Strength Training and Conditioning in Virginia Beach

 
 
Cavanaugh Fitness owner, Brian Cavanaugh, demonstrated his passion for strength and conditioning by obtaining a CrossFit level 1 certification and CrossFit Football certification, both of which, focus on building strength and conditioning expertise.
 
Brian’s training preferences are unique, in that, he is just as happy and passionate about working with trainees new to the fitness world, as he is working with athletes who may be looking for strength and conditioning training, specifically. The efforts of strength and conditioning are really targeted at improving performance.  “Performance,” is, of course, defined differently by the wide range of Cavanaugh Fitness clients but your goals are our goals and we will infuse strength and conditioning methods into most training regiments.
 
How Strength and Conditioning Benefits You
 
Optimal strength and endurance levels (even in one individual) can significantly benefit a group or team. Whether your “team” is defined as your workplace colleagues, your football teammates or your family at home, strength and conditioning can enhance functioning in multiple realms. In the athletic realm, strength and conditioning training programs work towards improving dexterity and speed in your chosen sport. How, exactly, does strength and conditioning help you? First, this type of training taxes your bones, thereby making them stronger. Stronger bones, or better bone density, sets you up for healthy aging and reduces chances of degenerative bone disease.
 
Another added benefit of strength and conditioning is improved endurance or stamina. Improved endurance helps with everything from long distance running to carrying loads of laundry up and down the basement steps. This enhanced fitness can be a blessing to life inside and outside of the gym. Completing household or yard work tasks without feeling winded is an added blessing that comes along with strength training.
 
As we age, and bone density lessens and a similar degradation process takes place in our muscles. The average ager loses some of the muscle they earned through blood, sweat and tears as the years go by. While strength training does the obvious in cultivating muscle growth, it also prevents this breakdown process. This is especially good news because when the muscle is broken down, it can be stored as fat. This is why strength training is preferred over some solely cardiovascular exercises.
 
Starting Strength and Conditioning Training
 
Brian will assess each trainees skill level but, no matter the skill level, he prefers to start slow, as to complete a thorough assessment with injury prevention in mind. To determine areas weakness or overcompensation, a typical strength training session will start with one set at a lower weight. WE do this so that the trainer can make any adjustments to weight or body positioning. Using the correct weight for your strength level and goals is crucial. We will ask for feedback on the chosen weight but also watch your body’s response for more information. *In strength training, it is important that weights are not set too low because you will miss out on maximum strength training benefits. Weight should be set so that reps are difficult but not so much so that your form becomes lax or incorrect.
 
One of the most important aspects of strength training is the quality of your recovery. In order to build muscle, you absolutely must afford your body with time to recover. We do this by making sure  your muscles time to rest and recovery.  We encourage our clients who workout independently, outside of training sessions, to give muscle groups a break for up to two days before working them again.
 
In strength training sessions, we make a specific point to spend a good amount of time teaching correct technique or undoing poor form that the client may have developed over time. When considering your goals, if they are particularly lofty and require maximum effort during sessions, we might also look at other obligations you have outside of gym training. Do you have a physically demanding job? If so, we might recommend less onerous sessions, more frequently, so that your body functioning is not compromised due to soreness. If you plan to train and, specifically, strength build in your “off season” then we can have more intensive workouts without negative life functioning effects.
 
A foundational goal in strength and condition training is to eliminate the likelihood of injury. At Cavanaugh Fitness, our strength training is targeted towards vulnerable body parts. There are joint areas that are susceptible to injuries in multiple sports and if we hone our attention towards those, we improve whole body processing. While strength building might not be your explicitly stated training goal, we find that enhancing strength also helps to improve flexibility, power and speed. The exercises you will learn during strength training sessions will put you on the pathway for enhancing all athletic functioning.
 
Conditioning coaches usually meet regularly with the team’s coaches to determine what individual athletes, or the team, needs to work on in the conditioning facility. If working with an injured athlete engaged in rehabilitation, conditioning coaches will also consult with the sports medicine or athletic training staff to be sure they do not ask the injured athlete to do anything inappropriate in the conditioning facility. Conditioning coaches who work in sport performance-enhancement facilities usually work with other performance specialists. Their client base tends to be younger (junior high school or senior high school students), and they interact often with their clients’ parents.
 
Strength and Conditioning: What to expect
 
 For clients who are newer to the workout scene, the idea of strength building can be intimidating, mostly because it implies that you will be using machines or heavy equipment during your workouts. The requirement of these “extra tools” for strength training is a commonly held misconception. We might start your first strength training workout by demonstrating how you can use the weight of your own body as resistance during these workouts. Exercises like push-ups, chronic conditions. squats, pull-ups and dips allow you to build strength without much extra fanfare. If you’re open to adding some low level complexity to your strength training workout, we might then move you up to training on the resistance bands. Resistance bands are rubber bands or tubes that, when positioned correctly, create an extra layer of resistance which allows you to use your own body to build strength. Once you, as our trainee, develops some level of comfort with the aforementioned techniques, we move on to free weights. Free weights, like dumbbells, are easy to use and allow for progression to higher weights relatively easily. We can build entire workouts around free weights if this is your preferred strength training method. Finally, we progress to workout machines that target strength training specifically.
 
Weight machines act as a standard piece of equipment at any gym, so once you master these methods, you can use them almost anywhere. We have some favorites for our clients who are just looking to get healthier and then other, more involved machine choices, for clients who are seasoned on the gym scene.
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CALL TO ACTION
 Cavanaugh Fitness is a preferred strength and and conditioning trainer in Virginia Beach, VA.  Call us today for a free consultation.