How to Use Open Gym Time Effectively
How to Use Open Gym Time Effectively
AT FH we are happy to offer Open Gym to our Individualized Program Coaching clients, Unlimited Group Class Memberships and our Specialty Group students. If you are interested in having a FH Coach design an individualized program for you to carry out at your home gym and/or during Open Gym Hours at FH please review our IP program HERE!
M/W/F from 3-4pm
Saturdays 11:15-12:30pm
Oftentimes, we get asked by our clients what to do during open gym. This may sound surprising, but the majority of these people have mentioned that they do not exactly know how to use this time. Open gym means that you can do anything you like and this time is not led by a coach in a class setting. Open gym is a great time to do one of the workouts from group classes that you may have missed during the week. You can also use Open gym for having fun with movements that you like, practice movements or workouts for upcoming events or to do accessory work – exercises that are important for your development, health and longevity.
ACCESSORY WORK
As we all know, FH Group Classes are a workout routine that aims to develop general physical preparedness. Our classes are about developing strength, gymnastics, coordination and other skills. Many people try to improve their weight lifting and aerobic capacity, but they often forget about accessory exercises that have the same importance for overall development and progress to correct and clean technique. Open gym is an ideal time to focus on these exercises and to add them to your training.
CONQUER YOUR WEAKNESSES!
Open gym is also an excellent time to focus on your weaknesses or things that you might struggle with or find extra challenging. Many people decide to only work on their weaknesses when they appear in classes and they do not want to work on them on their own. Others will completely avoid a movement that they struggle with all together. Doing so is a huge mistake. Open Gym is a great place to test out all basic FH movements to see where you stand. Once you figure out what you need to work on, you can use open gym to focus on exercises that cause you the most trouble so that they do not derail you when they show up in the Open.. or in real life!
AEROBIC CAPACITY
One of the biggest areas I see where our students struggle may surprise you. It’s not high level gymnastics and it’s not weightlifting. It’s their Aerobic Capacity! Aerobic Capacity is a measure of the ability of the heart and lungs to get oxygen to the muscles. In other words, aerobic capacity is the body’s ability to take in and use oxygen to improve performance. Contrary to some, many of our athletes would rather play with a barbell all day and avoid getting their heart rate up past 100 for more than a few seconds. As you will see in the below image, other than nutrition, conditioning is the most important area on our hierarchy of what we define fitness as.
If “engine” is your problem, add in running/rowing/swimming/ bike workouts focused on developing aerobic capacity and conditioning every week. Our coaches are a great resource here if you are unsure what to do. We can provide you with a ton of quality workouts that you can easily add to your weekly program and Open gym is an ideal time to do so. Fine tune your engine, and we are positive that you will see better results, overall.
USE YOUR COACHES!
We can’t emphasize enough the high level coaches you have at your disposal at FUELhouse. Everyone should take advantage of spending some one on one time with our coaches! Almost all of them are available to help you during Open Gym or at your best availability. If you have a goal, then contact one of us to help you with programming so that you can use your open gym time efficiently! There is also always a Coach present during Open gym and he or she will be happy to help you with your technique, choosing a workout or can provide you tips on how to progress in certain exercises. Also, take advantage of the fact that you can ask about things or technique details that you do not have time to ask about during group classes, that is why we are at the gym!
If you need help with programming or anything else related to open gym, email us at info@fuelhousegym.com so we match you with the right Coach to fit your goals!
We hope that this short list has inspired you and that I will see you regularly during Open Gym!