Evolving...

We're coming up on our 3rd Anniversary from the day we opened up in a small space in an old mill building at 100 Factory St. We had about 1600 sf of workout space in the mill and I would say we made the best use of it that we could. As our training programs evolved it became very apparent how limited we were in a space that small which prompted our move into our current facility with over 7000sf of workout area. In business, just like in life, if you don't evolve you die. Dynamic is in a constant state of evolution, consistently improving our offerings and really dialing in the things that we specialize in.

Jake has been at the gym every day since Day 1!

Looking back at when we first opened we were completely focused on high intensity interval training. Circuit based, metabolic conditioning workouts with a focus on bodyweight exercise and kettlebells. Nobody else in the area was doing it like we were at the time. Sure there were a couple "bootcamps" out there, but nobody had a facility dedicated to the type of training we were doing, and to this day, nobody has the level of kettlebell training expertise that we provide.  The workouts had high energy, people were getting in great shape, and they were having fun working out. Finally there was a gym that provided another option to the globo gym where every member is merely a number and you rent their outdated machines for as little as $9.99 a month. People that came to us worked their asses off, got results, and had fun doing it. Even more importantly, most of our members would adopt a new healthy lifestyle that made an impact on their quality of life that went far beyond just the workouts at Dynamic. 

As time went on, the inherent limitations of our programming, or lack thereof, started to show. The underlying problem was the lack of structure in the training. People loved the variety of the workouts and the fact that they never did the same workout twice, but the problem with this is that eventually everybody hits a plateau that is very difficult to break through without added structure to the program. Additionally, if all you ever do is conditioning work, then all you will ever get is conditioned. This may be the goal for some people, but in most cases people want to get stronger, more powerful, and increase their lean body mass. If you want to get stronger, more powerful, and increase your lean body mass, then you need to do progressive resistance-based strength and power work. So we added the Dynamic Performance program which added progressive strength and power training, primarily using kettlebells and bodyweight exercise. Due to the space limitations of the old mill space we were in we were pretty much limited to these modalities. These programs were a step in the right direction and people definitely increased their strength, power, power endurance, and lean body mass much more than they did in the old format of the drop-in based interval training. But once again, there were limitations to our programs. The primary problem was that we were trying to do everything with kettlebells and bodyweight. The fact is, while both have their advantages for certain aspects of performance enhancements, there are better ways to solve some problems. To paraphrase Maslow's Hammer, "if all you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail". So it was time to expand our toolbox.

In January of this year we opened our current facility. With 3000 sf of artificial turf we were now able to add sprinting, plyometrics, agility, and sled work. With another 4000 sf of open workout area we were able to add dumbells, barbells, squat racks, and power racks. We still had plenty of room to do all of the kettlebell and bodyweight exercise that we had been doing. Now, we are a premier strength and conditioning facility that is better equipped than most colleges in the country. The best part about the move was that the new space really allowed us to put our expertise to use with comprehensive strength and conditioning programs for athletes of all ages and levels, the weekend warrior, and the general population.

In addition to the comprehensive strength and conditioning programs we offer, we are now integrating a Functional Movement Screen into our clients programs as a way to detect asymmetries, imbalances, and weaknesses that need to be addressed with some form of corrective exercise. We feel strongly that it is wrong to try to build strength onto dysfunction. In order to maximize performance, the whole body must be functioning properly. The FMS gives us the means to identify and resolve any weak links in our clients' fundamental movement patterns. This is just another example of the level of service that sets Dynamic apart from the competition. 

Far and away the most popular programs that we started this year were the small group training programs and the athlete programs. The small group training programs allowed people with similar goals to receive a comprehensive strength and conditioning program that includes speed and agility, strength, power, power endurance, and high intensity anaerobic conditioning, effectively training them just like an elite level athlete would train. Members of these programs are in a structured program with progressive resistance strength and power training that enable everybody to continue to make gains on a consistent basis. The results have been outstanding. People sometimes question, "why would I need to train like an athlete?". The answer is because our bodies are built for performance and should be trained that way. And face it, when you step into the gym you have an ideal in mind that you are trying to achieve. That ideal is not the fat dude stuffing Big Macs down his throat at McDonald's, it's the person that is strong, lean, and powerful with an athletic build. If that's what your ideal is, then you need to train like an athlete. 

Just recently we started to evolve our programs again based on what we've seen with our athlete programs. When we started our athlete programs earlier this year we found that most of the kids coming to us had never had any structured strength and conditioning program in the past. I wrote about this here. Due to our athletes relatively young "training age", (the length of time the athlete has spent strength training), we found that they all responded well to a general strength and conditioning program with a relatively broad focus, regardless of the sport they were in. In fact, this is exactly what they needed. As time went on and our athletes got stronger and faster, we were able to start customizing programs for the athletes on an individual basis depending on their needs, goals, and the requirements of their sport. Now, there is a wide range of athletes coming to us, all at different training levels, playing a multitude of sports. No longer are we putting a workout up on the white board for all the athletes to do when they come in because, in most cases, they are no longer in a position where they will get the best results from the same program that another athlete is doing. Now, every athlete that comes to us gets a Functional Movement Screen and a customized strength and conditioning program focused specifically on their goals, needs, and the requirements of their sport.

Armond McRae spent his offseason with us and has gone on to post amazing numbers this season for Nashua South. Armond is currently the 2nd ranked football player in the state by ESPN!

This has had a direct carryover into our programs for the general population. We are now offering semi-private personal training programs where you receive a Functional Movement Screen and a complete custom strength and conditioning program based specifically on your goals and needs. We can offer this at a much lower price point than 1 on 1 personal training because we can effectively coach up to 3 people per coach in this setting where everybody has a custom program and still gets all the attention and motivation they could ever need from the coach.

We still feel that the small group training programs of 8 people or less to a coach with a general strength and conditioning program is an excellent option, and the most cost effective means of getting a true personal training program. I am always improving upon these programs as well, and in the next 8 week block which starts in a couple weeks I am adding new programming to allow for people at different strength levels to get a more targeted routine based on the level they are at. These levels will also serve as benchmarks for others to aspire to. I know of no other training facility that provides anything close to the level of structured strength and conditioning programming that we offer in a small group setting, and we continue to make it better on a regular basis.

One of our new athletes last week asked me "How bad can it be, it's just an exercise bike?". She won't ask that again....

We have also recently introduced the Dynamic Foundations program which is a low cost, 30 day trial period for new members to check out the small group training with absolutely no commitment. And for those in the small group program who have a specific goal they would like to train for, but enjoy the camaraderie of the small group, we are offering a semi-customization option. Basically, we'll slightly modify your workouts to work on your specific goal within the framework of the general strength and conditioning program that the small group receives. For a higher level of customization you would want to do the semi-private training. Of course we still offer 1 on 1 personal training as well. 

Our strength lies in our ability to design and provide a premium level of comprehensive, customized, strength and conditioning program for everybody from the general population to the elite professional athlete. On a daily basis we are expanding our knowledge base and skillset, looking to improve our services and programs with the singular goal of developing into the top strength and conditioning facility in the country. 

To all of our members who have been with us over the years I can't thank you enough. My promise to you going forward is that when you train at Dynamic you are guaranteed to get the best we have to offer with a commitment that we will continue to evolve so that you may continue to evolve.

What Every Athlete Needs

1976 was a great year for sports movies, featuring the first Rocky movie and the original Bad News Bears. The Bad News Bears enhanced my expansive vocabulary while the Rocky movie made me want to "eat lighting and crap thunder", as Rocky's legendary trainer Mickey put it. We'll get back to the impact Rocky had on me in a moment... When we were kids we played every sport, mostly on our own, and once we got older we would play organized sports. We had tryouts, not "evaluations", and if we weren't good enough we got cut. If our team didn't come in first we didn't get a trophy. I remember in the Fall after football season was over, before the ponds froze for hockey (and before "chauffeur" was added to every mother's resume), I'd ride my bike over to my buddy Paul's house and we would play basketball all afternoon. About 3 or 4 times a week we would lift weights. This is when we were 10! He had his brother's set of those old plastic encased concrete weights and I had my father's set of barbells, dumbells, and a bench. I remember one afternoon in my basement lifting weights by myself when I got the idea that I would drink some raw eggs, because if it would help Rocky go the distance with Apollo, then it would no doubt help me dominate on my Pop Warner football team (the Pepperell Tigers!). I cracked 4 eggs into a glass and just stared at it for a good 3 minutes, similar to standing on the 40' cliff at Mason quarry looking down at the water trying to get the balls up to jump. Finally, I got up the nerve to drink it, took a couple big swallows and immediately chucked them up across the basement. I decided Rocky was tougher than me, and I really didn't need to go the distance with Apollo anyway. 

If I had only known then what I know now about how Rocky got so strong I could have saved myself having to clean up raw eggs off the cellar floor. 

Regardless, the point of this story is that I was 10 and I was lifting weights so that I could get stronger, because I knew that if I was stronger, then I would be better at the sports I liked to play. At 10 years old I knew one of the most fundamental aspects of what it takes to excel at sports. For some reason this has changed and now kids are encouraged to play their sport year round and maybe go for a few runs once in a while for "cardio", instead of spend any time in a true strength and conditioning program.. I don't know why that is. Let me ponder that for a second as I watch the founder of one of those residential lacrosse camps hook his boat trailer up to his Cadillac Escalade....

The building blocks to elite athletic performance and reaching your maximum potential are, in order, General Physical Preparedness (GPP), Specific Physical Preparedness (SPP), Sports-Specific Preparedness (SSP), and Mental/Emotional Preparedness. Each block is a foundation for the subsequent building block, like in a pyramid. GPP is the foundation of general strength and conditioning that translates to all sports. In the GPP phase, the athlete works on absolute strength, speed, conditioning as well as joint mobility and flexibility. Power and speed are expressions of strength and are required in all sports. Not having met certain standards of strength, insufficient power and speed will be developed which leaves the athlete not only well short of his or her potential, but also at an elevated risk of injury. It is vitally important to understand that playing your sport does not make you stronger, it makes you more skilled at your sport. Doing strength work makes you stronger. 

With a solid foundation in GPP developed, the athlete will benefit from SPP training. SPP is strength and conditioning training that is specific to the athlete's sport, essentially preparing the athlete to perform the specific movements of their sport with more precision, power, and speed. This leads to SSP, which is sports-specific skill training, essentially practicing and playing the sport. The top of the pyramid is the mental and emotional preparedness. As important as an athlete's conditioning and skill levels are, it is often an athlete's mental toughness that will determine the outcome at crucial moments in competition.

It is no coincidence that a pyramid is chosen to illustrate the building blocks. The lower the point on the pyramid, the bigger part it plays in providing a solid foundation for everything above it. The weaker the athlete is at any point in the pyramid, then the building blocks above it will also be limited by that weakness. 

An athlete with an inadequate amount of General Physical Preparedness will never reach his or her true potential.

An athlete that spends all her time playing the sport and no time on the strength and conditioning falls far short of her true potential and sets herself up for a higher risk of overuse injuries. Each of the building blocks in the pyramid are essential for an athlete to reach maximum athletic potential. None of the building blocks are stand-alone entities and there is overlap depending on which training phase the athlete is in. For example, an off-season strength and conditioning program will be heavy on GPP. As the athlete moves into pre-season, the volume of GPP is reduced and the SPP is increased while also introducing the SSP. Even during the competitive season there is a maintenance level of GPP strength and conditioning work in an athlete's program to maintain strength levels during the season and set them up for long term strength gains in subsequent training phases.

The biggest problem we have today in the era of the year round competitive athlete is that they either spend little or no time on GPP, or they just flat out do it wrong. If you are doing a bodybuilding routine, or some program focused primarily on conditioning whose specificity is that it lacks specificity like P90X, Insanity, or Crossfit, then I am talking to you. GPP is a comprehensive strength and conditioning program with progressive overload and structured programming with the singular purpose of increasing all strength and conditioning qualities needed to achieve your goals. It is not 20 muscle-ups, 40 handstand pushups on rings, 100 kipping pullups, run 400m, do 30 thrusters with an 85# barbell, puke in a bucket, and writhe around on the floor because you just worked so hard for 13 minutes.

If you look like this at the end of your workout then you need to get on a better strength and conditioning program, and more importantly, stop being a drama queen and act like it's not the first time you've worked hard.

If you are a competitive athlete or if your son/daughter is a competitive athlete, it can't be stressed enough how important a solid strength and conditioning program is to performing at maximum potential. At Dynamic Strength and Conditioning we develop individualized training programs for every athlete. Every athlete that trains with us receives a comprehensive Functional Movement Screen and a customized training program focused on their goals, needs, and the requirements of their sport. We will create a program with exactly the right level of volume and intensity depending on the training age of the athlete and the time of year relative to their competitive season, whether it's in-season, pre-season, or off-season. Check out DSC Athletics for more info on our Athletic Development programs. If you (or your son or daughter) are serious about being the best you can be, then Dynamic is THE place to train.