An important question to address is why a proper gym is predominantly taken up by platforms, plates, and barbells. And to answer that it must be prefaced by the notion that if you use machines, dumbbells, kettlebells, etc. that’s awesome. Including exercise and training of any kind in your weekly routine is priority number one, and these methods will work. Here at Pittstop Strength, we utilize some machines that are helpful in rounding out a program to help achieve strength, mobility, and an increase in power production. However, not one of these tools replaces the use of a barbell in an individual’s program unless necessary due to injury or other constraints.
Our goal as a strength training facility is to get to the point, to take your time in the gym and make it as effective and efficient as possible. The programming is simple and basic because the gym shouldn’t be a place that confuses you or makes you wonder why you’re doing something a certain way. A barbell allows for these aspects of a program to be met. Simple and basic at first allows your body to adapt to the demands you’re placing on it. For most people learning to perform barbell lifts correctly uses all the brain power they can muster in one session. If a coach’s goal is to keep you confused and guessing as to what you’re doing or why you’re doing it well then you’re not training to progressively increase your strength. You’re falling victim to a “program” that briefly raises your heart rate and maybe makes you sweaty but never gives you the long-term results you work for.
As stated in the beginning everything works at first, but what happens when the sweat dries and your heart rate returns to resting and your subtle strength increases stall. The fitness industry, in some ways, relies on the feeling of leaving a session tired or sore as the metrics that you’ve done something productive. To some this may be the goal, but for most this is a deterrent at the beginning of what should be a long and prosperous endeavor.
SIMPLE
Being able to recall your entire workout in one breath tells me that the demands are straight to the point. The movements chosen make sense and are functional in a way that applies to all activities of daily living. Your workout doesn’t need to consist of 8-12 movements, all targeting the same muscle groups or giant super sets to get the whole workout done under a time cap. 2-3 barbell movements and 1-2 accessories depending on your goals is what makes training productive and efficient. Simple doesn’t mean easy. It means letting you know exactly what is causing your results to occur. With a barbell as the base you, or a coach, can make minimal yet necessary changes that cause continued progress and it can also be decided what is optimal at different points in time.
BASIC
The movements utilized and programmed at Pittstop Strength will not require some long drawn-out demonstration or multiple sessions to figure out before another layer is added to its complexity. The barbell lifts are effective because they mimic normal human movement. Life requires you to sit down and be able to stand back up from a chair, the toilet, your car. Picking things up off the ground is a simple daily task you shouldn’t have to think much about. However, if your body needs to spend minutes determining the best way to do this or waiting until someone else is around to complete it for you, we’ve found the weakness. Changing a light overhead or putting things up on a shelf all requires the requisite control and strength to perform. And I could think of a handful of justifications for the bench press no matter what your demographic even if a powerlifting meet is no where on your radar.
EFFECTIVE
When an individual uses the barbell lifts, they are using the forces created by gravity and acting against it at progressively heavier weights. You are using your body’s capabilities to prevent yourself from falling down, and this increase of force production is what we are after. The effectiveness lies in the reliability of the method to produce the adaptation we are looking for. At Pittstop Strength we want your time to be used efficiently, and we want you to know the objective measurement of the weight on the bar is going in the right direction. Like I said, anyone can raise your heart rate and make you sweaty but knowing you feel better and having proof that your strength is increasing is where the difference lives.
Yoga, pilates, HIIT and Spin classes, walking are all great exercise and physical activity and the popularity of these pursuits should remain if a person enjoys them. But not one is intense enough on its own to cause the adaptation at the systemic level you need. Muscle mass, bone density, connective tissue integrity, metabolic factors need to be influenced by a consistent, progressive strength program. That’s where we come in! And if you have a great facility and an awesome coach, you’re well on your way. If you don’t well… here’s your standing invite! Stay tuned for why having a COACH, not a cheerleader or rep counter may be the missing piece.
