Planning the start of my semi-private training has been both exciting and stressful. It’s a lot of work, but will be very rewarding in the end. Throughout the years I’ve had to deal with the obstacle of how I can help more people, without sacrificing quality. As my time has drawn more and more scarce, this has become a consistent problem. Working with 3-6 people at a time finally solves this dilemma. My next question has been what is my niche? I have come to a point in my career that I know I can’t be a trainer to everyone. Could I work with anyone? Maybe. Would I be better at focusing on a few specific goals, and mastering my craft towards them? Yes. So I have focused my energies towards creating a fat loss & strengthening class that I can coach in a small group setting. The last 5 years of my career I have spent studying and learning efficient & safe ways to implement kettlebells, the TRX, and sandbags into my programming. That being said, I have chosen these tools as my choice pieces of equipment.
Creating this class forced me to draft a system that I would need to use. The beef with training multiple people is that it can become chaotic. Everyone has different needs, and this constant tweaking can sometimes derail that flow you want to have when putting together an exercise routine. To prevent this, I decided it be best to use the Functional Movement Screen (FMS) with all participants prior to their first workout. This would allow me to plan ahead how everyone could be performing the same movement regardless of their restrictions. It would also serve as motivation for someone to see where they will be able to progress. For example, you may start with an assisted squat using the TRX, because of your lack of mobility. After a month of reinforcing this movement pattern along with tissue work on a foam roller and some mobility work, you could progress to a gobblet squat using a kettlebell. After 2 months of working on improving your strength with the kettlebell you then progress to performing a front squat with a sandbag that has the same load as the kettlebell, but places a different demand on your trunk due to dynamic shifting of the sand. This is a popular progression that I have used for years with my one on one clientele, and it has provided great results. The time table has varied, but progress has been consistent.
Program design has been part of my training business that I have worked on in an effort to be more efficient. As my clientele has grown, I came to an understanding that I had to have a formula that I could use daily when drafting up my workouts. I have never been a trainer to just show up and do “whatever” for someone’s workout. I despise seeing that in the big-box gyms. By having a system, I can sit down prior and create someone’s workout in 5-10 minutes that will cater to their needs and will follow a healthy progression for strength and fat loss.
I talk about this workout in my e-book- The Torch Workout. Feel free to download it for FREE at https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/400913. The next cog in my machine was how I could monitor everyone’s intensity in their workouts. This is where technology has helped out. Using bluetooth heart monitors I can view via my Ipad everyone’s heart rate confirming they work both intense and safe enough to trigger a fat burning outcome. Intensity during workouts is overlooked so frequently. When I get questioned for my opinion on a specific workout, I will typically answer with a question. “Was it an intense workout?” To this I will typically hear… “Well, I was sweating a lot”. Now I have had my share of workouts where I was dripping like Patrick Ewing warming up for a Knick's game, but did that qualify it for intense. Could I have been doing something new, a change that was unique to what I typically do in my workouts? Possibly something that was challenging, but not super intense. I have learned not to equate having a healthy “lather” in a workout to intensity.
Finally, creating this small group model has allowed me to work on something I thoroughly enjoy. Becoming a better coach! I have worked on making my cues simpler and easier to follow. I’ve worked on how to explain something so that it’s understood instantly. This is where I feel many trainers drop the ball. Remember if someone can’t perform an exercise because they don’t understand, it’s not their fault, that’s on you. And for me, that is the secret sauce that I feel will make my workouts very effective. So if you’re looking for a kick butt workout for fat loss and strength that will guarantee, yes… guarantee results, in a fun & safe environment, you may want to give my Torch Workouts a try. For more information on these workouts and our launch date please contact me at Doug@JanddFitness.com.