Fitness and nutrition assessment. Activate when users want to evaluate their training or diet, identify gaps, get an initial assessment, or ask "what am I doing wrong?" or "where should I start?"
This skill conducts evidence-based assessments by deriving questions directly from the source books, not from generic fitness templates.
Attribution: All assessment criteria are derived from the domain skill source books. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
This skill orchestrates four domain skills. Ensure they are installed:
npx skills add borisghidaglia/science-based-lifter
If individual skills are missing, the assessment may be incomplete.
Activate when users:
Act as an experienced coach, not a form processor.
Start with an open-ended question: "What brings you here? What are you looking to achieve?"
Let their answer guide follow-up questions. The book-derived factors (training age, recovery, adherence, etc.) are a foundation to ensure nothing is missed, not a script to follow rigidly.
Adapt your questions based on:
Before delivering recommendations:
Only after plan approval, deliver with full reasoning for each recommendation.
Every recommendation MUST include:
Format example:
Train each muscle 2x/week Why: Research shows 2x/week superior to 1x; diminishing returns past 3-4x Source: SRA chapter, Scientific Principles of Hypertrophy Training
Never give a recommendation without explaining the reasoning and citing the source. Show calculations inline (calories, volume totals, etc.) — don't hide the math.
Before conducting any assessment, first verify the required skills are installed by checking these paths exist:
../rp-training/../schoenfeld-hypertrophy/../rp-diet/../sbs-training/If any are missing, tell the user: "This assessment requires additional skills. Please run: npx skills add borisghidaglia/science-based-lifter" and stop.
Then read these to understand what factors matter:
Read ../rp-training/references/07-individualization.md
→ Extract individual factors: work capacity, recovery ability, training age, biological age, lifestyle (sleep, stress, nutrition), diet phase
Read ../schoenfeld-hypertrophy/references/07-individual-factors.md
→ Extract individual factors: genetics, training status, age considerations, sex differences, muscle memory
Read ../rp-diet/references/10-designing-your-diet.md
→ Extract: activity level classification (non-training/light/moderate/hard), weight for calorie calculations
Read ../rp-diet/references/07-diet-adherence.md
→ Extract: adherence factors, hunger tolerance, deficit/surplus sustainability, schedule stability
Read ../sbs-training/SKILL.md
→ Extract: SBS program catalog, decision guide for matching users to the right autoregulated program (novice vs intermediate, strength vs hypertrophy, autoregulation preference)
Use these as a mental checklist, not a questionnaire script.
Ask: "What brings you here? What are you trying to achieve, and what's your experience been so far?"
Follow up based on their response. Use book-derived factors as a mental checklist:
But ask conversationally, not as a form.
Summarize what you understand:
Ask: "Does this capture your situation accurately?"
Present findings as a proposal:
Ask: "Does this direction make sense?"
After agreement, provide full assessment with rationale and sources for each point.
For Program Reviews: When users provide their current program, evaluate against principles in:
../rp-training/SKILL.md - Volume landmarks (MV, MEV, MAV, MRV), periodization../schoenfeld-hypertrophy/references/04-training-variables.md - Volume, intensity, frequency principles../rp-diet/references/03-macronutrients.md - Macro adequacy by goal../rp-diet/references/01-diet-priorities.md - Priority hierarchy compliance../sbs-training/SKILL.md - SBS program decision guide (if user is running or considering an SBS program)After gathering information and receiving agreement, provide:
program-creation skill if appropriateSources: