What’s an Elevation Gains Training Session Like?
It all starts with a smile
Every training session starts with a smile and a warm greeting. From there, the first question is nearly always, “how are you?“ Not only do I want to know how you are on a personal level, this question is also the key to how the rest of the session will progress. Are you feeling 100% awesome? Are you physically drained from a long, active weekend? Have you been bogged down with work and feeling super stressed? Is your physical therapy going well? This information helps me assess how we’ll approach our planned training for the day. Exercise is stress on the body, and we want to apply the appropriate amount of stress to cause adaptations, but also allow for recovery to occur prior to the next bout of activity. So, don’t hold back, tell me what’s going on with you - I care about how you’re doing, and its all relevant to the work we’ll do together.
The Warm-up
After checking in, typically we’ll move into some deep diaphragm breathing to help reset things and signal to the body that the workout is starting. After some breathing, we’ll go through some targeted self-massage/body work to get our nervous system ready to move. We’ll then flow right into a dynamic warm-up, progressing the body through various floor-based and upright movements, paying attention to range of motion, any “tight” or “sore” spots, as well as how your energy levels are reacting to the increase in activity. Most of the warm-up will be the same every session (though yours may be unique relative to others’). The reason for this is to create a baseline reference for you to explore how you’re feeling each day (“hmmm, this hip feels really limited today!”), and also to utilize the psychological power that ritual behaviors have to prepare our bodies for what’s to come. If anything tells us it needs a little extra attention, we’ll give it the attention it needs.
The Workout
Once all systems are go, we’ll transition into our primary movements for the day. These movements are always programmed specifically for preparing you to achieve your goals. Generally, we’ll be sure to work in all planes of motion (forward/backward, sideways, rotational), and we’ll utilize as much of your range of motion as is comfortable (for example we’ll squat as deep as you’re able to without pain and while maintaining solid mechanics). I try to blend as many modalities as I can into every program - expect a little bit of everything: squatting, hinging, jumping, pivoting, pressing, pulling, carrying. Everything in your program will have a well thought out purpose. I try to educate as we go so you understand how the movement is connected to your goals, and also so you understand how to execute it yourself if you try it on your own (if I forget to explain something, ask! I keep no secrets in my approach). Also, I try to keep the mood fun. There will be no shouting in your face (unless that’s what you want). There will be jokes, great conversation between sets, fun challenges, and just plain good vibes.
One question I hear often is, “shouldn’t I be more tired than this at the end?” Generally, the answer is “nope.” Most of the time, I’m aiming for you to feel better when you leave the session, compared to when you arrived to the session. Why? Remember above where I mentioned recovery? Maybe the best, and often most ignored, form of exercise recovery is proper exercise programming - if we hit it right, you may feel some soreness over the next 24-48hrs, but you should be ready to workout again relatively soon. If we don’t adequately recover between exercise sessions, we don’t adapt to the stress we put on the body, we don’t get any stronger, and we increase the risk of injury or illness (I sense another blog post on just this topic coming in the near future). If we can keep you consistently showing up and feeling good, that’s where the magic happens (AKA, “results”).
The Cool Down
Once we’ve accomplished what we set out to do, we’ll often bring it home with some light movement, breathing, and, depending on how things feel, some basic static stretching. This allows the nervous system to calm, our heartbeat to gradually lower, and our blood flushes out some of the by-products from exercise as we come back down to a resting state.
Any questions? Email me, or reach out via instagram.