by Mike Luepke
Have you ever tried to move a couch by yourself or thought twice about sweeping up your grandkids for fear of injury? These are examples of powerful movements – maximum effort exertions that you might encounter in everyday life – and they are one of the reasons that in our gym, our members lift heavy.
If you might look at what we do and say to yourself “I’m not an athlete, so I don’t need to lift weights” or “I don’t want to get bulky”, you wouldn’t be the first. But why will we look at you understandingly, pretend to be concerned and still make you lift heavy weights?
Science.
The results are in: Exposing your body to load means greater endurance, improved balance, stronger muscles, greater bone density, and an increased ability to fight disease and cancer. Never mind that a stronger body has much greater functional implications in day-to-day tasks.
Is it necessary to do push-ups until you puke to get the results you’re looking for? Absolutely not. But the foundational principle of strength training – the overload principle – means that lifting to fatigue is necessary to accomplish changes in your physiology.
In our program design, members will cycle through periods of higher reps and lower weight with periods of low reps and higher weight. We incorporate power development as well (think maximum effort) no matter the member’s age or ability. Because life doesn’t always come at us in a series of 15 to 20 reps. Sometimes you need to move that couch, and no one is around to help. Or you’ll need to pick up that bag of groceries with one arm while lifting a child into the cart with the other. So, think about us next time you face a challenge and be confident you’re prepared to take it on.
Our members rock and we love hearing how their increased strength translates to everyday life. Working out benefits so much more than just looking good – feeling and moving with confidence is empowering! 🙂