 Strength training group classes. They usually suck. Here's why our next color is Kitty from New Jersey. Kitty, how can we help you guys? Hi, hello. Thanks for taking my question. Yeah, like everyone always says, you know, listening to you for a very long time, probably like 2017, 2018 ish. And even though I'm not I've never done weightlifting stuff, I just try and scroll your information away in my brain. Never thought I'd actually have a question for you. So let's hear it. Yeah. Well, thank you for the support. Yeah. So my question is I recently joined a gym and started taking the Les Mills body pump classes. And I enjoy the classes, but I'm wondering if there's a way to keep taking the class but make it less about cardio in order to lift heavier weights. And it's like I like group classes, that's what gets me to work out. And I've never joined the gym before. So just getting to a gym and doing these body pump classes is a big step for me. And then background about me. 52 years old, never had to worry about weight. However, going into menopause, you know, about couple years ago has created a good body and body fat challenge for me. And whenever my weight goes up, that seems to be like the new number it stays at. And in the past, I've done yoga and pole dance classes. And I never had to worry about my weight. Even though I ate pretty healthy, but never had to worry about my weight. Stopped working out once COVID hit. And now I'm just trying to get back in, like find the rhythm. Okay. Before, I think it's important I answer since I probably hammered the classes the most. And I want to point out something that you said, though, that's really important that, you know, it's a big step for you to be in there. And the classes are so supportive. And this is where there's always an exception to the rule when I'm talking to somebody, right? So I know I come down hard sometimes on class settings. And I've said things like I would all class. I wish that all camps or classes should be to die. And here's the thing. So if you were a client of mine, and you said that to me, then I would encourage you to continue doing the classes. And I'd probably ask you, like, how well do you know the instructor? And could you go over to the instructor and say, Hey, I'm going to like every other set set out so I can rest between these. And that way I can push the way because there's ways for you to potentially do that, right? You're not going to follow exactly the kind of rhythm that they follow in those classes, like they kind of follow music or like a beat. And it's like nonstop. Very fast. Right. And so what you could do is you whenever you guys go over and you load up the weights, I know on the on the little bar or whatever that you're getting ready to do like some sort of a, you know, circuit that you do, you know, 10 to 12 reps, and then you set the bar down. And you pick a, and then you keep adding weight to where that 10 to 12 reps is heavy and challenging for you. And then you give yourself at least a minute rest before you get, you join back into the rhythm of the class. And so if you communicated that with the instructor that, Hey, I want to really push getting stronger. I'm going to give myself some rest. I just want you to know that, you know, I'm not trying to be disrespectful to your class or like it's not that I can't keep up with the pace. It's that I really want to get strong. That's what my focus is. That's how I would modify a class like that is I would force you to rest after every 12 to 15 reps. I wouldn't let you do more than 12 to 15 reps. And I'd always be pushing you to add weight that makes 12 to 15 reps really challenging. So that, that would be the first part of how I would start my advice to you. Then the next thing would be, let's also assess what's going on. If you're, if you're still not seeing results, we might have to move away from a class setting because you need to do something that's more structured like a maps, anabolic program, but I would at least try and modify my advice because of what you said from the very beginning of how much this is supportive and helping you to get going in the right direction. Yeah. Kitty, can I, can I just say I love you, right? I love that you're in there, you're trying, you're, you're, you're definitely communicating very honestly. Um, and I love working with people like you. So I want to ask you this, what is it about the class that is getting you to go on a consistent basis? Is it the schedule? Is it the people that you, did you make friends there? Like let's, let's isolate what it is about the class that you have found that is helping you stay consistent. So I do like a class environment, um, just, you know, with the potential to meet new people where I don't see that happening out in like on the floor, um, where all the weights are. And within the class, since like listen, my, my background's yoga and pole dance. I don't know, I don't have the knowledge of form when it comes to lifting and within these classes, they just get out cues like, you know, shoulders back or whatever. And like they show, they'll demo, they do demos on, um, uncertain things. And I feel like I need that because I don't, I don't have that knowledge and I'm super body, body aware when I'm doing yoga, but when it comes to weights, it's, it's, I'll be lifting. And like in my head, I'm seeing myself like lifting with perfect form. But when I look in the mirror, I'm like, oh my God, you know, so, um, having that constant, um, like someone yelling out, you know, something about form or, you know, the way people are holding their body. Like even if it isn't specified at me, you know, it's just a reminder like, oh yeah, shoulders back or whatever. Gotcha. So that's what I like about that. And I also don't know what to do. And I'm, I would be super uncomfortable and just really intimidated to just go out on the floor and start playing around with like the free weights or any of like any of the equipment. And that world is so foreign to me. This is the root for sure. This is what I thought. Um, and by the way, you are, this is very common. This is extremely common whenever, uh, I would get a, you know, average member that would come in, especially female. This is what they would feel when we would sit down and talk. Um, so this is super common. So let me, I'm going to be objective and then I'm going to, I'm going to help you out a little bit. Objectively speaking, the, the form guidance you're getting from an instructor in a classroom full of 20, 30, 40 people is garbage. Okay. So they can't possibly help you with your form in any real substantial way because of the class setting. And I'm, I'm speaking from someone who, who ran gyms and own gyms. So you're not really getting the benefit necessarily from that, from objective standpoint. But I know I think the benefit you're getting is the, it's helping you with your lack of confidence in your form and technique and you're with other people. So you don't feel alone. You don't feel isolated. It is a bit scary to work out, uh, you know, in the freeway area. So I totally get that. So there's a couple of things I can do to kind of help you with that. One is we, you know, we have programs. I'm going to set you up with some of our programs. Then you got videos and demos in there showing you what to do. And two, and this is the part you're going to have to do on your own is I want you to venture out and this is exposure therapy, like any other fear. If you go out and you start doing it, it kind of sucks at first, but then it gets easier. And then the confidence you're going to get from doing this in the weight room and practicing on your own. And then the results you're going to get, cause the trainings would be much more appropriate is what's going to give you the life, the lifelong sustaining motivation, energy and discipline to do this forever. Okay. So if this is something you want to do for the rest of your life, you're going to have to tackle this at some point, at some point, you're going to have to tackle this. I think you should do it now, especially because you're kind of in the middle of this. You're talking about menopause and those hormones can definitely affect how the body stores body fat. The best, the best exercise solution for menopause is strength training, like nothing traditional strength training, not, you know, cardio with weights or what body pump is, right? Like real strength training is your absolute best approach. Now, if this is still too scary, may I suggest the hybrid approach? How many days a week are you going to the gym right now? Well, my first month, I was going almost every single day. And then I was like, whoa, wait, I'm not seeing results at all. I don't feel like I'm getting stronger. Mine pump would tell me to back off. So July, I cut it like close to half. So maybe about three days a week, 15 days I was going last month. Okay. Do you think you could do this? Do you feel like you could do one class a week and one 30 minute strength training session on your own a week where you watch our videos and kind of follow our cues? Could you do that? Or does that feel too much? It feels like it's not enough class time. Okay. Okay. It feels like, I mean. I'm telling you right now it is, but I will say this. You can do two classes and one strength training session. That's what I was going to start with. Yeah. My goal is to get you to slowly ease into strength training. So I don't want you to do a ton of classes because that'll impede on your recovery, but you could do two classes and then one, like 30 minute strength training, like on your own, I think would be okay. Do you think you could do that? Have you looked into it all like hiring a personal trainer or coach or anybody there in the gym? So with the gym membership, I do get a personal trainer like one session every month. Perfect. And I met with her, like I told them, like, you know, they asked me what I want. I'm like, I want somebody who works with women in menopause who are struggling with like fat loss. And they put me with someone, she's quite young. Um, gave me like a little bit of a program to do, but I don't, is it good? I don't know. Cause I've never worked with a personal trainer and we did the whole in body. Yeah. Here's the, here's the move. Here's the move for the trainer. Since we do have that is use that trainer to, I want, we're going to give you a program and we're going to make the trainer take you through that. And we'll do, and you already said it earlier, like it's the form and technique. You want to build confidence around that. So we don't want her for anything else. I don't give a shit about her knowledge around menopause. I don't give a shit about her knowledge. I just want her to be there to, to give you the individual coaching on the form and technique. It's like, it'll be the easiest job of her life. Like she's already got the program laid out. I don't need her giving you nutritional advice. Like literally. Watch my form. Tell me how I can improve. And, and then you know, here's the program. I'm following the guys from my pump, you know, and then we're going to put you in the forum. So you'll be in the forum with us so we can have, so we can keep an eye on you. You can give us feedback of what's going on. But I'm, I'm with self now, program wise, I actually think that math 15 would be a good way to ease her in a math 15 would be great. We could even do one 30 minute session, whatever is going to make you kitty feel. Cause I get the fear and I get the intimidation. Okay. I totally get it. I managed gyms for a long time. This was a huge hurdle for a lot of people. Super calm. So you have to ease yourself in. Otherwise it's going to be, you're going to be so apprehensive. You're not going to want to do anything at all. And I think you understand that. That's why you're saying you want to do these classes. So honestly, any approach that allows you to ease yourself in to the traditional strength training is going to be the right approach, whether it's one 30 minute session or one strength training exercise every day or two, where you're in there just for 15 minutes, like with maps, 15, both options, uh, I think will be, will work perfectly for you. And then, and then to add more, is it, let me ask you this, is it feasible for you financially to hire a personal trainer to train you once a week every week, or is that out of the question? Cause training is expensive one-on-one. So yeah, that, that is a barrier for me and yeah, I do work in the financial industry, but I'm one of those firms that was just taken over by another firm. So we're all just kind of sitting around waiting for our jobs to be. Yeah, no worries. We can work around that. We can work around that. No worries at all. So let, let me do this. I'm going to send you maps, anabolic, and I'm going to send you maps, 15. Okay. If you want to just do one 30 minute workout a week, follow maps, anabolic pre phase, the pre phase workouts will be what you'll follow. Okay. If you want to just do like a couple of exercises most days, then maps, 15 is the way to go by the way, there's the maps, 15, you can, you can use a suspension trainer, which is, you could do at home. Okay. So that, that you don't even need weights. You could just use your body and a suspension trainer and you'd even need to go to the gym. You could do it at home. Well, what I like about mass 15 is like, once you start learning the technique and you start sharpening that, you just practice it. It's not a workout. You're just practicing what you've just learned. And so it's like laid out for you pretty simply. Uh, and you'll be surprised how strong you're going to get and how, um, confident you're going to get as a result. And we're going to put you in the form. So whichever one you choose, just keep us in the loop. So let us know, uh, what you start with and how you start to ease in and good or bad. I would love to hear from you on your experience so that we can work through that because to Sal's point, this is unbelievably common. You are not alone in the situation. This is probably a majority of clients that I think all of us have trained. And so we would, we just want to slowly ease you into getting confident. This is the way to do it, you know, one, one time a week, doing a few exercises or a 30 minute workout in there. You've got, by the way, I don't know if you know, but the programs, I mean, you bring your iPhone in there and then we've got follow along videos. So you can watch somebody. Oh yeah. And you, and you put it in your headphones. You can listen to the cues. And so we have, like it has a full breakdown that you can watch. And we encourage people too in the forum to video themselves while they do exercises and post the videos and we'll critique for you. So we'll let you know. And the forum is really supportive that way of lots of other people that were in your exact shoes just a year or two years before. And they're now feeling confident to lift themselves. So there's a great community. If you like that community of supportive people that are all kind of going through it, you're going to get that in there too. So you set you up and kitty, uh, I want you to pay most close attention to your strength that if you're getting stronger, like if you could do more reps with good form, if you could add weight, then you're probably moving in the right direction for sure. You're very, very likely moving in the right direction. The scale can lie to us. So I wouldn't worry so much about the scale unless you get these crazy fluctuations of body weight. Otherwise, like if you're getting stronger, everything, including hormones, is probably moving in the right direction. And then lastly, like there's the other end of this is so awesome. I want to encourage you because right now you're, it feels like this kind of like scary thing with practice. And the other end of this is like so much confidence. It's so awesome. You're going to have this amazing relationship with exercise and you're going to unlock this, this tremendous potential right now. That's just, it's just under the surface. So I, you know, I hope that encourages you. So, you know, stay at it. Yeah. Yeah. No, definitely it, you guys definitely encourage me. Um, and if it wasn't for you guys, I probably wouldn't even have thought about lifting weights. Um, but I also like, I'm also someone where like, I like my workouts to be fun. And that's another part of like the whole class experience. Sure. Like, you know, you know, it's, you know, it's fun too. Kitty, seeing yourself get great results. Yeah. That's a lot of fun. Yeah. I'm telling you, you know, because I, that's a, it's a common thing clients would say to me too. Oh, I love the class. It's so fun. And then three months later, they're frustrated because they're not seeing results anymore. It's not fun anymore. Yeah. It's not fun anymore because you're, you're not seeing the results from it. When you're, when you're seeing great results from you learning a new skill while also building confidence. Totally. Watch how fucking fun that is. It's, it's, it really does transform that way. And a lot of the fun you're having now is just the fact that you're in there and there's a lack of anxiety and fear. And that feels amazing. And I understand that, but I'm here to tell you that the feelings and anxiety that you feel with strength training in the weight room will go away. And that is going to make things a lot different. It's going to make things feel a lot better. Okay. We got you. We're going to be with you. We're going to be with you along this process. Okay. So make sure you get inside the forum. Doug's going to send you access to all the programs in the forum. And if anybody messes with you in the gym, take a picture, send it to us. We'll broadcast it on the podcast. I'll be there. Two seconds. Yeah guys, thanks so much. You got it. Like I never thought I'd ever like have a reason to reach out to you guys or you get me through my work days every day, working from home alone. So you guys are, have made a huge impact on my life. I appreciate that. Thank you, Katie. Awesome. Thanks guys. You got it. You ever want to just hug someone? Yeah. Virtual. Yeah. So I know this helped a lot of people who are listening because she's normal, very calm. And she's very honest. Tell me that wasn't like, I don't know, 60% of your clients that you had right there. Easy. You know what? The reason why I get so, it makes me so excited to hear something like this is because when I would get, I know you guys are the same thing. When you would get a client like this, you knew that they didn't even, they didn't even realize the transformation that they were about to embark on. And I don't mean physically, that happens as a result. But the mental and psychological transformation from going to where she is to a few months later, walking in confident. Wow. It's like a whole new world. It's a whole new world. And we have an opportunity here to create, to really encourage someone to create a lifelong good relationship with exercise. And she's got enough courage to take that first step. So pretty awesome. Well, I like this question because it gave me the opportunity to explain myself with the group classes should die. Comment that I've made more than once. And this is a perfect example of how I would still find a way to modify that. Yeah. You know, it's like, yes, the ultimate goal is for us to get move her all the way into just strength training, traditional strength training by herself. But I trained so many people like this that I couldn't just rip the band-aid off. I had to slowly like build the confidence. And that's where something like this, I get it. You know, I understand that because I obviously trained a lot of people like that on, okay, that's okay, we can still kind of use it right now. This is how I want you to modify it. But then the goal is to move you over in this direction. And trust me, once I get you there, you're going to be so happy.