Low Intensity Training: A different approach to achieving your true potential

Posted by Natalie on May 10, 2010 - Posted in Testimonials There are 5 comments, Add yours!

Guest Contributor:  Luke Winter
Ever since my first training session with the NorCal SC team three years ago, I have a fond appreciation for exercise and proper diet. I have been around long enough to have seen the evolution NorCal Strength and Conditioning. The crafty staff is always adjusting the training programs as well as their philosophy. Just within the past year or so, many new classes have been created to meet each member’s needs as well as their area of interest too. With all of this stated, I have finally found the class that really has worked for me. 

It began with getting my wife, Colleen, enrolled into NorCal Strength and Conditioning. Of course she completed her on-ramp class as required by all new members, but it was now time to pick a class that would suit her schedule, and her skill level. The options were Olympic Weight Lifting, Elements, or Low Intensity classes.  The low intensity class appealed to her since she had just finished on-ramp and her level of confidence was not very high when placed in a competitive environment. I agreed to join her for this class to show support like any good husband should. My first impression was this is going to be very easy and I am just doing this to help motivate my wife.

Oh boy, let me tell you I was wrong. This class is not at all like the typical metabolic-conditioning classes, but more of a long strength circuit. In this class the trainer does not care about your time or how fast you can burn through the prescribed work out, but the trainer places much more emphasis on making your form better. In addition to your form, the trainer also tries to get you out of your comfort zone. Therefore this class focuses more on strength and proper form rather than how fast you can go through the work out of the day.

One thing that I have learned throughout my past experiences at NorCal SC is that your form while doing the exercise is the single most important aspect to becoming better. The emphasis on slowing down to help your focus on proper form will increase your ability to lift heavier loads, as well as limiting your chance of injuring yourself. Once I realized that this class is not a race, but rather a 25 minute laundry list/prescribed work load everything began to get much better for me. Since that moment of clarity, I began to push myself to have perfect form on every exercise thrown at me. If it takes a great deal of time, so be it. I began to stop and reset to make sure that my posture, stance, and movement are exactly what the trainer is asking of me. Typically I average around 3-4 rounds of work during the entire 25 minute workout.

It is pretty clear how passionate the staff is to help all of us reach our true potential and have found a way to help me become better at the improving on making my form better. I feel more confident to attempt particular exercises that I had dreaded in the past. Now I look forward to try to become proficient with the exercise that I might have avoided or let it get the better of me. Without the stop watch and no pressure of a race at hand, practicing these exercises at a controlled pace allows me to use the extra time to really try to make the exercise one of my strengths rather than a weak spot for myself. Taking the time and doing it right is the single most valuable asset that I have taken from this new class offered. 

There is one aspect of this class that I suggest be changed immediately...I recommend that the title of the class should change to something more telling of what someone would expect from the class. I suggest: “the grinder”, “the technique critique”, “the long slow goodbye”, “are we done yet”, “fundamentals”, etcetera.  Thank you Nor Cal Strength and Conditioning for creating another way to help all of us reach our true potential.