Group synergy takes holda fortuitous beginning
5 October 2005If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
Working with obese beginners is little like trying to herd cats. I love cats and I love obese beginners but it is difficult working with six out-of-shape folks all coming from profoundly different backgrounds, each having different work schedules and each with a slightly different physical dilemma and each needing a slightly different fitness prescription. One thing became apparent by mid-week in week one of this nine week odyssey: all six participants expressed to me that they were feeling better. That means a lot. Feeling better seems nebulous and fuzzy but at this early stage it is a welcome indicator. You never know how these things will shake out and it could have turned out that by midweek in week one I might have been contending with one or two dropouts. Instead I have six fired up individuals and to me, feeling better is a revitalizing oasis, a source of enthusiasm replenishment. The foundation principle of Purposefully Primitive fitness for beginners (or anyone) is that we introduce folks into effective modes of fitness that are not perceived of as drudgery but perceived as fun to do. Psychologically we all look for ways to avoid things we perceive of as drudgery and find ways to engage in activities we perceive of as fun. There are three components to PP fitness: progressive resistance training, cardiovascular training and diet/nutrition. The first order of business was to make weight training fun for those whove never done it before. The component anticipated with the most apprehension by my obese squad of beginners was not the aerobic portion or even the dieting, it was the weight training.
The way to enjoy and embrace weight training is to introduce a group dynamic into the training sessions. Being Purposeful Primitives we have beginners concentrate 100% of their effort on just three exercises: squat, bench press, and deadlift. In keeping with our core philosophy of doing fewer things better, we concentrate on these three movements exclusively. The training procedure is as follows: when someone is lifting the others are to watch intently. When I gathered the group for the start of the second lifting session when they werent lifting they talked amongst themselves about who knows what. I heard the conversational murmur (I knew I would) and shocked the room into stunned silence when I yelled in my best basso profundo James Earl Jones Darth Vader voice that when their training partners were lifting they were to pay rapt attention. They would watch carefully how their Iron brothers and sisters were doing and offer constructive comments and criticism after the set. This set the tone. At first they sat silently but then the phenomena I knew would happen began to happen: without prodding or prompting they began to encourage one another prior to and during each set of squats, benches or deadlifts. Suddenly they understood the real drama associated with each set; in turn each faced a personal Armageddon of doing something they had never before attempted. Because I took each person and their effort seriously they began to take it seriously and soon, like watching a soap opera in which you know the characters and the storyline, the group began to really get into the drama of each in turn facing down the weight. Each set was serious because we all took it seriously. They became exhilarated.
When a person has a half dozen sets of eyes watching them perform each rep of each set, that person extends himself or herself and takes pride in the execution of that set. It is important because we assign it great importance. Suddenly they understand the drama that accompanies the efforts of a person who could not complete a sixth partial rep in the box squat on Sunday in the second workout - through sheer effort and willpower and enthused determination - completes not one set of ten reps but three perfect sets of ten reps in the box squat. Not only is this incredibly beneficial on a physical and psychological level to the individual but this valiant effort, this small victory in one persons life makes for dramatic, compelling, inspiring viewing. Now its the next persons turn and damn it, they say to themselves, if that person can extend themselves and exert themselves and display that level of sheer commitment, I too will do the same. And they do, as does the next person and the next person, until all six people have completed nine sets each and the workout is done. Collectively they are physically spent and psychologically fired up, pumping their chubby fists in the air and stating that they had no idea hard work could be so much fun! They state that they cannot wait for the next training session and though their muscles are sore from the effort exerted (hypertrophy is a wonderful thing) because they are eating protein rich/fat free food often, because they are jettisoning processed foods and sweets and junk, because they are doing cardio everyday, they will recover and be ready for their next weight training session on Thursday.
Already they talk about how proud Karwoski will be on Sunday and how they are fired up about showing him how much theyve learned and how much theyve improved and how excited they are about displaying their vastly improved techniques to the Iron Masterall this by day three of a sixty day journey. A promising beginning
Tomorrow: the pure unadulterated joy of outdoor cardio exercise with a fired up group.
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