Summer in Arizona means three unavoidable truths: heat, monsoon, and gym changes. At Resilient Fitness (RF), that means splitting our general class schedule into RF Kettlebells and RF Barbells. But Coach, you ask. Why did we need to change anything? I liked classes the way they were! We love that our members love our classes and feel comfortable with the schedule, but let us tell you all why we wanted to try this change and how we think it will benefit our gym community.
Prior to this month, our general classes consisted of RF Strength and RF Conditioning classes. In order to understand why we chose to adjust our classes, we need to briefly talk about what a Key Performance Indicator (KPI) is. The KPI is whatever movement pattern we are focusing on that day; so, for example, Monday & Tuesday’s KPI are squat patterns, Wednesday & Thursday’s KPI are push/pull patterns, and Friday & Saturday’s KPI are hinge patterns.
In the RF Strength classes, the day’s KPI was split into either a barbell or kettlebell option. This worked great for a long while, but then our coaches started noticing a few things. First, many of the members who regularly and consistently chose the barbell KPI transitioned onto the powerlifting team. This made the classes smaller and thus started to feel awkward and disjointed when members would split up to do either the barbell or kettlebell KPIs. Second, some members expressed concerns that the non-barbell KPIs were repetitive or not challenging enough. Lastly, we decided we wanted to give BOTH our barbell and kettlebell athletes the attention and programming they deserve without isolating anyone or any group.
Thus, RF Barbell and RF Kettlebells were created. RF Barbell was created to have a KPI that consist of ONLY barbell lifts, such as the barbell back squat, bench press, and trap bar or straight bar deadlifts. That being said, the rest of the class is still quite similar to the previous RF Strength classes; there is still a group warm up, accessory/circuit work using both kettlebells and barbells, and a finisher. The biggest change from RF Strength to RF Barbell is the KPI will always be a barbell lift. Additionally, RF Barbell will offer an optional 4th day of training on Saturday mornings that will be a pull pattern or a make-up for Friday's hinge day.
But Coach, you say again. I don’t know how to use a barbell but that’s the only class that works with my schedule. Should I still come? Absolutely! RF Barbell is designed for current barbell athletes to improve and strengthen their skills and for new barbell athletes to learn and feel supported in a safe and encouraging environment. Remember– everyone who uses a barbell was once a beginner! It’s the job of our coaches to help you feel comfortable and proficient with using gym equipment and we’re here to help.
In addition to barbell work, we are also transitioning RF Conditioning to RF Kettlebells. Though RF Conditioning previously used primarily kettlebells, the workout formats are still changing. Previously, RF Conditioning was broken into three separate workouts: Tuesdays were aerobic power focused, Thursdays were aerobic endurance focused, and Saturdays were high-intensity interval training (HIIT). With RF Kettlebells, the focus for the workouts will shift to focusing more on movement patterns. Thus, Monday/Tuesdays will now be a squat emphasis, Wednesday/Thursday will now be a push/pull emphasis, and Friday/Saturday will be a hinge emphasis. This is so members who do not want to participate in RF Barbell can still make sure to train our Big 6 movement patterns. Additionally, RF Kettlebells will focus primarily on volume over heavy weights (though we still encourage you to select challenging weights!). Since RF Kettlebells is a little more intensely paced than RF Barbell, RF Kettlebells is a 45 minute class while RF Barbell remains 60 minutes.
Ultimately, we encourage our members to be open to and try out both classes. Our barbell athletes can benefit tremendously from building cardiovascular and muscular endurance, while our kettlebell athletes can benefit tremendously from building strength and increasing power output. We believe with the addition of both classes, we can give our athletes a more well-rounded fitness experience. As we’ve discussed before, there are multiple elements of fitness, including strength, endurance, mobility, and flexibility, all of which you will be learning in either of our new classes. It is always our goal to give our members the best programming and experience as possible and we believe with these two new classes, we’ll be able to give all our athletes a good workout and push them to try some different things.
We’re always open to your feedback, so please don’t hesitate to reach out to a coach if you have any questions or concerns!
Please see our Summer 2024 Class Schedule Below:
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