The Rise of Group Fitness and Expectations

i think for a lot of people it just takes a while for them to build up to the point where they ready to like lift weights i know that's why like f45 orange theory barry's boot camp xyz whatever these group fitness gyms are they they do such a good job of just lowering the barrier to entry as much as possible. My only issue with it is that if someone is going to, I think they're just, their expectations are a little off as to what results they might get. And that is just because of the marketing, right? That's just because if you look at the marketing for these gyms, the guys that are in that marketing, I know for a fucking fact that guy benches. I know for a fact he does strict press and back squat and deadlifts and he does hill sprints and stuff. He's jacked, you know? You look at him and the trainer there is like, man, we just hit a crazy leg day. and this guy is jacked and i'm like there are no weights in your gym like i'm looking then there's treadmills and tiny dumbbells like i know for a fact you did not get quads like that on the treadmill yeah yeah it's just it's just one of those things where the expectation is wrong that's and that's my only issue with it is obviously they're just selling something which just isn't reality and look enough people go through these gyms every now and then you'll get some guy with amazing genetics that when he does battle ropes his biceps grow you know or his delts start to pop it's just kind of how it goes. Or it might be a guy that maybe he's 50 now, but he was an all-star athlete in high school and university, and that muscle was already built, and then he touches something, boom, he blows up. It's me. I've lifted for so long that the minute I lift weights, I'll put on seven kilos in a week just going in and doing a few workouts and eating a little bit more because I built that muscle early on, so it's just sitting there dormant waiting to be used, and the minute I use it, it responds, right? But, you know, so there's a lot of different factors that can be in it. And, you know, with those types of places, they're catering to people that, you know, they're intimidated by going to a big gym. They're intimidated by going to a high-performance facility where you probably got some guys walking around with chalk and grinding and throwing dumbbells and just acting a fool. That's not very marketable. That's why Planet Fitness does so well in the United States, you know, and people talk shit about Planet Fitness. I had a Planet Fitness membership. Why? Because I was in contest prep and there was one two minutes from my house. And it was easy for me to go there and knock out a Smith machine bodybuilding workout or get on the treadmill and do my cardio or whatever. And I loved it because, A, I was the most jet motherfucker in the gym. The gorilla has arrived. And, B, I didn't have to deal with any douchebags. All the equipment was always immaculate. It was always well-maintained. It was all – there was – the dumbbells were always in the right spot, you know. So there was a real high benefit to that. But as I've gotten older, I've decided not to be such a dick about what other people want to do and about facilities. And we do some stuff with F45 as far as our clinic in Bloomington treating people and things like that. But do I agree with everything they do? Absolutely not. But you know what they do well is they create a community and they get people in the door. like people they and they want to come and they want to to move and that's what people really need to do is move more but you know in my experience in the industry the people who who demonize certain things it's always because they're not good at those things so if you say like uh there's a lot i i'm certified in animal flow and i love animal flow it's not for everybody i like it you know but you'll get like these power lifters who are like animal flow so stupid crawling around the ground they don't like it because the reason they don't like it is because if they get on the ground on their back they can't get up they're like a fucking turtle and they can't they can't reach around and wipe their ass they have to go between their legs so they they demonize because they know they can't do it and you know once you get over your ego and realize that that shit's pretty cool man being able to do handstands and be able to do like move through different planes of movement that's probably what people need the most combined with a little bit of solid strength training and say we say okay everything we have is a tool we just use the right tool for the right job yeah i mean the more i just restrict the amount of movements that i'm doing in my training and the less range of motions that i load and pass through the worse i feel like yeah i can still look good you know i can still have the muscle mass and be lean and stuff but you just don't feel as good like your hips your hips hurt more your back hurts more your shoulders are tighter like everything just becomes a little bit just worse like you hang on the bar i used to hang like stretch free but now i get like a real tearing sensation through my pecs i'm like this is just because like you're just so limited in your training and i just think so many people like you said are scared they just avoid it because you know a big part of it is that people don't want to embarrass themselves they're also in the gym and they're like i don't want to try this new thing that i could be bad at because i'm such a badass when i squat and everyone stares at me and i feel good but now if i have to drop down and you know go into dog and stretch out my hamstrings and I look like I A pool of sweat underneath Yeah The ego stops them People don't want to get on a machine they don't know how to use, right? They're like, oh, what do I do? What if I do it wrong? People will... That's why they stand near it for ages, just looking at people use it until they're 100% confident how to use it correctly. Like the skier. People don't know how to use the skier, so they just leave it. It's a really effective tool, but it's the same principle across all things that people don't want to try. they don't want to embarrass themselves so they stick to what they're good at and as a result that's their detriment so the best thing we can do as trainers as coaches as mentors to these people is like make it as like don't no judgment on on any of the stuff just make it a friendly welcoming environment so that everyone feels like they can try and fail and learn because you know a lot of people are really intimidated coming into the gym it's so easy to forget that day one they're like okay, it's okay to fail here because it's normal and I can get better. A hundred percent. And you know, it's just, it's like you said, it's that ego thing. It's that ego. And you know, you get people who they struggle just to get to the gym because they're so intimidated. And then you're laughing at them because they don't know how to use the machine or you're laughing because they're doing some weird rotational movement. And you know, you look at these guys that are there, they live in the sagittal plane and when they have to get out of that plane, they're completely screwed. Right. So, you know, we need to think about, you know, sagittal plane movements. Great. We need that. If you want to get strong, you're going to need that stuff, but that's not the only plane there is. And you should probably, as a human that, that, that craves movement, you should be learning how to move in all the different planes. You've got to be able to flex and rotate and get up and down off the ground. And you know, that type of thing. And that's when you show people doing those types of movements, the hardcore lifters start laughing at them and they're like, well, that's stupid. And I'm like, yeah, but you know, look how internally rotated and how abducted your shoulders are. And like you're, you're hyperflexed in your, uh, in your elbow flexors because your shoulders so tight that you can't straighten your arms and you can't reach overhead to change a light bulb. It's like, like I would, I would rather be strong enough and also be able to move enough and be conditioned enough and, and feel awesome, you know, and prioritize stuff that's really going to matter like sleep and digestion. And, you know, there's all these other things that, that, that go into, I hate the word holistic, but go into a holistic kind of program that's above and beyond the squat bench deadlift and overhead press. Right. Um, but you know, when you're younger, that's all you care about really is looking bad-ass and lifting lots of weight and doing big high jumps on a fricking 30, 36, 40 something inch box or whatever, you know, and some people eventually grow out of that. and some people won't let it go because that's their identity and they're scared to let go of their identity and grow as a person you know if and that was me man in when I was 24 25 I was 100 and it was 123 kilos oh I had abs like not a shredded but I you know I was it so big I'd walk in somewhere people would stop and look at me and at that time that was my identity I was I I started lifting weights because I got bullied. So I thought, well, if I get as big as possible, no one will fuck with me. It's not actually true. If you do that, people will fuck with you more. When you leave high school and alcohol is involved, the smallest dude will be the drunkest dude. He's the one that's going to start a fight with you, right? So I put on this gorilla suit to kind of try to keep the world away from me. And then you start getting attention, and you're like, hey, this is kind of pretty cool. you know? Um, but,