We weren’t happy with the current state of the fitness industry.

When you look at the fitness industry you tend to have 1 on 1 coaching and then large group training. 1 on 1 training is great and is the top end coaching experience however the downside is it tends to be the most expensive.

Then on the other end of the spectrum you have large group training which can be great because it can be more affordable. However the downside to large group training is it can lack the individualised coaching experience you get with 1 on1. Often people are thrown into the program in the deep end and the coach simply doesn’t have enough time to be able to properly coach someone in how to execute the movements.

Everyone is at different levels and abilities and most often group training ends up being some random combination of exercises thrown together randomly each week that gives you a good sweat but may lack the progression needed from week to week to truly make progress and get stronger. Enter small team training

We are a big believer in individualisation of programs and meeting someone where they are at and building them up gradually overtime to level’s they never thought possible. This is why we created small team training. We cap sessions at 4 people in order to combine the best of large group training with 1 on 1 training. You still get the camaraderie and affordability of large group training as well as the individualisation and coaching experience of 1 on 1 training. It really is the best of both worlds.

So how does it work at Adaptive Strength?

Well it all begins with The Game Plan Session. This is a chance to sit down 1 on 1 with your own coach who overseas your journey. Everyone at Adaptive Strength has there own coach. Whether they are part of small team training or getting 1 on 1 coaching no matter what program you are part of everyone here has there own coach to help guide the path towards your goals. The role of your own coach is to help set clear goals and come up with a clear path or “plan” that works for you. This is one of the most important aspects of the program and helps set you up for success. Every three months you sit down again with your own coach to review how you have been going, what’s been working well, what’s not going well and then set some new goals or adjust the plan going forward.

Once a clear game plan has been set it’s time to put in the work. There are no short cuts to success and this is where your own coach helps keep you accountable and on track with your program.

So what does a small team training session look like?

Below I outline what an individual session small team training session looks like.It’s important to keep in mind that this is the micro part of a larger overall plan with the key being consistency over time with gradual progression to reach your goals.

Our training sessions are broken into 5 sections, each of which has a distinct purpose in your training.

RAMP:

RAMP stands for Range of Motion, Activation and Movement Prep. This is your warmup, it will take you through mobility, activation and movement based drills to enhance your movement and prepare you for your workout. This is completed in the 10mins before your session starts

Skill Training:

We all should practice to move better, and learning to move better is a skill. The skill training has two key aspects to it. Firstly we use skill training to practice and master key movements that will be in the resistance block. Skill training is a step by step approach, and is based on patient, systematic progressions targeted to achieve what was once impossible for the student.

The other aspect of skill training is games. We want our student to move, and move with joy. Games create a fun and challenging environment. We were very surprised when we introduced the first games into the Adaptive Strength system: we saw people become lost in time. It’s also a great way to work on reaction, agility and general athleticism that we tend to lose as we age

In summary in the skill training block you either will be learning or refining a movement needed for the strength block or you will be playing short games to have some fun, move your body in different ways and wake up the body before the main part of the program.

Resistance Training:

This is the meat and potatoes of the training program. Overtime you’ll see that we keep the primary exercises for this section the same for 12 weeks in most cases. This is important because it gives you time to make progress in mastery of the movement and strength development before moving on to new variations.

For the non-primary strength exercises you will see slight variation and progression from month to month in order to give you a well rounded development.

During the Strength block we focus on developing primal movement patterns of push, pull, hinge, squat and carry. Even though you are in a small group of 1-4 people this section is individualized to where you are at and where you want to go.

Energy System Training:

This is the energy systems or metabolic portion of the program. We utilize a variety of schemes that challenge your energy systems in different ways, with an emphasis on the aerobic system. We know that steady state conditioning like running, biking and rowing can get old overtime so we like to include variety of exercise variations here to increase the demand and keep things interesting

Regeneration:

Last but not least is the recovery section. When you spend an hour turning everything on, it’s just as important to help things off before you go.

This may seem unimportant, but it will kick start the recovery process. Take the extra 1-2 minutes to get this done. Research has shown that including this leads to less soreness and a more productive training session next time you are in the gym.

That’s what an individual session looks like as part of the Adaptive Strength Small team training system. Keep in mind what really matters is consistency over time and progression from week to week which is often missing from regular group training classes that throw random combinations of exercises together every session with no aimed progression from week to week. If you are struggling to reach your goals and think a more tailored approach will help you send us a message if you want to give Adaptive Strength team training a go!