FAQ
Have Questions?
Numerous clients of ours have come through the doors with previous injuries or tweaks and found relief from the pain by strengthening the muscles around the problem area. All to often people neglect exercising their low back due to fear of injury. Because of this they end up deconditioned, weak, and more susceptible to injury in the future from minor mishaps, which is usually what happens. Taking part in functional fitness will provide you a buffer so that you are less susceptible to these kinds of injuries. The movements and workouts are all completely scalable allowing anyone to take part.
At Limerick Athletics, we take a simple approach with constantly varied movements and workouts. We choose to offer workouts that may be more easily scaled in group settings and address some of the needs/desires of our community. You are guaranteed to have one day/week be heavy loading to help address strength demands. We also like to provide people with a longer workout each week so they can get their “endurance” bug fed. Another approach that we have is to address weaknesses the gym may have as a whole. Things like overhead squats, olympic lifting, or basic technique with bodyweight movements.
Yes, More and more research shows that shorter duration/higher intensity workouts yield higher benefits/results. Basically, it just boils down to hard work. But the truth is, the longer the effort the lower our intensity. If you run 10 miles your intensity (power output) will be lower than if you run multiple 400 meter sprints. Limerick Athletics does go beyond 30 min on occasion, but the majority of our workouts are shorter in duration. If you have a shorter workout, you can work harder by nature which can lend to a better response, especially combined with the movements we do. No matter who you are or what workouts you do, without hard work you will not receive results, which is why we encourage you to work to the limits of your physiological and psychological tolerances.
When you lift weights, a large part of the stress is on the nervous system, not necessarily the muscles; heavier weights equals more signals from brain to muscles. That means, without any other changes to your routine, lifting heavy weights will make you stronger, not bigger. Unmanaged or uncoordinated high calorie diet on the other hand will. For most to gain productive muscle mass takes quite the effort in eating the right foods in a high amount. We have quite a few men and women who compete and maintain their weight class while getting stronger and not bulking.
You can injure yourself in any activity, but functional fitness is safer than many activities people perform every day. We like to work with people in 3 stages. First: Technique (learning how to do the movements with correct technique), Second: Consistency (the ability to do the movements over and over again with safe and relatively efficient technique), Third: Intensity (the speed at which you do the movements). One does not come before the other. We always start with Technique and always preach proper recovery.
No, We hear this all the time. The most elite athlete can come into the gym and find a workout challenging. You will never be “fit” enough. That’s why we are here and offer scaling options for each individual so that you can thrive in each workout on a personal level. Fitness is a lifelong journey, we are never really “there”.
Not really, is often difficult to compare functional group training to other traditional fitness programs. The reality is with the quality of instruction you get from our trainers; it is personal training at a fraction of the cost. You are consistently working with a well experienced coach on daily basis, and actively working towards your goals.
Functional training is as hard as you make it. We encourage people to push to the limits of their own tolerances but only you can make the most out of your own workouts with the amount of work you put into them.
You could just follow our blog, but you would not get the quality of teaching from our certified trainers. Most people are not taught how to move correctly and don’t know how to teach themselves. You are automatically making yourself more susceptible to injury and leveling off in your gains by trying to do this on your own. It is also infinitely more fun when you are encouraged and held accountable by a group of your peers. Plus you won’t have someone cheering you on in your basement or local gym, like you have at Limerick Athletics.