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T’is the Season for Maintenance

For many personal trainers, the month of December might be properly referred to as a “Maintenance Month.” December is typically filled with social obligations, and stress surrounding the holidays in general for clients.  Your regular routine and schedule goes out the window and all the holiday parties and gatherings mean you’re tempted to indulge in foods you otherwise would avoid and to also skip workouts.  As it is, committing to a regular nutrition and exercise schedule can be tough year round from life’s ups and downs, but the holidays in particular can exacerbate these stresses.

The holidays can bring about added stress from shopping, increased food preparation, house guests, frequent visitors, financial stress, more demands on time, and simply a change in schedule.  A change in routine, whether it is good or bad, equates to stress.  The biggest complaint personal trainers hear during this time of year is clients not being able to fit in workouts or stick to their nutrition regime, due to all the added obligations.

One of the reasons personal trainers and nutritionists really stress creating exercise and nutritional habits year round, is so when life happens, like the busy holiday season, the repercussions of missing a workout or indulging in holiday goodies will not set you back to square one.  In fact, if you are consistent  (not perfect) all year round, you might welcome the relaxed holiday season. Consistency year round allows you to have some time to just maintain, which might look a little more relaxed.

Let’s be clear — not being perfect does not make you a failure. All areas of our lives have ebbs and flows, which are necessary elements of life. The easiest way to understand this is using the term burnout. We all know what causes burnout – not enough balance and/or recovery. It’s ok to hammer away at something for a while, and it is just as ok to back off when you need to. And this might mean using the holiday season to do so.

Maintenance might be one of the least sexy words out there, but maintenance is about doing the little things in order to keep us at the same level, or not allow us to go backwards.  Just like life doesn’t need to be a continual march forward, neither does your fitness journey.  Sometimes we need to march in place when competing priorities are difficult to manage.  So you had to skip a few workouts for a social event or other holiday obligations? In the long run and the bigger picture of a year round commitment to a healthy lifestyle, this is inconsequential. Even 3 or 4 parties like this are not likely to affect your overall health if you are  maintaining a routine of health and fitness year round. Your batting average is still going to be high.   It also might be argued that a little break from your routine will help you appreciate it a little bit more when it comes time to get back into it.

So what does maintenance look like?  It’s just simply, marching in place, getting it done.  It can also be defined as keeping healthy and injury free, while not moving backwards – keeping status quo.  If you exercise 4-5 days a week in your regular routine, maintenance might look like 3 exercise sessions.  And should that get away from you, aiming to do any kind of movement for 30 minutes, regardless if it’s in your regime or not.  Any physical activity is better than nothing.  Walks, skiing, skating, etc. with the family are a great way to stay active.  You do what you need to do not go backwards and just maintain.  If you are not worried about maintenance during the holiday season, then use exercise as a great form of stress relief and a welcome break from the hustle and bustle.

This season the last thing you need is added stress.  Give yourself permission to maintain, do your best, and just enjoy the holiday season for all it has to offer.

 

Kristen Hansen, BA, CSEP-CPT, PFT-NAIT, NASM-CES, FRCms

Shara Vigeant, BA, NSCA-CPT*D, CFSC

No Trends, No Fads, No Quick Fixes

Some might say what we do at SVPT is boring.  From a certain point of view that is true, as we aren’t sexy, we aren’t flashy, and maybe the cool kids don’t dig us.  But what we are great at is teaching you to master your movement and build fitness that will ultimately make you a bad-ass in life…….for the long term, not just for the next 2 months.

There is no screaming at you, making you puke, or trying to crush your soul.   We believe in building you up, not breaking you down.  I mean, isn’t that the reason you started exercising in the first place – to feel better physically, mentally, and emotionally? No one likes to walk away from a workout feeling worse than when they walked in.

It’s not about being flashy or sexy, cool or stylish – it’s about building fundamental movement skills through challenging fitness fun.  Mastering fundamentals reduces injuries, slows aging, and builds a body that allows you to live a fuller life. When you move better, you live better.  Isn’t that what fitness is supposed to be about? Living a better and more full life, because you are physically able to.

We frequently get asked, “Hey have you seen the latest fitness trend _______ on social media?”.  We see it.  We have cringed at it, and we don’t do it.  We don’t get caught up in the latest social media phenoms.   (And we won’t name any of the current trends/fads out there, because this is not about bashing them, it’s about explaining why we don’t buy into them.)

Training trends and fads are usually the ‘latest and greatest’ exercise, system, or concept to gain attention in the fitness industry or achieve notoriety on social media.  However, just as the latest diet and fashion trends die off, training fads and trends will fade.  And after they fade, you will see many coaches and trainers reverting back to tried and true ‘boring’ systems, because they work.

Boring works.  Simple is genius.  So yeah, we are kind of geniuses.

While we do continuously educate ourselves about the “new” fitness trends, we have found that the common themes of most good fitness systems in our industry involve simplicity.  As we continue our education, we continue adding more tools to our training toolbox.  But more importantly, we learn through experience when it is appropriate to use those tools.  This would include knowing when to use non-traditional or “fancy” implements such as kettlebells, bands, chains, TRX, stability balls, etc. We also know when and when not to use more advanced training methods such as eccentric training, tempo, volume, etc.

A lot of the trends and fads can be effective (for a time), but it comes down to understanding if these trends and fads serve the client’s purpose and goals LONG TERM, because we want to see you continue with your fitness, not blast a 30 day challenge twice a year.  Quick fixes in fitness are just that – quick.  Often not long lasting.  Building fitness is a skill and takes time, just like any other skill.  If you are jumping around from trend to trend, you are more than likely risking injury and not truly building a solid fitness foundation. A foundation is what you need to sustain fitness for the rest of your life.

Great coaching, efficient programming, and good results will never go out of style. More importantly, they will never stop being effective.  Mastering the basics and building a foundation will never be wasted time, and learning quality movement will always be important.  It’s a matter of understanding when the basics can be modified to make them more challenging and fun, but still effective and safe…not a circus act to post on Instagram that will eventually make the Gym Fails compilation.

So when a client vocalizes their disdain for a certain exercise due to boredom or simply because it is a hard exercise, we remind them of the why.  Something wonderful happens when you explain to a client why they are doing something. They become empowered.  All of a sudden they do that exercise just a little bit better.  Ultimately our job is for you to feel confident enough to leave our little gym nest……FLY BIRDIE FLY!   Our job is to have you not need us anymore, and if we are constantly bouncing from trend to trend, we aren’t giving you the foundations to understand fitness and do it on your own.

You will notice we do not sell anything or push anything flashy, sexy, or trendy on you except good old-fashioned hard work, consistency, and sound programming.  That is the secret, our “secret”.

 

Shara Vigeant, BA, NSCA-CPT*D, CFSC

Strength in Many Forms

When a lot of us think of the word strength, our minds might jump immediately to a picture of someone hoisting a fully loaded barbell from the floor, squatting with an extremely heavy load, or cranking out rep after rep of pull-ups. And that isn’t necessarily wrong! Those activities obviously require a great deal of strength…but are they the only way to express strength? Are there many ways to be strong, and many activities to be strong in? We think so. Strength can be expressed in countless ways and is not pigeonholed into one activity, one lift, or one sport.

Strength is very much individual-specific and context-specific. A person may be incredibly strong for their unique work, life, or sport activities, but may not necessarily be strong in another activity – especially if it is a task they have never attempted before. For instance, a person who can squat an extremely heavy weight is certainly a strong human, but could he or she demonstrate strength in the same manner as a Cirque de Soleil performer? Absolutely not! By the same token, the Cirque de Soleil acrobat is an unbelievably strong athlete, but likely cannot squat an extremely heavy load.

This is obviously an extreme example, but hopefully it illustrates that there are many ways to be strong, and many methods to get there. Cyclists express strength by driving incredible forces into bike pedals, wrestlers express strength through tremendous grip and body leverage, gymnasts express strength through their ability to achieve and control extreme body positions…the list could go on. Every activity has different strength demands, yet all of these people can be classified as “strong”.

The key element that ties all of these different activities and types of athletes together is that they still all need to be strong! Whatever that might look like for any given person, the common thread remains – they need to be able to bring their specific strength to bear in a specific way for their activity.

It is important to note that we are not saying that strength gained by lifting weights in the gym has no carryover into sport or life activities. It most certainly does! Each athlete mentioned above could improve their general strength by performing a weight training program. However, improved ability to express strength through a squat or deadlift does not directly translate into improved ability to express strength through a bike race, wrestling match, or gymnastics event – the athletes must still utilize task-specific strength when they participate in their sports. The weight training program simply gives them more potential to do exactly this.

We can apply this overarching theme to ourselves as weekend warriors, gym enthusiasts, or people training for general health and wellness. Getting “strong” may not look the same from person to person, as everyone has their own unique life demands, jobs, or activities that they are training for. Different people may need to express strength differently in their daily lives. But regardless of what it looks like, everyone should still train for increased strength. Strength is king – it is required for almost everything in life, it is needed in many forms, and it is for everyone!

Erica Saunders, BPE, CSCS, FRCms

 

 

 

The Muddled Meaning of Mobility

“Mobility” has become a huge buzzword in the area of fitness and health. The term gets thrown around quite often in online articles, but rarely is its true meaning explained. What exactly is mobility, why is it made out to be such a big deal, and why is it so good for me?

The general definition of mobility is “capable of moving, or being moved freely and easily.” The word mobilityas it relates to the human body refers to a joint’s ability to actively achieve a certain position – that is, to move the joint using the body’s own muscular strength and control, without any external assistance. This is the joint’s “usable” range of motion, the range of motion that you are able to access at any given moment, during any day-to-day activities.

This is in contrast to flexibility, a term that is often used interchangeably with mobility, despite not meaning the same thing. They sound similar, but they are not synonyms! Flexibility means “capable of being bent, usually without breaking.” When talking about the body, it refers to a joint’s ability to passively achieve a position – that is, to use no muscular effort or activation to get there. To get an idea of passive movement, picture a yogi grabbing her foot and pulling it up behind her head. While her joints can obviously get into those positions, it requires the external help of her hands to do so. It is very unlikely that she could lift her leg into that position completely on its own, without her hands pushing it into place. In this example, she has great flexibility but limited mobility. The crucial difference between the two is the way in which her body’s joints achieve the position. Any joint position that requires external help to get into is not a usable position, but is “un-usable” range of motion.

Despite the “un-usable” label, passive flexibility is not bad. It is actually needed in order to have mobility, but it is only one part of the equation. Mobility is a combination of flexibility, strength, and control. To have mobility, you need:

Lots of available passive range of motion (flexibility)  +  lots of strength throughout that range  +  great control over that range

From this, we can see that we have the potential to convert passive flexibility into active mobility through training. Using our yogi as an example, we could train her joints to have the strength and control to lift her leg behind her head unassisted, thus giving her the active mobility to match up with her great flexibility. All of her passive range would become “useable”, which is a very good thing!

Now that we have a better understanding of what mobility actually means, we can dive into why it is so important to have it, as opposed to just having flexibility. Mobility is the key physical ability of the body. If we know that having good mobility means having active control of joints, being able to move them into a ton of different positions, and having strength in all of these various positions, then it’s easy to make the case that having mobility in your joints is the single most important prerequisite to any activity that you do in sport or life. Without the ability to move your joints into the positions needed to do a squat, to take a shot in soccer, to reach overhead and paint the walls in your house, or to bend down and pick up your toddler, your ability to perform those activities safely and effectively is severely compromised. No matter how strong you are, no matter how fit you are…if your joints cannot physically get into the positions that you repeatedly ask them to, your performance and your body will suffer.

Mobility is the base of the training pyramid, and it undergirds absolutely every other physical quality that you can train for (aerobic capacity, strength, power, speed). Mobility is what allows you to pursue and train for all of those other qualities without getting injured, without wearing joints down, without spending undue amounts of time and money on trips to the doctor or the physiotherapist. Mobility is what keeps your joints healthy as you age and prevents you from losing the ability to do the activities you were once able to do.

 

 

Maintaining the necessary mobility to do all of your favorite activities into your later years doesn’t just happen on its own, though. Joints don’t maintain themselves – it takes time, intention, effort, and a lot of movement on our part. Consistently challenging and constantly using the active ranges of motion that you currently have in your joints is the key to keeping those ranges over months and years and decades. Think of a person you know who is older than you. Have you ever heard him or her say something like “these knees/hips/shoulders just don’t move the way they used to” or “I used to be able to [insert activity here] but my [insert joint here] just can’t do it anymore”? Most people would chalk this up to simply getting older, but in many cases the main cause is actually disuse rather than age. Losing mobility in your joints is only a consequence of natural aging if you let it be. The best way to prevent this from happening is to never stop using your joints through the biggest possible range of motion you can.

Is training for mobility fun? Not usually. Is training for mobility easy? No, it is in many cases much more difficult than strength or endurance training. Is training for mobility important and rewarding? Absolutely. It should not be overlooked, or skipped, or disregarded as less worthy than lifting weights or going for a run. Mobility training is an investment in your body, a very long-term one. If you prepare your body to its very best ability to handle the tasks that you throw at it, you put yourself in the best possible position to not only crush life’s daily physical demands, but to keep your body as pain-free and injury-free as possible while doing so.

 

Erica Saunders, BPE, CSCS, FRCms

What is the SVPT way?

Welcome to our first blog!  We are excited to be starting a blog and video blog series to share what we are about, and what we do.

You will see in our posts we hashtag #theSVPTway.  Maybe it’s time to explain.

Simply put, #theSVPTway is our fitness philosophy and our culture.  It’s what sets us apart from our competitors and makes us #1 in Edmonton.

We believe in bringing out the potential of every individual who walks through our doors.  We recognize that not everyone is at the same ability level, and that progressions and regressions need to be made accordingly. We do this by simply caring about our folks as people first.  Every person is different, and every person has different needs, goals and lifestyles.

We start by building you from the ground up.  Every well-built house has a solid foundation.   Our foundation starts with teaching the basics, and that’s where we separate ourselves from those who simply deliver workouts rather than teaching movement.  But our philosophy doesn’t stop with just teaching the basics, it then becomes about mastery, and doing these ordinary things extraordinarily well.

It’s not about being flashy or sexy, cool, or stylish – it’s about these core fundamental skills, built around challenging fitness fun.  Mastering the basics prevents injury, slows aging and builds a body that allows you to live a fuller life. When you move better, you live better.  Isn’t that what fitness is supposed to be about? Living a better and more full life, because you are physically able to.

The SVPT way is not a rigid system that stifles creativity and fun.  While our fitness philosophy is about mastering the basics to build a foundation, once that base competency is there, it opens up a huge selection of movements to then explore and play with.  Fitness can be challenging, as it should be, but it can also be enjoyable.  It’s our job to make sure you enjoy what you are doing and teach you why you are doing it.  Don’t get us wrong, teaching proper movement is serious business, but it doesn’t mean it can’t be both fun and rewarding!

When you walk through the doors of SVPT, you feel welcome, motivated and inspired to become a better version of YOU, in a training environment that is not intimidating or exclusive.   No matter what your fitness level is, you will feel like you belong there because all fitness levels train together – from beginner to athlete.   Every client of ours is on their own journey and we have created a positive environment for you to get there.

We welcome you to give #theSVPTway a try and see what we are all about.