by David Minishian | May 28, 2023 | Mary's Small Group Boot Camp Journey
“Hey Mary, last week after our coaching session I forgot to mention that the Semi-Private Training will be open for enrollment in a month. If the class times work for your schedule, you should consider joining it.”
“I had meant to ask you about the Semi-Private program. How is it different?” Mary replied.
Here are the 2 key differences:
Exercise Programming
The Small Group Boot Camp is a standardized training program with exercise modifications to challenge beginners and veterans. It is structured to focus on either muscular endurance or hypertrophy. Although the program is adaptable, there are limitations on certain aspects of training like the exercise split, training volume, specific progressions, tempo, and personalization of exercises.
The Semi-Private Training Program overcomes these limitations by providing a personalized training program in a group setting. While personalization isn’t always necessary, at a certain point a personalized program delivers better results than a standardized program.
Coaching
During the Small Group Boot Camp, you learn the weight lifting fundamentals including the 6 basic movement patterns, correct exercise form, and how to implement a basic progressive overload.
In the Semi-Private Training Program the coaching goes more in-depth. Here you’ll learn how to execute the same exercise differently to target specific muscle groups, utilize advanced lifting techniques like drop sets, compound sets and going until failure, or maybe even use a certain lifting tempo to emphasize the eccentric movement of an exercise.
“If you decide to join the program, I’d recommend starting with an upper body/lower body split where we emphasize using the barbell. This would increase your volume of exercise to better address your current goals of building more muscle and bone density.” Coach suggested.
“I’m definitely interested! I’ve seen the Semi-Private members using the barbells and I’ve wanted to learn. When did you say the program starts?”
“Next month. I’ll let you know when enrollment opens in a couple weeks.”
“Alright. Thanks Coach!”
by David Minishian | May 20, 2023 | Mary's Small Group Boot Camp Journey
Last week, Mary decided to shift her goal from weight loss to building more lean body mass.
To build more muscle and bone tissue, Mary booked a coaching session with her coach, where she identified 3 nutritional changes for her current diet.
1. Increase Calorie Intake
For 20 weeks Mary has been in a caloric deficit, eating less calories than she burns. Combined with resistance training and a high protein diet, she has targeted fat loss.
Along the way she gained some muscle and bone tissue, but it hasn’t been the priority.
To prioritize it, Mary will be increasing her calorie intake by 500 calories putting her at a Caloric Balance. This is the number of calories Mary needs to consume to maintain her current weight.
By not being in a deficit, her body will contribute this extra energy towards building more lean body mass.
2. Increase Protein Intake
Mary is eating a high protein diet, but we’re increasing it a little. With an extra 500 calories a day, it will be easier to hit her new protein goals.
During the fat loss phase, Mary focused on consuming her lean body mass in grams of protein. At 105lbs of lean mass, she needed 105 grams of protein minimum for fat loss.
For her new goal, she aims to eat her body weight in grams of protein.
This extra protein provides the building blocks the body needs to build more lean body mass. They have to come from somewhere.
3. Personal Practices
Telling Mary to eat more calories and protein is the right answer, but it’s not very helpful without personalized suggestions.
Mary and her Coach identified a few ways to make these changes.
- Add in egg whites and a side of turkey bacon to her morning scramble
- Switch to a whey isolate protein powder for her morning smoothies
- Keep meal portions the same, but add in a protein rich snack like greek yogurt either before or after lunch
- Try using tofu for protein rich plant-based dishes. (Extra firm and pressed overnight).
These small changes will increase her calorie and protein intake and deliver the nutrients she needs to build more lean body mass.
by David Minishian | May 13, 2023 | Mary's Small Group Boot Camp Journey
Last week Mary decided to stop prioritizing weight loss for the immediate future.
Commonly clients change their goals during their journey, because as they make progress they discover what is important to them.
Between getting a positive report from her doctor and continuing to lose more body fat, Mary’s goals shifted away from losing weight and moved towards improving her health.
As fitness professionals, we hope our clients reach this deeper relationship with exercise and nutrition that goes beyond physical appearance. While changing our appearance through weight loss can improve confidence, self-esteem, and be a positive experience, the number on the scale or how we look in the mirror isn’t the most important outcome.
It may be hard to see that initially, but to reach a long term goal, you need a deeper, more meaningful “why.”
Without having a “why” that speaks to your core, you are less likely to stay committed to your goals.
Initially, Mary wanted to lose weight to change her appearance. However, in pursuing this goal she experienced improvements in blood sugar, bone density, sleep quality, energy levels, and body composition. Being a healthy weight is still important to Mary, but her focus has shifted from the appearance of being healthy to her actual health.
This subtle shift fuels the drive to live actively and practice healthy habits even if they don’t directly result in an immediate change of appearance.
Looking at fitness and health through this lens, Mary told her coach this week that she wanted to change her primary goal from weight loss to increase her lean body mass (bone and muscle), which would improve her body’s ability to regulate blood sugar and strengthen her bones.
Since Mary’s doctor had emphasized the importance of these specific health markers for her, she felt continuing to take steps towards improving them was the best decision for her well-being.
Coach agreed that shifting her focus would be beneficial and scheduled a coaching session to review the changes she would need to make.
by David Minishian | May 7, 2023 | Mary's Small Group Boot Camp Journey
“I’m ready to see how my body has changed this month, Coach!” Mary said with a smile on her face.
Mary confidently removes her shoes and steps on the InBody scale.
It starts calculating.
After receiving the recent progress report from her yearly physical exam, Mary wasn’t as concerned about the numbers on the scale. It was clear that her health is improving from the changes she’s made in the Small Group Boot Camp and that’s what matters.
Mary continued to hold the InBody handles when the machine stopped. It read no change in weight and a 1.1% reduction in body fat.
Coach glanced at the results and looked up at Mary, “What are your thoughts?”
“That’s good progress. I’m happy with that change.”
“Me too. Do you want to make any changes to see a weight loss for next month?”
Mary paused at the question, realizing that her Coach didn’t say that she needed to make any changes, “No, actually I’m okay without making any changes right now. Let’s wait to reevaluate next month.”
Coach smiled, “Sounds good!”
Within the last four months Mary has created a sustainable lifestyle, a new way of living that has significantly improved her health. In that time, her journey has become less about weight loss and more about self-improvement, or more accurately being her best self. This is a common outcome of many successful clients, because reaching their goals requires them to change and as they change, often their goals change as well.
Could Mary lose another 15 to 20 lbs healthfully?
Yes, but there is no reason she needs to lose more weight. That is her choice.
Right now Mary is comfortable with her current lifestyle and the progress she’s seeing from it, and we’re happy to support her decision.
by David Minishian | Apr 29, 2023 | Mary's Small Group Boot Camp Journey
Mary came to class excited, “Coach I have great news! I got the results back from my yearly physical and my primary doctor was blown away.”
She continued to tell Coach that before joining the program, she was in the early stages of developing osteoporosis and had elevated blood glucose levels and an A1C suggesting that she was prediabetic.
Mary remembers hearing this information and how it made her feel. At the time she wasn’t working out or making great nutrition choices, and it wasn’t until a few months ago that she decided to take her fate into her own hands and start making changes.
Although she primarily signed up at Sculpt Fitness to lose weight, her health markers have improved more than she anticipated. Mary’s bone density went from a T-score of -1.1 to -0.9, moving her back into the normal range, and her fasting blood glucose levels were at 96 mg/dL rather than the previously elevated reading of 105 mg/dL.
Health outcomes like these happen in the Small Group Boot Camp.
When someone, who does not exercise regularly and has inadequate nutrition, makes lifestyle changes, their life literally changes.
Since the Small Group Boot Camp focuses on resistance based training, it’s common to see improvements in bone density and blood sugar specifically.
Resistance training strengthens our bones by improving bone mineral density. When we lift weights and apply significant force to the bones, the bones adapt and rebuild stronger than before.
Resistance training also increases insulin sensitivity and builds new muscle tissue. These physical changes improve the body’s ability to remove excess sugar from the blood and store it in the muscle tissue as glycogen. The better your body can do this, the less risk you’ll have of developing diabetes.
As a result of her efforts, Mary is no longer considered a high-risk for osteoporosis or diabetes. This is an incredible achievement, and Mary is well on her way to becoming the healthiest version of herself.
by David Minishian | Apr 22, 2023 | Mary's Small Group Boot Camp Journey
Mary’s progress is nothing short of remarkable. Staying on track and focusing on lifting heavier weights while maintaining proper form has resulted in her movements becoming more concentrated, as observed by her coach, who has commended her on her progress.
“Alright Mary,” her coach says with genuine admiration. “Let’s take you to the next level!”
At this point, Mary wonders what the coach has in mind.
The coach proceeds to explain that the next level need not necessarily involve lifting heavier weights. Instead, there are several ways to enhance exercises throughout the workout. Since Mary has been focusing on form and a steady progressive overload, her coach suggests building on that foundation by introducing tempo modifications.
Time Under Tension
Tempo, in the context of a workout, refers to the rate at which you perform an exercise. It involves controlling the amount of time your muscle is under tension during each portion of the exercise, including the isometric, eccentric, and concentric phases.
For instance, when performing a squat, the three phases are lowering your body, pausing at the bottom, and then standing back up. To help illustrate this, try performing a squat and note the number of seconds it takes to lower your body, the number of seconds you hold the squat position, and the speed at which you return to an upright position. Typically, most people use a tempo of 2:1:1 or even 2:0:2.
Manipulating the workout tempo is an effective tactic to change the intent of your workout and take it to the next level.
Mary then asks her coach, “What should my workout tempo be?”
Coach responds by explaining the best tempo for Mary and how to execute it for the different exercises in her program.
Since a workout tempo is personalized according to the individual’s goals and ability, there is no perfect tempo for everyone. It depends on individual goals and needs.
If you are curious about enhancing your workouts with a specific tempo, I encourage you to talk to your coach to receive the best guidance for you.