At Southwest Strength, fitness is a lifestyle, a daily routine, a way of life. We have been very blessed to be given the opportunity to teach the principles we have practiced, learned and researched to our community/members here at Southwest Strength. We have now been training clients in Melita/Southwest MB for over 3 years. Over those 3 years our view on fitness is always ever changing, we are always learning, evolving and trying to improve as coaches and people. We do have some underlying principles that remain the “foundation” of our coaching and business model.
Fitness: So many components can be addressed here. Different movements, energy systems, skills, tasks, “programs”, the list goes on and on. Our program is quite simple, what we have continued to go after and achieve is BALANCED FITNESS. Balance fitness means, you are strong, aerobically very fit, move very well, have the ability to perform a wide range of skills and make fitness a priority in your lifestyle. We do that by training and focusing on the following:
Strength – Back Squats, Front Squats, Deadlifts, Pushing & Pulling are all seen in our programs weekly. These areas all take up the focus for the larger movements of our strength training. We do a ton of accessory strength training that helps develop core strength, postural stability and mobility as well as assist in leg strength and upper body strength. We believe that strength is a very important component of fitness. Strength helps you with achieving a lean body composition, improving your daily life, sport performance and leads to overall better health and longevity.
Energy Systems – Here we can dive right into the aerobic, anaerobic and creatine phosphate system. However, we will look at it in simple context. We want you to be able to breathe, have good endurance and be strong enough to move external loads at the same time. The aerobic system is key, breathing and being able to move at a “high” heart rate for a long period of time is very important to one’s fitness and health. Studies have shown that training the aerobic system has lead to greater increased health, well- being, more energy and improved quality of life. – ijsrp-p2465 At Southwest Strength, we don’t put to much emphasize on the anaerobic system for the general public. Focusing on the aerobic system and strength training is the focus. Anaerobic training for someone that doesn’t produce enough power or have enough strength is usually not as beneficial. With our athletes this is usually a focus, especially our hockey players.
Mobility/Movement Quality – as we are involved in fitness for longer periods of time, this becomes WAY more of a priority. Movement and the way we do movements is something we can ALWAYS improve. Being efficient, more mobile, faster and better can always be a goal. Eventually your physical abilities do slow down, but the way you perform the movements can always improve. This will lead to better efficiency, mobility and less injury. One of the movements that we focus on mastering and improving is our squatting position. A perfectly executed squat is something we probably haven’t seen yet, but we can always strive to improve.
Skills – the longer we coach people, the more we recognize how much fun this is for people. Learning how to squat, deadlift, press, etc are all skills that we strive to master. We also do skills like hand-stands, wall walks, gymnastic skills on the rings, kettle-bell skills like Turkish get-ups, snatches, single arm overhead squats to name a few.
We are NOT married to one component of fitness or one way of programming fitness. We don’t just train 3 sets of 10 reps, as well as not just train cardio. We have found it very beneficial to create/use smart fitness tests to direct the direction of our program design.
The goal of the program is to consistently challenge you. We do this by varying the intensity, loading, reps, sets and movements. We have heard numerous times that people never get bored with our workouts because they are always different. Our templates have the same theme – IE – for the next 4-6 weeks we squat on Mondays and work core accessory, but its varied, its progressed to try and improve you. This has been very valuable for people.
Sometimes the program has a heavier emphasis on overall strength, other times it has more of a focus on aerobic capacity. We deliver these focuses by our assessment and understanding of what people actually need to work on.
We also offer individual program design for people with more specific goals. This is something you can read about here
Community
The power of the community that we have built at Southwest Strength since the fall of 2015 is definitely something Sara and I underestimated. It has grown to be such a friendly, positive, encouraging and family like atmosphere. We always knew that fitness would be a common bond and bring people together, but the fact that members have grown into best friends and spend time with each other outside the gym speaks for itself. We are very happy to call all of you our friends.
The coaching and the results from the program isn’t the only reason people keep coming back either. The power of the community has proven to motivate, inspire and encourage people to go outside their comfort zone and challenge themselves. We have heard it numerous times, “I would have stopped moving if I wasn’t doing this right beside someone”.
Southwest Strength is proven to put you outside your comfort zone and keep you coming back. We saw a problem with the way people were trying to lose weight, be more fit or healthy. They would do what was comfortable and easy for them. Unfortunately that doesn’t work. You have to constantly be challenged, pushed outside your comfort zone to see results.
A lot of our clients that have been with us now for over one year had never exercised or did anything remotely close to what they are doing now. The commitment, consistency, lifestyle changes, fitness and health that has been presented from these people are very inspiring. The results speak for themselves.
Karen started with us in Dec. 2015. She has now lost 30lbs
Marcie’s Southwest Strength debut was in January 2016. 40lbs lost and a LARGE increase in strength, mobility, breathing and LIFESTYLE here she is now.
Carolyn Arndt started at Southwest Strength in December 2015. She continues to train 4-5 days a week. She does NOT focus on losing weight, rather focuses on improving her physical and mental abilities in and out of the gym. The past 3 years she has lost over 80lbs! She continues to get stronger, healthier and more fit every day. This lady right here is an inspiration to us all.
Longevity
What does longevity look like to us? Longevity is health and fitness over a lifetime. It’s achieved by making fitness a lifestyle, a daily routine and a way of life. We don’t just focus on how fit you are today or tomorrow, but we want to look at the big PICTURE. What are you going to be able to do in 10 years? Is fitness still going to be a big part of your life? If it is, longevity and health are being achieved.
Yes overtime your abilities do change, however there is always something to strive for and try and work on. Take a page from our oldies but goodies.
Is Southwest Strength for everyone? You tell me…
How can you get started?
Book a consult/interview with one of our coaches today.