Happy Sunday Team,
Thanks to everyone who got along to the gym last week. Again – so awesome to see the place so busy with people working so hard. As I noted on ‘SnapFace’ or maybe it was ‘InstaBook’ last week, special thanks to Tracey for the boxing programming last week – there were a couple of new class ‘styles’ that she came up with (not bad after 9 years or so of trying what I had thought was pretty much everything!) and of course some new exercises…though I think we would all agree she can keep those ‘borrower squats’. Congrats also to our newest trainer – Paul – who ran his first couple of classes and will be pressed into service more and more as time progresses…Paul has a heap of combat sport experience and we are really hoping to use his skills to increase the quality of the boxing sessions across the board.
Now – a couple of weeks ago we finished up the ‘TRY JULY’ challenge (where everyone got to try out the sessions in the Strength gym for ‘FREE’) and since that time I have been out chatting to people about their experiences…so what I am doing today is tell you what I discovered!
We have been running Boxing based sessions for (almost) Ten years. And the Functional Fitness sessions have been going for less than ONE. My training background probably intersects the TWO different training styles but if I have a personal bias that comes through in my comments it would probably favour boxing as that has been my life since 2010.
The Boxing Sessions (and Body Blitz) are programmed by US – myself and the other coaches at Round 1. The sessions we use in the ‘Functional Fitness’ sessions are outsourced – we use a Strength and Conditioning subscription service supplied by ‘BoxProgramming.com’. Which is better? Well – one enables us to program based on OUR members, the other gives a world-wide, best of breed solution. So…what is best? I don’t know. But in both cases individual trainers will change elements of the session they are running to (hopefully) really suit the people who are participating…
(Clearly this doesn’t impact me, but it does impact you guys making your decisions on WHAT to do).
Boxing – The boxing sessions cost $42.50/fortnight – which gives you unlimited access to the classes, access to the gym to use the treadmills and cardio gear you find on the ‘boxing-side’ of the gym AND use of the upstairs weights room.
Strength – The Strength memberships are $59.50/fortnight – and these INCLUDE full boxing access but also include the Functional Fitness classes and access to all of the gear on the ‘new’ side of the gym which of course includes the new Hammer Strength plate loaded gear, the 25m sled runs, all the rigs etc!
Boxing – We do class demos really quickly and tend to assume that a lot of people know what they need to do. This is good because it means everyone gets underway quickly…but can be bad when people are unsure. The classes are pretty fast paced and there was a bit of comment that this – and the split stations with different people doing different movements at the same time – made in-depth coaching difficult…and it can make life really tough for people in their first few weeks training with us!
Strength – Classes are a lot SLOWER and there is time to practice the movements before doing them. Also tended to be more explanation of ‘why’ you do something in a certain way rather than just a ‘do it this way’…
Boxing – The program is continually changing but at the same time is continually the same…every day is ‘different’ but every day is also a variation on the day before – you hit the bags, ride the bikes and swing kettlebells – in other words, it is a mix of high intensity (or what should be high intensity you big bunch of slackers!) efforts mixed in with hypertrophy style strength training. There was a bit of comment about the sessions being mixed up just enough to really cause chaos with people new to the gym but to be fair to everyone involved in programmed, we really DO try to make the sessions fun and unique…
Strength – The participants expressed a genuine ‘disbelief’ at the variety of movements being performed in the Functional sessions – with skill and movement development, powerlifting style movements, gymnastics, bands, ‘strong-man’ style work, cardio endurance, Olympic movements and traditional hypertrophy aimed at increasing muscle strength. Not only that, all of those movements/activities are programmed in different modes and intensity levels…the general comment was that people felt they were IMPROVING their movement during their month of Functional Fitness whereas they didn’t necessarily feel that way about their boxing sessions which mostly made them feel that they would NEVER be good enough to hit the bike targets!
If you’re new to training or want to get a reliable, no-holds-barred, get your heart rate up and GO-GO-GO session without having to worry too much about exactly HOW to do every movement, well, BOXING is an awesome option. You can participate off a low base – the scaling makes it easy to participate alongside other people without feeling like you are taking a short-cut.
And if you want to get your cardio up…well, Boxing is an awesome option and the comment was made ‘I can just rely on the Boxing sessions to leave me feeling hot, sweaty and super-energised!
In the Strength gym sessions – the pace is definitely slower and you need to be patient – there are days when you have to ‘stop and slow-down’ in order to get the movement ‘right’ before you can ‘DO’ the scheduled activity. Some people liked this – some people LOVED this – some people didn’t. The variety in the Strength gym sessions is incredible though and the comment was made ‘you really feel like you are working towards something’ as the coaches continually ‘refer back’ to increasing your weights from last time, recording your numbers and are always talking about little ‘techniques’ that will help you lift more/go faster.
So…what’s better? I don’t know. I personally like them both and last week did 4x Functional and 2x Boxing…I would have done 3+3 but my best laid plans were thrown out on Friday as I was trying to watch a Year 7 Basketball tournament that didn’t QUITE run on time!!! What will I do this week? I don’t know – probably a similar mix and a 50-50 split…but I don’t get too worried about WHAT I am doing…I just want to do SOMETHING!
Anyway, here are some video links to each of the classes (Boxing and Strength):
Boxing: https://youtu.be/i2ADwlDZ-7Y
Strength: https://youtu.be/rABfWearR0Y
See you in the gym,
Michael.
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