1 Year of Teaching Group Strength Classes
It’s been 1 year since I started teaching a progressive weight training program I developed for a group of friends. I have a blended philosophy with weight training pulling from multiple different experts and training styles. This approach keeps injury risk extremely low and the programming (exercise movement selection) is designed to avoid common training related injuries. We built stronger, more resilient bodies through addressing movement faults and building the foundations. Prior to starting I did a full body movement and strength evaluation and gave each participant corrective exercises they’d be responsible for independently to further reduce risk of training related injuries. Injury rates went down with our outdoor sports, and performance improved. We experienced some great outcomes:
Caitlin can now do push ups after 20 years and 3 shoulder surgeries for instability.
JJ addressed his long term left leg imbalances from an ACL repair back when he was snowboarding professionally and his low back no longer gets sore after a day of riding.
Matt’s low back stopped spasming on him all the time.
Anna’s mountain biking and skiing improved by addressing her left leg weakness with lateral patterns.
Elliot was injury / pain free for ski and mountain bike seasons and working construction.
My left shoulder finally got strong enough to compensate for tissue damage to become pain free with pull ups. I was able to increase my pack weight to 60lbs to continue backpacking as a family with a toddler (and still bring the raft and fishing gear!)
Melinda stayed strong through pregnancy despite having a lot of pain by continuing to be consistent with deadlifts and strength training.
We met 1x per week. If you're consistent, just 1x per week leads to significant gains over time, 1 year of once weekly is about equivalent to training 4-5x per week over 3-4 months. In order to establish new base strength norms within the body it takes about 1 year. So, if you stop before your collagen turns over (half life of 300-500 days) the body reverts back to its prior norms without at least 1x weekly input to maintain and build strength. In other words, consistency over the course of a year is the goal to influence adaptation.
Why a group fitness class? Studies show that people are more likely to stick to group exercise classes long term. They allow for pushing yourself a little harder than you otherwise would on our own, and you develop community. I strongly believe in weight training and cardiovascular fitness for producing resilient, high functioning humans. By the time I’m done working with someone, my hope is that they’d feel confident getting plugged into a group workout facility with quality coaching whether that’s at Trailhead Athletics, Evergreen Strength, or similar.
My goal is to meet you wherever you’re at, from never strength training before to the gym junkie or elite athlete, and to get you to a place of feeling confident loading your body again, moving without hesitation, and returning to the activities you love.
