We want FFS to be the best part of someone’s day and having fun means you keeping turning up, keep working hard, and keep getting stronger. Having the craic is a currency that makes you truly rich. Being surrounded by people who value their health as much as you do; training alongside fellow members who celebrate people doing well and feed off the energy of everyone getting better - it’s a fantastically positive atmosphere. Having fun when you are training is so vital, it is just as important as all of the science behind muscle building, fat loss, and training intensities.

Consistency is the biggest contributor to sustainable progress and getting results. If what you need and what you want are all together in one place. You are on to a winner. If you love doing something you are more likely to keep doing it.

The FFS way to get stronger

Our mission at FFS is to make people the strongest version of themselves.

How we achieve that can often be highly individualised. If we need to alternate, progress or regress exercises we will always make an informed decision on what will give our members the biggest bang for their buck. We make these decisions based on our initial assessments through our foundation courses and with constant feedback from our members.

Some of our members play/played team and individual sports, have pre-existing injuries, have long term conditions, have a high training age or are returning to training after a long lay off. If we ignore the past, then we are condemned to repeat it. Injury history, training age, mobility restrictions, strength and conditioning capacity, legacy lifestyle factors, and recovery processes; these can all be reference points in our decision process as coaches.

We have a large coaching team of over 20 coaches and personal trainers with a vast array of experience. This is a huge driver of our development as a team but also an invaluable resource for our members. Our coaching team combined with our physio team means we have a 360 approach to achieving successful results for our members. We consult with each other and, as a coaching team, pick the best direction for all of our athletes.

Setting a baseline

The first step for our new members is establishing all our baseline data. Where they are at, where they want to go and what have they done in the past. We achieve this through our Foundation Course at FFS Gym. Our foundation course involves:

Goal Setting. We ask our members, what they want and the reason “Why” they are here.Analysis of athletes movement patterns for mobility restrictions, imbalances, strengths/weakness etc through movement screening.Demonstrate and coach athletes through the fundamental movements (Push, Pull, Hinge, Squat etc) that will carry over to their training for life.Cardiovascular testing to establish their baseline fitness so we have targets for their first month at FFS.

Want to know more about our foundation course?

Get with the Program

All of our classes or programs are planned in advance in 4-week,5-week, and 8-week cycles. We have a specialised programming team, each with their own area of responsibility. Our programs are trialed and picked apart by this team every month to ensure that they deliver the best results and experiences for our members. We track our members' progress in our strength programs and use them as reference points every session to improve week-on-week.

How are you today?

Simple question. Lots of valuable info. We know all our members and we know that sometimes we need to ignite a fire and sometimes we need to take it down a gear. This doesn’t mean we make things easier or harder but more we make better decisions on the execution of our sessions.

Think of the example of the athlete following an 8-week strength program and it’s testing day today. Their last score was 165 kg X3 on the bench press. That was 7 weeks ago and a lifetime personal best. You know the athlete well and realise they are little sluggish in the warm-up, they also recently have become a father for the first time. You ask a few questions and realise they didn’t get any sleep last night. Is trying to get a new personal best on the bench press today in the best interest of the athlete today? We can decrease the intensity and increase the volume, a slight detour but the best direction in the long run. If you don’t know any of this, you load up a bar and put someone under it. How will they feel after?

Putting the fun into fundamentals

We want our athletes to move better, feel better and get stronger every day and most importantly we want them to have a great time doing it. Sound training practices, progressive programs and an unbeatable atmosphere with an insatiable appetite to get a little bit better every day are what drives classes energy.

Do you feel what you are doing right is making you the strongest version of yourself?

Are you just going through the motions?

Are all of your classes pre-planned in advance specifically for you and your needs?

Are they taken by experienced coaches and getting you results?

Are you loving your training and can’t wait to get into the gym every day?

If the answer is NO, click the free trial class link and see for yourself how FFS makes our athletes stronger!

Find Out More

This February we are offer limited free trial classes

. If you are friends with a current Gold or Silver FFS member contact here and we will try and make a special effort to get you training together (space permitting)

A stronger you starts here

About the Author

Craig is Director of FFS Gym at the Ivy Exchange. Our brand new gym located opposite the Rotunda Hospital, just off Parnell Street. He is an S&C Coach, Personal Trainer, Nutrition Coach and program director of our Suspension & Body-weight Program across all 3 FFS Gyms. If you would like to know more about training at #ffsnorth contact him here

Email Craig at craig@ffs.ie

Find Craig on Instagram at @craig_ffs