First, I want to take a minute to congratulate you on completing two weeks of training here at Smart Strength. Very few people keep any new habit for two weeks, let alone the time needed to make real, lasting change. Pat yourself on the back for taking your first steps to a lifetime of strength and thank you again for letting us help you get there faster and safer!
The purpose of this post is to better explain a little bit more of the rationale as to why we start with our base protocol, called “Start Smart.” While I would love to tell you more in our training sessions, you know first hand that there’s a lot to learn and sometimes clients have questions after the workout, so this was created to fill that gap.
It’s not a long read (less than 5 minutes!) and will go a long way toward helping you grasp the concepts that will lead to your most productive workouts possible!
1. What is “Start Smart”?
Start Smart is the introductory program that every one of our clients go through at Smart Strength. The program runs 8 to 12 weeks, depending on factors such as training experience and injury history. The purpose of this standardized protocol is to allow me to best see how to motivate and adapt the exercises to you, while also allowing you time to better learn the techniques that make us so unique.
Further, the protocol we use as the foundation of our training at Smart Strength has been shown in studies to be 50% more effective at producing strength gains than traditional methods. This is why we emphasize control and effort at Smart Strength!
2. Why is “Start Smart” standardized?
We’ve standardized the routines used so that we can better focus on the behaviors around training. As effective as our protocol is, there are nuances that take time to learn. That is, how you breath, how you move, and how you act while you’re lifting the weight. How you behave as you work toward the real objective of each exercise: reaching momentary muscular fatigue.
3. Am I missing any muscles during the routine?
No. The protocol utilizes big movements that are universal to every human being. That is, the muscle that bend my arm bend your arm, the muscles that extend my knee extend your knee, etc. As such, with our deep understanding of anatomy and biomechanics, we’ve chosen exercises that cover all of the muscle in your body while also avoiding sensitive joint positions.
You learn to work very hard, very safely during this initial period. Effort and instruction are the critical components of success from a training program, thus what we’re really honing in on during this initial phase.
4. What comes after “Start Smart”?
By the end of the initial 8 to 12 weeks, you’ve built a significant level of new strength. What comes next depends on your goals. Generally, we’ll start adding new exercises to the core mix, slightly changing the emphasis of each workout. However, every workout will always be total body, utilizing every muscle from head to toe, so you’ll always be challenging and improving all of you from one workout to the next.
Thanks again for trusting Smart Strength with your health and fitness goals! We’ll see you at your next workout.
