The Solution:
An Ultra-Efficient Form of Strength Training
Before founding New Element Training, I was a busy executive in the geophysical industry. In common with many of our clients, my job required my attention 24/7 and I also had to make time for my family. Staying on top of my job responsibilities and co-parenting three little children left me with virtually no time for myself. But staying fit - in fact, reaching a very high level of fitness - was very important to me and I was determined to find an efficient form of exercise that I could fit into my life.
Articles in the popular press on the benefits of high intensity training caught my attention. Research done at McMaster University was reported in the New York Times and spawned a flood of articles explaining how short bursts of very intense exercise are as beneficial as hours of conventional exercise.
““Work by scientists at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, and other institutions shows that even a few minutes of training at an intensity approaching your maximum capacity produces molecular changes within muscles comparable to those of several hours of running or bike-riding.”
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This seemed too good to be true and, as a natural sceptic, I had many questions. How solid was the science behind this claim? How much exercise would deliver optimal results and how frequently would I have to train? What kind of exercise was the most beneficial? I dove into the research material and, as my knowledge expanded, I became very excited about the potential of high intensity exercise, especially as applied to strength training. (In an earlier blog post -- My Journey Towards the Integration of a Strong, Healthy Body and a Peaceful Mind -- I describe this process of discovery more fully.
As I applied my findings in my own workouts over the course of a year -- and persuaded several of my friends and colleagues to do the same -- I became convinced that receiving all the health and mental benefits of exercise does not require hours of gym time. One or two weekly 30-minute sessions of strength training done 'super slowly' - known as High Intensity Strength Training - is all we need to feel great, be in excellent shape, and be healthy.
(Naturally, it is also necessary to pay attention to nutrition and develop a healthy eating regime, because exercise alone will not solve a weight issue, for example.)
Once I was convinced that this ultra-efficient approach to regaining and maintaining health would benefit people of all ages and degrees of fitness, I could hardly contain my excitement and was driven to share what I had learned. I decided to leave my well-established career and create New Element Training (NET).
The New Element Training approach is based on hard science, is time-efficient, and safe. All training is done one-on-one with a highly qualified instructor and using state-of-the-art machines that are precisely adjusted to fit your body .
In each session emphasis is placed on three qualities:
- Technique: important for optimum results and to avoid injury
- Intensity: your goal in these workouts is to deeply fatigue targeted muscle fibres in order to create a stimulus for them to rebuild and grow stronger
- Consistency: with consistent effort you can count on getting stronger, week by week
We'll expand on each of these aspects of the NET approach in upcoming blog posts.