| The Fletcher Fitness Belt Ranking System |
In previous emails and blog posts I have written about Standards of Strength: An Introspective Perspective.At the start of year we encouraged you to share: 1. Your level of Commitment to training 2. What belt level you aspire to train towards 3. What you would describe as a good/great workout 4. What do you want to be held accountable to and to what degree. Some people have asked me to grade them by telling them what belt level I consider them to be at currently. My answer has been that the idea behind the ranking system is:To share a progressive framework from which to work in order to help clients learn how to best optimize their training. To be used as a tool to help clarify what we view as an optimal training stimulus. To communicate with the client to make sure that they are aware of which level aligns most closely with their personal goals. In simplest terms the black belt level would not be based on performance numbers but rather intentionality, mindset, effort, and form. After further thought I have come up with some criteria that will give more direction in your progression. If you have a desire to progress, you would need to first be focused on some fundamentals at the white belt level. Here are some of the fundamentals we will be focusing on and bringing awareness to in April. 1. Begin with the end in mind. Actually write down and share with your coach what belt level you aspire to and to what degree you want to be held accountable to regarding the progression. 2. Be able describe verbally what the proper form would be on each exercise and what muscles are targeted on each exercise. 3. Perform each exercise with proper form integrating the “Three Simple Things: Posture, Breath, Movement Speed” Another perspective would be to give some indicators and bring awareness to that which you have not yet mastered. For example: 1. You are unsure if you are pushing or pulling on the ARX row or chest press. 2. You have not yet mastered your breath which is associated with Val Salva and demonstrated with breath holding or excessive grunting during an exercise. 3. You are unaware of or unable to maintain proper posture and head position during an exercise. 4. You allow the weights to crash or slam at the end of an exercise which indicates you are not controlling the movement speed or weight. 5. You have not made the mind muscle connection to either know or feel what muscles are actually being targeted. 6. You are not yet able to maintain shoulder pack during an exercise without constant cueing. We all need work when it comes to mastering the fundamentals and the intent is to bring awareness to where we need the most work. You have to be engaged in the process. Here is a review of Level 1 (white belt): This is the beginner level. We understand at this level there can be a lot of excitement with starting something new but we also realize there can be some anxiety associated with this level as well. We want to take that energy and utilize it in a positive way. A major key at this level is to maintain an open mind and a willingness to put aside previous ideas of what you thought was optimal exercise. Be open to fully embracing the methodology we are teaching. There is an immense amount of information available to you but in this phase we do not want you to become overwhelmed. The most important thing here is to learn to perform the exercises with proper form. The three simple things to focus on with our protocol are: 1 Posture/ alignment 2 Breath 3 Movement speed We also want to connect to and focus on developing an understanding of the “Primary objective of Exercise.” In our method of exercise the primary objective of the exercise is to stimulate the muscular system.. One of the primary mechanisms we utilize for stimulating the muscle is referred to as thorough inroad or momentarily fatiguing the muscle. At this level, it is important to work towards making the mind/muscle connection and focus on feeling the muscle versus focusing on the act of just moving the weight.We are not concerned with “true” maximal effort at this point but rather learning the movements and how to safely, effectively, and efficiently perform the exercises. Typically, during this phase you will see rapid improvements. Understand that this is primarily due motor learning and neurological adaptations. This rate of improvement is not realistic for the long term. We tell you this not to discourage you but to help you set realistic expectations. |