At First Capital Gym, we want you to move. You were not designed to sit around all day. We definitely don’t want you sitting at the gym. During the Initial Assessment/Strategy Session with our new members, I often joke about the person who drives to work, works at a computer, drives to the gym, and then performs a machine circuit for 3 sets of 10. Usually, this is topped off by doing “cardio” on a stationary bike with techno music being blared. Unfortunately, the common position this person was in was sitting. More often than not, the person sitting across from me slightly chuckles knowing I just described them.
So here at Method Strength & Performance, we have a movement based exercise program. We don’t have people sitting on bikes for an hour or have them on machines performing the daily circuit. The common response, “at least they’re doing something instead of nothing” is nonsense! Not only do we want you to become leaner, stronger, and more powerful, we also want you to move better too! To get people moving better, we first perform the Functional Movement Screen on them to make sure we select exercises that are both effective and safe. From there we break our training sessions down like this:
Warm Up/Movement Prep: Soft Tissue Work, Joint Mobility, Stretching, Locomotion, etc
Core Stability & Strength: Variations of Planking, Carries, Turkish Get Ups, Stirring Pot…
Power Development: Swings, MB Throws, Jumping……
Strength: Push, Pulls, Squat, Hinging, Split Stance & Single Leg Work….
Metabolic Conditioning/Finisher/Cardio/whatever the buzzword is for the month: Swings, battling Ropes, medicine ball throws…….
Now if you’re new to fitness, I could understand if this would seem a little intimidating. How do they expect me to swing that kettlebell like that?! We also get people who have been working out for years who have issues with some of our basic exercises. Instead of us throwing in the towel (for lack of a better phrase) and putting them on a machine or handing them two pound pink weights, we regress them or do a slightly easier versions of the exercise that we want. By doing this, the person will perform exercises that are both effective and safe. In addition, your movement, coordination, and confidence will improve in the process! Below are some examples of how we would regress/progress some of our basic movements.
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