What is Foundation Fitness?
A True Strength-Based Gym
We get it, the fitness industry is like the wild Wild West. It's hard to know what each gym does and what the culture is like. There are so many different types of group fitness options available: HIIT, Pilates, Barre, CrossFit, Interval Training, Spin, Yoga, Zumba etc..
We wrote this blog to help you decide if we are a good fit for you. Maybe we're not. That's ok.
What is Foundation Fitness?
Foundation Fitness is a true Strength-Based gym. Our strength programs include our popular BUILD.POWER.GRIND Group Class, Sports Performance, and Personal Training. Each day is focused on strength from Absolute Strength using a barbell to Bodyweight Strength. The goal of our programs is to allow you to thrive in life through strength training. In this blog we will highlight our group class BUILD.POWER.GRIND.
BUILD.POWER.GRIND.
This is our popular Strength-Based group fitness program that can only be found at a Foundation Fitness location. This is not HIIT, interval training, or a cardio workout disguised as a faux strength workout. This is a true strength program. Every workout has a strength and cardio piece that equal 36 minutes of movement. Each day the workout is designed around a strength block that is 16-26 minutes. Nothing more, nothing less. That leaves us 10-20 minutes of cardio.
Our daily workouts are written in 4 blocks: PREP, LIFT, MOVE, & FLOW.
PREP – this block is designed to prepare you for the workout that day.
LIFT – this is our dedicated strength block, featuring a mixture of bodyweight & weighted strength movements.
MOVE – this is our cardio block, from short high intensity to long feel good cardio.
FLOW – this is our cool down segment, a Yoga inspired, deep stretch after each class.
Our programming team plans the strength phases a full year in advance. They write four 12-week phases that are followed by a week long de-load. Phase 1 and Phase 3 are followed by 'BASE WEEK'. We are very intentional about what goes into each day. There is nothing random about what we do. Variety is good but too much variety is counterintuitive. Structure & Consistency are King. Repeated strength segments with simple progressions are what we do well.
Inside of each week we have 3 days: BUILD. POWER. & GRIND. Each day represents a different strength focus.
BUILD.
Absolute Strength - Barbell Strength - 90% Intensity
What type of movements? Back Squat, Deadlift, Bench Press, Strict Press and more..
This day is for slow, heavy & intentional strength movement.
The MOVE segment is short, high intensity cardio.
POWER.
Explosive-Athletic Strength - 80% Intensity
What type of movements? Unilateral Strength, Jumping, Sled Pull/Push, Agility, and more...
This day is designed to feel like a sports practice.
The MOVE segment is mid-distance cardio.
GRIND.
Bodyweight Strength & Carry's - 70% Intensity
What type of movements? Isolated Core, Pull Ups, Push Ups, Animal Walks, Farmer Carry's, and more...
This day is designed for structure, health, & longevity.
This might lead to another question- How do we perceive effort?
90% Intensity – A pace that is not sustainable for longer than 10-12 minutes. This pace feels very intense.
80%Intensity – A pace that is not sustainable for longer than 14-16 minutes. This pace is hard to sustain, but doable.
70% Intensity – A pace that is sustainable for 18-20 minutes. This is a pace that feels good to workout at for a long time.
We do not utilize 100% intensity. We believe 100% intensity should be reserved for "game day."
"Game day" is different for everyone. For some, it's a Spartan Race. For others, its the weekend softball league.
Limited Spots
We limit our classes to 24 participants per class. This is important for your experience. We like to keep a personal touch while providing detailed feedback within our group classes. Our trainers are instructors/educators, not just time keepers and cheerleaders. Limiting our classes to 24 participants at a time guarantees a high quality experience for all attendees. Book on our app early to reserve your spot.
Timing
Our classes run on a tight timing schedule. We want to ensure you get a proper warm up, long strength session, some cardio, & a proper cool down all in 60 minutes. It's important that you arrive on time for class. Our brief is 3 minutes, so if you are 3 minutes late you have already missed the most important part of the class.
Professional Trainers
We hire character first. Our trainers will become your best friends. They will help you solve problems inside and outside of the gym, and will challenge you daily.
Our trainers are very knowledgeable, are held at a high standard, and they uphold that standard. They are reviewed frequently on their performance on the floor, and go through trainings every 2 months. If they do not meet the standard, then they don't get to lead class. I repeat, they are held to a high standard. We will put our trainers against anyone in the industry.
Curated Playlists
We put a lot into our music selection and we are proud of that. We have all been to gyms where the same set of songs are playing every day, or that slow Katy Perry song comes on right after a heavy Eminem song. We think that is unacceptable. Each class at Foundation Fitness has a curated playlist. Our days BUILD.POWER.GRIND. each have their own vibe. You won't hear DMX on a GRIND day and you won't hear Skrillex on a BUILD day, and the music is timed up with where you are in class. So when Jump by Kriss Kross comes on while you are doing plate hops or jump ropes, just know your trainer thought that'd be cute. 😏
The Green Towel
Shhhhhh... 🤫 it’s our secret. We will save this one as a surprise for when you come in. Just know that if you see someone in a picture on the gram with a green towel, they earned it and are enjoying that reward. You will often hear people joke, ‘I just come here for the green towel’..... IYKYK
Who are we?
In an industry that is heavy on 2 extreme's:
The first being a cardio heavy workout that does strength but not nearly enough. They usually have light weights only and they don't give you enough rest to maximize your strength work enough to illicit meaningful progress. Their goal is to make you feel accomplished by making you sweat.
The second being the extreme barbell high intensity workout. They usually glorify speed and weight over everything else. Their goal is to make you feel accomplished by making you roll on the floor gasping for air after the workout.
Let us say this. If you are working out - you should feel accomplished.
We feel like there is a better way though.
Foundation Fitness is a true strength-based gym.
We use the barbell because it is an essential component to building absolute strength in any strength program that takes itself seriously, BUT we do not believe in using barbells for conditioning or are a setting that emphasizes speed over everything else.
We do some cardio every day, but we also know that if you are performing our strength segments at the desired intensity, then you are going to improve your cardiovascular system with out even thinking too much about it.
Simply put - we use barbells, but not too much. We do cardio, but not too much.
We celebrate technique and moving weight slow and controlled.
We focus on building strength every. single. workout.
Conclusion
We are not for everyone. Not everyone is going to like what we do. We do not try to appeal to everyone. We have a very specific crowd we appeal to. We have created a space for the hard workers who know that everything in life is earned. Our space is created for them to come unwind, get a hell of a workout, hang out with other hard workers, and then go do some boss shit in their professional lives.