Appleton Fitness Spine & Sport - Personal Training

Appleton Fitness, Spine & Sport, Inc. is a hybrid facility uniting the finest in slow-speed personal fitness training, activity-based physical therapy, and sports conditioning. The training/therapy environment is considered optimal and the “non-health club” and “non-clinical” setting provides a comfortable experience for all clients and patients. The following considerations are deemed necessary in order to maximize the benefits of any AFSS program:

Distraction-free
The AFSS training/therapy environment permits each client/patient to concentrate and focus on each exercise without the distraction of a room full of people. At times, two instructors with clients/patients may be utilizing the training room simultaneously. However, due to the emphasis on proper exercise technique and respect for others in the room, conversation and unnecessary noise is kept to a minimum, thus creating a distraction-free environment for everyone.

Organization
The entire AFSS facility is always impeccably clean and organized. The exercise equipment is positioned away from the center of the room and arranged in a manner permitting efficient movement from one exercise to the next. To further minimize any distraction, the training areas are kept free of mirrors, music, and telephones.

Equipment
With a full line of MedX^® strength and medical machines, AFSS provides the finest variable resistance equipment available. This equipment is well-designed, varying resistance according to the strength changes that occur throughout the involved joints full range of motion. In addition, MedX^® provides extremely low friction, superior adjustability for all body types, 2 lb incremental weight adjustments, and ease of use for all ages and levels of experience. (back to top)

Temperature
The human body generates a tremendous amount of heat during exercise. This heat must be effectively dissipated in order to maintain concentration and optimal performance. To permit efficient heat dissipation, the AFSS training environment is kept relatively cool, low humidity, and well-ventilated. While the intensity of a training or therapy session produces a significant amount of body heat, the optimal environmental conditions maximize the efficiency of heat dissipation, and thus client/patient comfort. (back to top)

Instruction
While a large segment of AFSS clientele and therapy patients have had at least a limited amount of exercise experience, there are many who have never participated in an exercise program before. With the vast amount of information available on exercise methods and their claimed benefits, it is important to critically evaluate any proposed exercise protocol. Much of what we are exposed to is ineffective for helping us achieve our fitness and rehabilitation goals, often leaving us frustrated, disappointed, and sometimes in worse condition than when we started.

AFSS personal fitness instructors and therapists are well-qualified to sift through the misinformation that plagues our society. They effectively design individualized programs based on the known principles of exercise science and orthopedic therapy, and instruct clients/patients to perform exercises in a manner permitting maximum benefit.

The AFSS staff treats all clients/patients with the utmost respect, taking the necessary time to explain all program components and considerations in full. AFSS hopes to impress upon all clients/patients the ability to discern between effective and ineffective exercise methods, developing within them the skills necessary to exercise properly in any environment, utilizing any type of equipment. (back to top)

Trustworthiness
AFSS instructors and therapists always demonstrate the highest level of integrity and commitment to their clients/patients. It is essential that the client/instructor relationship be based on trust and respect for one another. All clients/patients must trust that AFSS instructors will provide the highest quality instruction and optimal training and therapy experience. In turn, instructors must trust that all clients/patients will be forthright regarding any and all information that could affect the safety or effectiveness of their exercise prescription in any way. A relationship based on respect and trust will lead to improved communication between instructors and clients/patients, providing an unsurpassed exercise or therapy experience. (back to top)

Nutritional Guidance
It sounds very simple, but rather than repeated dieting, the best way to lose body fat, improve lean mass, and manage body composition is to form healthy eating habits by making better dietary choices and changing unhealthy patterns. Most restricted calorie diets promising quick weight loss typically result in indiscriminate weight loss (water, lean mass and fat tissue) that is neither healthy nor easy to maintain and often leads to a higher body fat percentage over time. An optimal diet is natural, well-balanced, and nutrient, rather than calorically dense. AFSS instructors will provide all clients in need with the nutritional education necessary to begin changing ineffective eating habits, while providing the motivation and support necessary for long-term compliance. Consistent compliance with a well-designed eating program, particularly in conjunction with effective exercise, will undoubtedly lead to successful body re-composition.
(back to top)

Exercise Prescription
An effective exercise program allows one to safely maximize the known health benefits of exercise. Unfortunately many people embrace methods of exercise that while leading to improved health in some ways, often contribute to compromised health and well-being over time. The harmful effects of an inappropriate exercise program are often cumulative and not necessarily recognizable until the damage has already been done.

AFSS prescribes exercise and therapy programs based on individual needs and goals. The training is typically high-intensity in nature and emphasizes proper form and technique, particularly slow, controlled movements. Slow-speed strength training has been proven safe and very effective for helping people of all ages attain the known benefits of exercise. Don’t mistake the slow-speed movements for easy, unproductive exercise. Moving slowly through all movements virtually eliminates meaningful momentum, leaving muscular contraction the only thing responsible for exercise performance. This style of performance improves the efficiency and effectiveness of each exercise, contributing to optimal results in as little as 20 minutes, once or twice a week.

In addition to improving exercise effectiveness, slow-speed movements significantly reduce the risk of exercise related injury. Knowing that excessive force contributes to a tremendous number of injuries each year, a safe method of exercise seeks to minimize these potentially dangerous forces. Force is the product of mass (weight used) times acceleration. By reducing mass and/or acceleration, force will also decrease. Since the weight used is fixed and is not reduced over the course of an exercise, acceleration must be minimized to effectively limit force. Acceleration is the rate of change in velocity (speed in a particular direction), thus if speed of movement is kept slow and smooth, acceleration and the corresponding force potential reduced.

Another important component of AFSS slow-speed exercise is performing only the amount of exercise necessary to stimulate a positive physiological response from the body, nothing more. Safe and continuous progression is the result of effective stimulus (training), adequate recovery (biochemical replenishment), and overcompensation (positive adaptation) before training again. Optimal results depend upon strict adherence to these necessary steps. The response to exercise does not occur in any other order. While it is first necessary to train at a level of intensity high enough to effectively stimulate overcompensation, excessive training volume (amount per training session) and/or frequency (number of sessions per week) compromises adequate recovery and subsequent exercise related improvements. In addition to compromised results, the risk of injury and other harmful effects of overtraining are significantly increased. AFSS exercise presentations are designed to elaborate on such topics and put into perspective the importance of slow-speed, high-intensity strength training.
(back to top)

Supervision
There is an inherent risk of injury associated with any type of exercise or activity. The most common cause of exercise related injury is excessive force. These injurious forces can be the result of the exercise mode (high-impact activities, i.e.… running, aerobic dance, and kickboxing) and/or improper exercise technique. Technique violations including excessive movement speed, improper body position, and val salva (forced breath holding) all compromise safety and exercise effectiveness.

It is the responsibility of all AFSS instructors to effectively communicate the importance of proper exercise technique, as well as to insure compliance in the exercise environment. Instructors supervise the performance of each exercise at a comfortable distance behind the client, communicating only when necessary, thus permitting optimal focus and concentration. This supervision provides all clients with not only safe and effective exercise, but with the motivation to perform at a level often unattainable without it. (back to top)

Support
For many of us, there is a great deal of difficulty associated with changing unhealthy eating habits and complying with an effective exercise program. AFSS believes that individual and group support for each client, improves compliance, thus leading to personal goal attainment. Not only do clients receive support and encouragement during individual training sessions, but also through regularly scheduled group support sessions. Clients are encouraged, but not required to attend group sessions. Support sessions provide a forum for such things as sharing experiences, trading healthy recipes, or simply getting oneself in a safe, healthy environment. Never underestimate the importance of a good social support system. It can make all the difference in the world between frustration over compromised results and realizing successful goal attainment.
(back to top)