It is 100% easier to do nothing than it is to do something.
At SBG Athens, home of TFW Athens, one of the most important lessons we teach is that you must show up. We further teach that you must also then do something, and it must be pushing you in the direction of meeting your goals. As an example, if a person wants to lose weight, they likely need to show up at a fitness facility (or track, park, pool, etc.) and do something that raises their heart rate and causes a sweat. Showing up and eating a bag of potato chips while sitting on a bench might be antithetical to that goal. One of those things is much likelier to push you towards achieving success than the other. I’m hoping you know which one.
Many people know what they are supposed to do; but lack the motivation, discipline, or knowledge to do it on their own. That’s why a large percentage of gym members never actually use their membership (upwards of 67% according to statisticbrain.com).
An article in The Atlantic states the following:
Gyms make most of their money from two sorts of people: 1) Absentee members and 2) super-users who pay not only the monthly fee but also for the add-ons, like trainers and classes, all the way down to the whey smoothies.
“Commercial health clubs need about 10 times as many members as their facilities can handle, so designing them for athletes, or even aspiring athletes, makes no sense,” Men’s Journal explained in Everything You Know About Fitness Is a Lie.
This is why many people are turning towards group fitness programs (GFP) like Orange Theory Fitness (OTF) in Athens, GA; in lieu of working out on their own. But are all GFP the same? It is our contention they’re not all created equal; and therein lies the problem. How is one to know what is best, and what will get them not only to their immediate goals, but be viable over the long term?
In the beginning, just about any workout will get a person results. Especially if that person just got off the couch for the first time in years. Nevertheless, the answer lies in the program’s ability to create constant, progressive resistance, which will subsequently force adaptation and a change in body composition (reduced fat and increase in lean muscle mass).
This is why, at first, many people see results from the common GFP that includes aerobic/anaerobic conditioning coupled with bodyweight/light weight circuits at high rep ranges. There invariably comes a point though at which you cannot go any faster or do any more reps. Ever increasing volume (more reps achieved in a similar amount of time) has a deleterious effect. The unfortunate outcome in trying to do so, is often injury. There is also the scattershot approach to training (read: no thought given to proper programming) taken at gyms like OTF in Athens, GA.
Another piece often missing from these types of places is nutrition. An important adage at TFW Athens is, “You can’t out-exercise a bad diet.” It’s why we are constantly talking about eating healthy (that’s another very long article), eating enough (big caloric deficits can actually lead to loss of lean muscle and increased fat), and creating proper nutritional habits.
A normal person looking for a gym should have the following three goals (in no particular order):
- Improved mobility: This is directly related to “quality of life.” Things like sitting down on the toilet and not needing someone to pick you up off the can. Your ability to bend over at the waist and pick a pencil off the floor. Lower chances of falling, and lowering your risk of injury.
- Improved body composition: Don’t we all want to lose fat and gain muscle mass? The loss of muscle mass is known as aging.
- Get stronger: Mark Ripitoe said, “Strong people are harder to kill than weak people, and more useful in general.” The longer we can remain stronger the better. This is as simple as being able to lift your grandkids or putting an item up on a shelf.
A properly designed fitness program will include methods to address these four areas: weight lifting, sprinting, metabolic conditioning, and nutrition. We might not all be athletes anymore, but shouldn’t we all want to look and move more like one? Athletes lift heavy weights and sprint. So should you.
Coach Rory
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