Sculptures by Leslie Hawes
LeanBody Bootcamps started a new 6-week session this week, which is always a fun time because it’s when I get to see the best part of group training- the “veterans” taking the “newbies” under their wing and giving them tips and encouragement, and the “veterans” get to see how far they’ve come by teaching the “newbies.”*
All my bootcampers are absolutely wonderful at supporting each other as fully as possible. I will admit, I intentionally foster that environment, but it’s not something I’m in charge of. That’s the actual class-members-only part.
When it comes to being someone who has just started a bootcamp class, I will often assign workout moves that are slightly different than what the originally-designed program calls for. This is due to exercise progression.
Exercise progression is a bit of an art and a science. The art comes in knowing when it’s time to push someone to the next level (or encourage them to stay on that level just a little bit longer), the science comes in knowing exactly which exercises are going to provide the exact same benefit for someone who has just begun versus someone who’s been coming for quite some time (or who has an advanced fitness level).
For example, I would never start someone off with jump squats before I taught them a proper squat. And I’m pretty strict about performing a proper squat- no knee-buckling, no raising the heels off the ground, no rounding of the back- and I will work with someone as long as they need it in order to get it completely right.
Ever hear the saying, “You are only as strong as your weakest link?” The reason we do exercise progression is to help eliminate “the weakest link.” I want you to go into the next progression with the best tools possible, not just because “the program says you have to.”
So don’t be afraid to work at a “newbie’s” level. You’ll get up to veteran status soon enough!
If you feel like you’ve been pushing yourself too quickly, it’s okay to slow down a bit. Work harder on your form, and get it perfect first. I would rather you be king/queen of the split squat than someone who can barely do forward lunges or jumping split squats. I would rather your push-up on the knees had you pretty much touching your nose to the ground than full-body push-ups that barely have any bend in the elbows. I would rather that you had an awesome deep squat than someone who could only sit down a couple inches when performing a jump squat. There is tremendous pressure in class to jump to that next level (it’s called a competitive spirit), but you do NOT need to conform to that, unless I’m telling you it’s time to move up!
* A “veteran” is literally anyone who has been in class long enough to start to understand what is going on, which can be anywhere from 2 classes to a full year or more. A “newbie” is anyone who has literally just started, is feeling overwhelmed, and is wondering what they’ve just gotten themselves into. I have several “veterans” who probably still feel like “newbies,” because I rarely keep workouts too similar!
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