Like with nutrition, exercise and movement creates a whole world of confusion for many clients!
There are so many exercise crazes, new classes, online workout videos, and modes of exercise to choose from, how can anyone know which is the best method for them?
His yoga better than weight training? Is running better than swimming? Does online training work?
Read on to hear a few of our thoughts, and to find out a little more on how we devise optimal workout plans for clients on an individual basis.
Firstly, we must go on record as stating “No exercise type is better than another!”
An exercise type can only be judged on its individual merits and what it seeks to deliver to the client. For example, Sprint -type training will elicit a response within the client making them faster, more explosive, and possibly more powerful. Endurance type training however will have the opposite effect, making the client more endurance based and therefore more capable of working at prescribed intensities of exercise for much longer durations.
At this point we have to point out what we call the “what you are best at phenomena”. At the heart of this phenomena is the idea that people are drawn to a particular type of exercise but they are naturally good at. People with naturally high levels of flexibility tend to enjoy yoga in most cases far more than those people with naturally low levels of flexibility. In a similar way, young males can naturally lift very heavy loads are more likely to enjoy heavy weight training than those people who are not blessed with high levels of strength.
Whilst there are always exceptions to the rules, we often hear proponents of each particular exercise type telling us “This is the best way”, when in reality… We can all learn from one another by adopting different exercise types and modes of training to create a much more balanced approach to our training.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2NYqESPTMU Hear what our client has to say.
Now that we’ve explained our thoughts in relation to exercise, and how we appreciate each exercise type based on its own merits, let’s look at the M.A.S.K. process of how we get our clients fitter, stronger, moving better and more energy and vitality through exercise.
Assessment
Each client is assessed with regards to their static posture, and their ability to perform the 6 Primal Pattern Moves: squats, lunges, push, pull, bend, and twist.
Posture is first examined as this may be a limiting factor as to what we can and cannot prescribe within an individual’s exercise program. Imagine this, client who has an exercise for over 30 years, and whose career has seen them desk bound for a large majority of those years. It is highly likely that this client will now present with sub optimal posture, placing them at a high risk of injury when they begin to exercise.
By identifying this within a client we are able to prescribe what we call “corrective exercises”which aim to lengthen short and tight muscles, while strengthening long and weak muscles meaning that optimal postural alignment is restored, thus reducing the client’s individual risk of injury from exercise.
Sadly, more and more we see individuals who are injured by overzealous personal trainers who don’t perform such detailed assessments on clients prior to prescribing high-intensity exercises.
The movement screen that we perform enables us to take a much closer a more detailed look about how individuals move, where they may be tight, restricted or even some cases in pain. Again, we aim to correct faulty movement patterns via corrective exercise. Once clients are free from restriction and able to move more efficiently, then the fun begins as we are then safe to increase the intensity of the exercise.
The programs that we create for each client a highly individualised and tailored around the clients own unique goals. For some clients, this will be a broad mix of corrective exercise, cardiovascular training, strength training, and core conditioning. All our programs are created via the PT Enhance software system which is able to be viewed by computer, tablet and/or smart phone.
In most cases we also give our clients supplementary exercises to perform at home in between sessions with us. Lockdown has changed the face of health and fitness in many ways. We have now found a great number of people are preferring to work out online via Zoom, however, most clients are now choosing to return back to our studio to exercise and occasionally jump onto Zoom due to their daily schedule. Zoom has now given us the opportunity to train clients not only in their homes, but also whilst on holiday anywhere in the world!
Online Classes
As a health and fitness provider dedicated to helping people simply become the best version of themselves, we pride ourselves on the fact that we went online as of day 1 of Lockdown, helping people when they needed us the most.
Over Lockdown we introduced a range of classes to help keep our clients healthy, happy, fit and motivated during the difficult times that were faced by all. These classes have proved so overwhelmingly successful that M.A.S.K. have now rolled out many new classes totalling 15 per week online.
The classes include popular themes such as HIIT, Yoga, Breathing & relaxation to totally new and inventive classes which are completely unique to M.A.S.K. such as Disco Boxing & Disco Kickboxing… Yes you heard right…Boxing & Kickboxing inspired workouts to awesome music and disco lights! Sounds gimmicky, we know the clients love it and the results so far have been simply amazing!
With so more classes in the pipeline, we firmly believe that we are truly the place to be if you generally wish to achieve optimum health and fitness success. To coin a phrase “We will give you more reasons to succeed, then you can give is to fail”.
Our classes now come with a complimentary one week free trial, like a test drive. After all, you never buy a new car without a test drive, right?
Part 7 of this email series looks at the role in community, in particular the awesome M.A.S.K. PT community and how being part of such a community can really enhance results. This makes the journey to optimum health and fitness so much more enjoyable.
Until next time, stay awesome!
