This morning Andy had an interesting experience while picking up an order from the copy center. The woman who was helping him noticed his FE t-shirt and said, "Oh, fitness? I need to stay away from you!"Andy then proceeded to explain to her that Fitness Evolved isn't your typical "gym" and that we do a lot of brain/neurology-based training. At that point she seemed to not be as intimidated, but what does her initial reaction say about the current fitness industry? As soon as someone sees or hears the word "fitness" they have a meltdown? It makes us wonder what else she associated that word with and what her previous experience was like. Maybe she once belonged to a big box gym, and either 1) was really intimidated by the people and equipment 2) had no guidance whatsoever and ended up getting hurt and not coming back or 3) had a trainer at one time who put her through the ringer, she got hurt. and never came back. Or, maybe her only exposure to "fitness" is what she's seen on TV or the internet.
Unfortunately, these scenarios are far too common these days and we continue to hear countless stories from prospective members about their previous gym experience. This is the primary reason why Andy & Carmela started this gym and had the passion for making a huge change in the fitness industry.
You see, fitness is much more than just 3 sets of 15 bicep curls, much more than "no pain, no gain", and definitely much more than seeing who can do the most burpees. The way we view fitness at FE is that it is NOT as important as health and wellness.Fitness does not make you healthy. Wait for it....ok, phew. Everyone ok with that statement? Now, we know we do a lot of things differently here and this may sound like another "FE-ism", but we want you to seriously think about it. How many people do you know or have you heard about that work out 5-7 days per week that still complain about a chronic injury, continue to get sick every few weeks or are constantly lethargic? We know quite a few, more than two handfuls, as a matter of fact.
So, here's what we've been working on for the past year and have come up with based on our education and our past 4 years of actually working with clients:
"You don't need to exercise in order to get healthy. You need to get healthy so you can exercise!"
Fitness is a process that goes in stages. What gets missed in almost every training magazine, TV show, and, sadly, way too many gyms is that you need to have a strong foundation and quality movement before you start to overload and tax the body. Skipping those important steps only puts "fitness on top of dysfunction" which is a recipe for disaster.
Many of you have experienced it in your training, but we have finally been able to put our fingers on it and develop a tangible description of what a true health and fitness program should look like, and will be the basis of our training and messaging going forward. In fact, you'll see it in the gym the next time you come in!
As you can see, optimal performance comes in stages, starting with "Health." If you don't have health first, gaining and keeping "Fitness" becomes nearly impossible and usually results in a discouraging ending. At Fitness Evolved, we take the steps necessary to help you get to where you want not only quickly, but sustainably and safely! It shouldn't make you want to "stay away from us." It should be fun, feel good, and make you keep wanting to come back for more!
