Phases of Development

Congratulations ladies for making it to week 5!

       You have dedicated an hour each week to coming to class and sacrificed a potential break in your busy schedules to get sweaty and exercise in order to learn a variety of new exercises that you will eventually be doing on your own.  

       Not only can learning something so complex as exercise programming be confusing, but it can be hard learning something you don’t particularly understand quite yet. There are many “pieces” to the “puzzle”. In today’s environment, we have been given quick fixes, but none of the health, fitness, or weight-loss entities that have been claimed to be unlike the others have really delivered what we have been looking for. There is no solution like exercise!

       I realize there comes a time when I must use my expertise not just to teach you, but to help you apply these skills to your own every day lives. I have created a PowerPoint, which I will send each one of you individually so that once you read this blog post (primarily a refresher of what was said in class) you will better understand how to create a routine based on your own personal needs. The PowerPoint includes a scenario, an example of a linear design, an alternating design, a routine designed for strength, and a routine designed for building lean mass and keeping the intensity high. 

Slow down. Calm down. Don't hurry. Don't worry. Trust the process. 

       I want to take some time to sum up what we have accomplished and some things you have learned these past five weeks. If you have questions, please ask!

We have covered exercises working various muscle groups such as:

• CHEST

a.       Main muscles: pectoralis major, pectoralis minor, serratus anterior

•  BACK

a.       main muscles: latissimus torsi & teres major, trapezius, levator scapulae, rhomboids, infraspinatus & teres minor, subscapularis

These muscle groups are opposing muscle groups or OPPOSITE muscle groups.  

The chest muscles push, while the back muscles pull.

We have also covered:

•       TRICEPS (triceps are complimentary to chest, they are activated during many chest exercises)

•      BICEPS  (the biceps are complimentary to back, they are activated during many back exercises)

These muscle groups are opposing muscle groups or OPPOSITE muscle groups.

The tricep muscle pushes, while the bicep muscle pulls.

       During one class, I had you combine chest and back together (opposing muscle groups).During next week’s class we will combine…can you guess? Biceps and triceps! …oh and abdominals.

Where are you now? 

       Remember that you are still in the learning phase. You are learning how to lead a dynamic warm-up ON YOUR OWN! You are learning how to properly execute these exercises on your own and many of you are experiencing these exercises for the first time. It can be intimidating, but I’m on your team and supporting you the entire way!

If you remember back to the second week when I had you write down some of your thoughts about what you learned about yourself at the end of the class, this activity was meant to get you to think about how your thoughts affect how you feel and behave. Check up on your thoughts daily. Negative thoughts cause us to feel shame, guilt, angry, frustrated, and so on.

Is it scary trying some of these new exercises in class? It should be. Any new experience takes courage, but you are honest and will benefit tremendously! Think of this as personal growth. Take time to breathe, plan ahead, and become more aware of your body.

This week and next week:

•  Try a dynamic warm-up on your own.

If you forget some exercises there is a book on the counter labeled “Dynamic Warm-up Exercises” which can be a great refresher and educational tool!

•  Define your goals.

Do you want strength gains? Do you want muscle hypertrophy (growth) and lean muscle mass? Do you want intensity while decreasing the time spent lifting weights?            

o   Take longer rests for increased strength gains.

o   Integrate supersets and drop-sets for added intensity.

o   Increase to 3 sets per exercise at the moderate-advanced fitness level. 1 to 2 sets for beginner.

•  Create ONE daily routine based upon the exercises you have learned.

This is NOT an exercise program. A program would include a planned series of workouts consisting of daily exercise routines. We are not there yet because we have not learned lower body exercises or shoulder exercises. Thus, we cannot create a balanced program.

• While creating this routine be thinking about combining opposite muscle groups OR complimentary groups of muscles. (Keep in mind we have not learned shoulders or low body)

This can be done in an alternating fashion or a linear fashion whilst keeping in mind you want to work with both compound exercises (larger groups of muscles) and isolation exercises.

• Choose between 6 to 10 exercises for your routine and perform 2 to 3 sets.

       Now that you have looked over this, you're probably still confused. This will make better sense once you check out the PowerPoint. We are still learning many more exercises for the next several weeks (Women's Weight Training goes until May)!