Week One In The Books (51 To Go)

Two of our newest members finished up their last training session of the week today.  They started on January 1st just like millions of people around the country did. Their first week looked much different than the overwhelming majority of people (and maybe yours) who headed back to the gym to make 2018 the year they finally get in shape.

Their first week didn’t involve a treadmill.  Not one “body pump” class.  They didn’t learn how to use a machine to tone the biceps.  Somehow they escaped this first week without a single plank- GASP!  Neither of them were told they had tight hips.  Or they lacked mobility.  They didn’t learn how to do any lifts with a PVC pipe.  Not a single corrective exercise.  No one yelled at them to go faster.  Weirdly at no point during this week did they think they were going to die.  They didn’t do a single burpee, box jump or wall ball.   They didn’t even learn that carbs are bad and processed food would kill them.  Strangely there wasn’t a mention of “eating clean”.

What the hell did they do?

They learned how to squat.

 

This is their third training session of their first week.  Amazingly we didn’t have them train every day this week.  Just three sessions with a rest day between each, that’s it.  Here’s a 55 pound squat for her third set of 5 reps.  This is 15 pounds more than she squatted on her first day.  Every time they walked in this week they were coached.  They’re still learning.  Some reps are better than others but we will keep adding weight slowly each workout.  As they get better at squatting they will be getting stronger.  By the end of the first month they will both be squatting over 100 pounds for three sets of five reps with near perfect technique.

They learned how to press.

This is their second time pressing this week.  The press is a difficult lift and they have worked pretty hard to improve from their first day.  Again, our coaches will coach every rep and add weight each time they train.  Increasing the stress a little each time so they can adapt and get stronger.

At the end of the first week they have completed 3 training sessions.  Learned to squat, press, deadlift and bench press.  They have added 15 pounds to their squat, 5 pounds to their press and 10 pounds to their deadlift.  They have started the process of increasing strength, muscle mass, and bone mass.  Our coaches have not only coached them but taught them how to train.

They learned that calories matter.  To lose weight they must burn more calories than they consume.  They learned that the best way to do that right now is to squat, press and pull.  Gaining muscle mass is their priority and running is not the best way to shed excess body fat.

They learned that foods are made up of protein, carbs and fat.  That protein and carbs have 4 calories per gram.  That fat has 9 calories per gram.  They learned how many grams of protein the should be eating each day and how to track what they eat.

Next week they will do it all over again.  Our coaches will keep coaching them to make them better at the basic barbell lifts.  They will add more weight to each lift every time they train next week.  They will be stronger than they were this week.  We will teach them how many calories they should be eating.  We will talk about carbohydrates and the role they play in fueling their training.

We will slowly give them the tools to succeed and they will be joining a pretty cool group of people who have done it before them.

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