning your purpose with progress instead of the status quo. And if you want to make progress, it’s better to know…

 

…how strong you truly are

 

…if you’re really as conditioned as you believe

 

…where your weaknesses are

 

…what strengths you should celebrate.

 

If you don’t test yourself, you never know.

 

 

Because You Need Information to Make Training Decisions

Once you know, you know what to do.

 

If your strength tests are great, but your conditioning tests aren’t, it’s time to make sure you’re making it to Vigor and Endurance classes.

 

 

If your power tests look good, but your strength is lacking, it’s time to put more weight on that bar.

 

You can’t make productive training decisions without objective information. You get objective information by testing.

 

 

Because Life is Better with Strength and Endurance

Life expands when your body performs.

 

To get that high-performance body, you have to be a hybrid. You have to be strong, but you also have to be able to move well. You have to have endurance, but you also have to be able to crank up the intensity when necessary.

 

To build a hybrid body, you have to test to know what your body needs right now. Following a year-long training program that emphasizes different qualities at different times is important. But so is knowing how much of each type of training you need at a given time. Testing is the only way to know how much strength training and how much endurance training you need at a given time.

 

If you want to build the right amounts of strength and endurance for your body, you need to know how much of each type of training you need. Testing also shows you don’t lose all of your gains when you change your training. Yes, some aspects of your body accelerate while others hold constant. But your progress doesn’t come to a halt just because you’ve started doing more aerobic training and less strength training.

 

Life is better with strength and endurance. And testing shows how to develop the hybrid body that has both.

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