The one question that personal trainers always get is, “How long will it take to get results?” The answer is individual, of course. However, here is a common path of results for clients of this form of exercise.
1. Feel energy moving and increasing. Some will feel fatigue in a good way that hopefully results in more rest and recovery if you are listening to your body and respond. Just stimulating your muscles and body this deeply can trigger a deeper, older tired within you that is finally released. Things will be released doing 15ME! Science knows that trauma is held in our tissues. Old stress that has not resolved stays in our cells. This exercise starts to move that. When it gets out, new aliveness comes in. You feel more energy right away. And, of course, there is the sense of accomplishment when you finish your set and your workout. Lifting heavy makes you proud and happy.
Clients feel a whoosh of energy initially and as they progress through the weeks. People report wanting to be more active and far less sedentary. The walking, dancing, moving and having fun will ultimately result in your health improving and the weight coming off. Listen and respond to your body’s desire for more movement.
2. Posture improves. The muscles want to be developed and hold your structure in the properly aligned place. Having a more upright posture and lifting the front body and chest upward lengthens us, makes us look taller, healthier, more confident and begins to shift the waist. The stomach has more vertical area to stretch over, therefore, it is sleeker. Keep monitoring your posture as your body will be telling you now more than ever, when you are slouching, contracting the front body and holding tension. You will feel it; so pay attention and keep that relaxed, upright alignment.
3. Strength improves. Look at your workout chart. You are getting stronger every couple of weeks at least. Every time your TUL (time under load) increases by 10-30 seconds or more, we slip in more weight, starting as low as 2 pounds. (you may have noticed this 😉 Over the course of time this translates as significant increases. Emergency room doctor, Dr Doug McGuff, who has run this type of studio since 1995, says he will at least double your strength in the first year of training once per week with this protocol.
4. Body composition changes. Yes, this one is last. There are many factors in weight loss these days. Food is considered most important. Exercise may be second. Stress/beliefs is third.
Here’s why high intensity slow motion weight training will, over time, create lasting significant changes in body composition.
a. You are burning calories long after your workout is complete with this protocol (called afterburn, lifting heavy weights may keep you burning calories for 24-48 hours after you stop!)
b. You are adding lean tissue that burns more calories and has more insulin receptors (therefore, less insulin is circulating in your system – insulin triggers the body to hold fat)
c. In the “stress response” portion of every set you trigger an enzyme that burns fat, thereby re-teaching your body to utilize fat for fuel
d. You are adapting your body to respond positively to stress (each workout is the perfect practice of fight or flight and your stress levels return to baseline after each set, thereby teaching yourself how to positively resolve stress. This is very important in our highly stressful society. Remember, even driving across Calgary once is about as much or more chronic stress than our ancestors would have faced in a month.) This stress makes it very difficult to lose weight for many reasons that will be addressed in later blogs. Slow motion weight lifting is a fantastic stress management tool and therefore important for weight loss.
e. You are releasing HGH human growth hormone with every workout. This helps burn fat.
f. Each week you enter into a space where your trainers are the guardians and cheerleaders for your greatest potential, in that workout and in your life. In the weeks to come we will begin to implement intention setting and visualizing into the workout if you are open. This is a powerful way to move beyond the beliefs (I will always be fat, losing weight is hard, my family is heavy, I don’t want to be too attractive, I’m a wimp, I cant do it, and on and on) We all have them and we do not have to keep them.
You have 15 minutes per week where it is all about you, when your focus can be laser sharp, when you have a trainer who has her/his full attention on your success. Use this time to squeeze out every benefit you can. It could be the most important 15 minutes of your week! (and have fun getting healthier, stronger, leaner!)