We have people at all different stages of their fitness journey at Real Fitness. Members who are trying a gym for the first time in their life, to members who’ve been in gyms for years.
Often we will train members of varying fitness levels like this in the same session. This is done by having a good system of exercise variations that can fit best for each level.
Let’s take a Bulgarian Split Squat, also known as a rear foot elevated split squat. This is a great exercise to strengthen your lower body in a single-leg position and is a more advanced exercise. Before we have someone attempt this exercise, we will get them strong through bilateral squats (squatting on two legs) first. These two legged squats might start with just bodyweight, then progress to holding a light kettlebell or dumbbell and finally they could move on to a barbell variation.
When we feel a member has the ability to try a Bulgarian Split Squat, we will start this exercise with just body weight and they’re holding on to something to help with balance. As they begin to master this, we can then challenge them further by giving them a small dumbbell to hold in one hand. Some members might stay here and continue to use heavier dumbbells and more reps. Other members might stop using the other hand to hold on to something for balance assistance, and now hold two dumbbells, one in each hand. Finally, we might add blocks under the front working foot to add more range of motion to this exercise, which challenges the muscles even more.
Check out this YouTube short that gives a glimpse of the body weight, balance-assisted variation, and also the holding of two dumbbells, front foot elevated variation.
These examples are meant to show you that no matter where you are in your fitness journey, from thinking about starting lifting weights for the first time, to wanting to take your current training to the next level. We have a program that can meet your goals.
