Thinking of getting in shape? If you’re interested in working one-on-one with a personal trainer, the small fitness boutiques located in and around Santa Barbara provide a plethora of options in both setting and training approaches presented at the different facilities. I recently visited several of these studios, looking for a new place to train my clients, and was amazed at what Santa Barbara has to offer.
Instead of the muscle isolation machines typical of traditional gyms, most studios are filled with stability balls, medicine balls, bands, cables, foam rollers, and all sorts of other tools designed for a more functional approach to exercise. fitness. These facilities don’t just cater to athletes building strength; they are filled with everyone from young competitors looking to get better at sports, to older people working to build stronger bones. After visiting some of the local hot spots and exploring some of their various training approaches, I zeroed in on a few of the highlights.
The gym on Middle Road
Platinum Fitness, located on Middle Road in Montecito, is a small, bustling studio where you’ll find people of all shapes and sizes, including many highly-fit and highly competitive endurance athletes. Owner Peter Park competes at the elite level in running, cycling and triathlons, so it’s no surprise that his studio attracts many of the local endurance athletes, including Lance Armstrong when he’s in town. Platinum is an optimistic installation; Walk through the doors on any given day and you’ll be surrounded by a profusion of natural light, inspiring hip music, and a variety of energetic trainers helping clients achieve their goals through “functional training.”
Functional training, the latest trend in physical training, prepares you for the specific activities you do on a daily basis. Maybe your job requires you to do a lot of reaching, lifting, bending, or standing and your back, knees, or shoulders are hurting. Or maybe you find yourself parked in front of a computer all day and your posture needs a little work. And, again, you may be rehabbing from an injury and find you need a little help getting back to work and life successfully. Whatever you do in your daily life, functional training can make it easier.
Unlike the traditional approach of working one muscle at a time, functional training involves combining exercises to put all the muscles, from your calves to your shoulders, into action. Getting on a bench with dumbbells in your hands and then pushing the dumbbells up overhead, for example, will prepare you for getting up on a chair and putting a box on a shelf.
The idea is to work against resistance in such a way that the strength gained from the exercise is “transferred” to the specific movement of your life.
If you want to improve your ability to get up from a chair, you can choose leg extensions to strengthen your legs. But the squat would be a much better exercise option because it more closely resembles the actual motion of getting up from a chair. So the squat develops more functional strength in the legs.
Functional training also improves your performance in sports. If you’re a long-distance runner and would like to improve your 10K time, Peter Park recommends “strengthening the main engines so you don’t get as tired on the long runs.” It puts its endurance athletes through strenuous training designed specifically to improve strength and endurance, or muscular endurance, for competition.
Peter’s lower body program consists of a series of exercises performed back-to-back: a 25-rep set of squats, with bands (for constant tension); followed by a series of 25 repetitions of leg press, with bands; followed by a series of 15 repetitions of step ups; followed by three plyometric (jumping) exercises of 12 to 15 different repetitions. And that’s just one round. He will make his athletes do that three times! As you can see, Peter’s program reflects both the movements and volume of endurance competition…the functional approach to fitness.
The gym in the lower state
Perhaps the idea of training for activities of daily living is not enough to motivate you to start an exercise program. And you are more interested in sculpting your body to look great in your swimsuit or bikini for the beaches of Santa Barbara. Then the “bodybuilding” approach to fitness may be more suitable for you.
Specifically designed to increase lean muscle mass and reduce body fat, this approach has added rewards…like increased confidence, increased sex appeal, reduced stress, and more energy for daily activities.
Key 2 Fitness, one of the newest fitness studios in town, located in lower State, features the bodybuilding approach. Owned and operated by bodybuilders Jeff Harrison and Leif Tiahrt, Key 2 Fitness is packed with isolation machines and free weights, and is ideal for the strength athlete looking for a place to “pack on some serious muscle,” according to Jeff Harrison. They also offer membership keys for people looking for a little camaraderie with other strength athletes in the community.
While the goal of bodybuilding is to develop a symmetrical physique, keep in mind that not everyone responds the same way. Mother Nature, or your genetic makeup, largely determines how you react to any training program. Factors like muscle fiber type (strength or endurance), testosterone to estrogen ratio, and where body fat is stored all influence its capabilities. And as you consider your vision of the ideal physique, remember that you can’t hide from your body type. Are you a skinny, small-boned ectomorph, a lean, muscular mesomorph, a heavy, big-boned endomorph, or a combination of all three?
Although these genetic factors affect both men and women, there are still a significant number of women who will not consider the bodybuilding approach for fear of getting too big. The truth is that most women build a relatively small amount of muscle, even with hard work and dedication, due to the ratio of estrogen to testosterone. Unfortunately, this fear of being too muscular prevents many women from reaping the benefits.
Many factors are involved in bodybuilding, but what really matters is that you gradually overload your muscles. Leif Tiahrt suggests using the “individual body part approach” and “maximizing exercises for each body part.” He advocates a three-day split in which the individual does “push” exercises (chest, shoulders, and triceps) on Monday, “pull” exercises (back and biceps) and legs on Wednesday, and a full-body circuit. complete on Friday. Use three to ten reps per set and end each exercise with a drop set to failure.
Using moderate to heavy loads and moderate to high volume, Leif’s program effectively increases muscle size to create a more aesthetically pleasing physique… the ultimate goal of bodybuilding.
The Arlington Gym
Perhaps you have gained some muscle through bodybuilding. And now you’re ready for a more refined approach to your training… one that takes into account the specific demands of your sport and your goals… like achieving peak performance. Following a well-designed “sport-specific” training program can help you reach those goals and achieve the success you desire.
To perform at your best in tennis, for example, you need enough aerobic endurance to maintain your stamina for a game that can last several hours; anaerobic endurance (energy is produced without oxygen) for a high-intensity rally that can last 6-10 seconds; speed and agility so you can get into position to make the most of your shots; power for serves, forehands, backhands and volleys; and a prevention element to avoid injuries and overtraining.
Conditioning Specialists, located in a historic building just a few doors down from Arlington, introduces the sport-specific approach to training. Doug Holt, owner of Conditioning Specialists and SB Fitness Magazine, got his experience in competitive sports through soccer, which he played at the college level. His studio has the look of an upscale New York loft and features a personal training studio downstairs and private rooms for a MAT (muscle activation techniques) and massage therapist upstairs, plus an office for the magazine.
When asked about sport-specific training, Doug says that “it’s training for a particular goal… not only mimicking the actual demands of the sport, like hip abduction, knee flexion, but also the energy demands.
To prepare for the specific demands of the sport of tennis, the strength training program is divided into three phases, or mini-training programs, each designed to develop a specific type of strength with the ultimate goal of developing sport-specific strength. demands tennis, power and muscular endurance.
In the first phase, “core strength,” the goal is to build a solid, well-rounded foundation of strength and prepare the ligaments and tendons for the more demanding activity that will follow. The second phase is to develop “maximum strength,” a measure of how much weight you can lift for one repetition. If you can squat 225 pounds for one rep and your friend can only squat 205 pounds, then you have more max squat strength. The goal of the third phase is to convert the strength you developed earlier into sport-specific “power” (a combination of strength and speed) and “muscular endurance.”
Just as the preparation for the competitive season is divided into phases, the overall training program is divided into periods to promote long-term improvements in strength and avoid overtraining. This program, which is usually an annual plan, consists of the preparation period (preseason), mentioned above; the competitive period (in season); and the transition period, when the season is closed.
By coordinating the phases of the training program with the different periods of the competitive season, you can maximize your strength and reach peak performance just in time for competition.
In conclusion
So if you think you might be interested in working one-on-one with a personal trainer, browse the myriad of training studios in Santa Barbara to find the one that’s right for you. Be sure to keep in mind that while each facility may feature a particular training method, most studios hire a variety of personal trainers, each with their own unique training style and approach.