We are continuing to evaluate our class format and evolve it accordingly with sports/exercise science, fitness “trends” and what we think will set you and your clients up for success. I am forgoing the “weekly wisdom” title and renaming it to WellnessReview – eventually all current and past “weekly wisdoms” will be available to reference on our instructor portal but for now you can search WellnessReview in your email if you need to refer to any current continued ed/guideline updates, etc.

This quarter we are focusing on evolving the Combo section of class.  This will include new equipment introduction (not bands yet, but they are coming soon!) as well isolated muscle group days (more on this later!)

We are excited to let y’all know that we will soon offer 8lb and 10lb weights for our clients to use, yay! We’ve decided to implement heavier weights for a couple of reasons:

• Increase Muscular Strength – Clients almost always go for the same size weights (for me it’s still 2lbs haha) and while this is great for building muscular endurance, they are not gaining any strength.
  • Think of someone running 10 miles consistently at an 8 minute pace. They can increase this to 12 miles at an 8 minute pace, but this doesn’t make them a faster runner. In order to become faster, they need to add more force into their running, stimulating the fast-twitch fibers in their muscles and building up the appropriate muscles to increase their overall speed.
• Functional + Mobility Gains –   Increasing weight + slowing the movement down will greatly benefit muscles that improve our posture (glutes/hamstrings + Chest/Back/delts) that tend to be neglected with lighter weights + faster movements. This will also increase awareness of these important muscle groups when more resistance is being added to them.
• Spinal Stability – Adding more load to exercises will increase spine and core stability, further preventing injury. 

It’s important to note that the 10lb weights shouldn’t be used for every exercise from here on out. Clients will be instructed to grab two sets of weights and you will learn when to direct them to their lighter and heavier sets. 

I think we’ve all heard the statement “heavier weights and less reps makes you bulk, lighter weights and more reps makes you tone” and I would like to steer us away from this way of inaccurate thinking and phrasing. 

Instead, heavy weights + controlled reps builds strength, and light weights + more time under tension builds endurance.

And truly, for a balanced healthy body, you need both strength and endurance! 

Next week we will discuss heavier weight guidelines, which includes the kinds of exercises and the tempo they are performed with.

Thank you all for embracing these changes! I’m so excited for what’s ahead, this year is looking bright 🙂