Having just completed 10 months of our annual periodisation plan with only Overreaching to go, it’s high time we share some of the results from our strength and conditioning testing battery that you’ve all been put through.
The Data
This is important. I have taught you guys to scrutinise every article or piece of information that you are offered and you are right to engage your scepticism here; when you read an article you must ask the following of the research:
- What was the size of the population?
- For how long was the study conducted?
- How was the data collected?
- Where did the hypothesis come from?
- Is it peer reviewed research?
- Is there a financial undertone to what they are saying? (For example are they trying to sell supplements and coaching consultations?)
Most of you know that when I started this facility I wanted to be as transparent as possible and let everyone know how we are faring be it good or bad. And fundamentally, we are a commercial entity – your sessions are our bread and butter – but we do wish to go on and use these results in future peer reviewed articles so reliability and validity is essential. There would be no sense in fudging the results to fall in our favour as it would eliminate future research submissions. And, to be fair, while the results are great – the sheer volume of work involved in producing the stats doesn’t really warrant the financial return. If we were about that we would have opened up a 24 hour gym or a Crossfit facility. Or both. We might add some Zumba too.
As for the populations sizes etc. they are all included in the infographic. If you would like specific detail on the results, please don’t hesitate to get in touch, or, if you would like to read about the specific periodised program that we used you’ll find it here.
So without further adieu, here are the results.
Wrap Up (for those who can’t read the fine print):
As a facility we are extremely proud of what our clients have achieved this year. From a statistical and scientific point of view – these results are significant. We have witnessed over 40 subjects achieve a 9% relative drop in percentage fat and upwards of 5% increase in strength. Furthermore, our subjects are not full time athletes; they resistance train on average 2 times per week without a hard-line diet approach. This signifys the importance of consistency through good exercise prescription, reducing injury, proper periodisation and planning, and lastly but most importantly, a bloody fun environment to train in which makes it easier to turn up and give it your best. While we are happy with the results, we realise this no time to sit on our laurels – we will be in 2016 with even bigger goals.