"It is awesome, you will love it. They do group classes. But they really individualize things for you. The coaches are amazing. They do hikes and stuff. "
I'll be real: deep down, I want to believe that our heavily principled programming, very nuanced approaches to progressing strength, skill, and endurance; and our general obsession for understanding biomechanics with regards to exercise... is the biggest reason for our clientele's success.
That, laying out for you, the structure for our training approach and the cool names that leave you going "ohhh this must work" (because who doesn't love some good ole fashioned progressive overload, density training, tempo training, and cardio strength training combined together in one great program) is what will really draw you into this experience.
But that belief would be deeply rooted in my nerdiness for this training world and probably a deeper rooted need to be told I sound smart.
(And don't worry, for my fellow training nerds, I will break it down for you in part 2)
It would also completely dismiss what has made our program be so uniquely helpful to someone looking to find their start in fitness for the first time, as nervous as they may be.
It wouldn't highlight what was so key for a former "do it all human" trying to get a kickstart to train again in a life filled with work, kids, and good food to make health and fitness a consistent part of their life again.
It definitely wouldn't explain how we are able to take so many tired, frustrated souls who just want to move throughout their day without hurting down a path of feeling strong and confident again.
So, for a second, let's pretend you are one of our biggest supporters, and you want to tell the whole world about us.
What would you say?
"I could talk about their training program all day long, especially how they kick you off with a simple, but effective progressive overload strategy to help build your initial foundations. How within your first 9 weeks utilizing various tempo training strategies, you will be opened up to their effective, efficient, and sometimes mean world of density training and cardio strength training. "
But that wasn't what got me training there in the first place. It is not what kept me from freaking out the first time I woke up with the slightest pain or ache. And it definitely wasn't the reason for my newfound consistency, competency, and not to mention LOVE for working out that I have never experienced before.
When you find a gym that can relate to you from coaching call one, build your confidence and competence, in what used to be an awkward world for me, in literally every workout, and provide you with enough autonomy to to truly progress at your pace, on your terms, and based on your choice...hold on to that gym, because it's the best place to be.
WOW. Thanks Samantha!
Dramatic I know.
But, they have a point. And in our little training gym in the middle of Knoxville, we built our programs and coaching philosophy on three main tenants:
Relatedness:
Coaches that actively listen, care about your very own personal goals, and respect your nerves, hesitancies, training history, and current overall physical and mental bandwidth.
Our programs are built on curiosity, asking more questions, and figuring how we can best serve you.
By relating to your current goals and past experience we are able to design programs that you can tolerate, train you in a way that helps you feel challenged without being crushed, and gives us understanding into how we can help you best when mental and physical roadblocks begin to arise.
Add in an inclusive environment that helps you to feel safe and secure while you keep practicing this whole adventure of building your fitness, health, and hotness, and we see many of our UTSfam open up early and often, enabling us to help push them closer to confidence and competence in the gym.
Competency:
It is frustrating entering into a gym that makes you feel like exercise must be punishment, that the only way to progress is endless and excessive challenges, workout after workout. It is a common strategy in the fitness realm to spend more time telling you what is wrong with you and how you move, what you aren't great at outside the gym, where you need to just "do more.' And unfortunately, as a form of guilt and self esteem driven external motivation...it can work...for a little while.
Instead, when we spend a lot of time on the front end finding your exact skill level, endurance ability, strength needs, and overall tolerance for movement, we are able to setup an optimal level of challenging growth for you.
Just enough to have you feeling the effort, progressing, but still wanting (and able) to come back for more.
Our first 4-12 weeks are heavy on positive feedback and building wins, stacking every tool and material possible to build your fitness framework.
With increased competency, you start to notice a shift in your motivation. The movement skill grows. The confidence is high.
"Maybe I can do this. I feel better after being here. I WANT to be here. Now, let me tell YOU what's next."
Autonomy
Meal plans, transformation programs, fast track fitness ideas, and short term workout plans have created a problem:
They removed choice.
They attach every workout to some external demand, driven by self esteem or guilt.
Imposed goals. External control. Tangible rewards.
What they have created is a vicious cycle of loving and hating fitness, loving and hating ourselves, and ultimately regressing to the same frustrated state we found ourselves in at the start.
We are here to support you. Guide you where needed. Be experts on movement, program design, and nutrition.
BUT, we aren't here to tell you what you want, where you should go, and direct the exact path for you to go down.
We build choice into our programs from day 1.
We acknowledge what you have felt and experienced in your past training, coaching, or lifestyle.
We help you select goals that are based on values fully assimilated into yourself and that drive interest, curiosity, challenge, or enjoyment rather than shame, guilt, or what someone else told you.
And we then set you up on a program based on that experience.
Need a slower start? Need finishers that help you feel 'accomplished'
Do you need lots of explanation? Or respond better by just being shown?
What movements do you love? What do you hate?
And throughout this process, YOU are guiding the direction, with our support AND our background experience.
What weight do you feel ready for?
Are you ready to push intensity?
Would you rather chase a more complex exercise or a more intense one?
Do you have more bandwidth for focusing on your nutrition, daily activity, or lifestyle at the moment?
The questions and curiosity never stop.
And when you add on an obsession program design, exercise knowledge, and on the floor coaching skill...well, you get a unicorn my friend.
And, we are ready for you.
