WHAT IS BUILD?
BUILD helps you build strength with workouts that feel good.
We start slowly and focus on alignment and form, targeting one muscle group at a time using heavy weights, bands and other props you can find in your home. Like all Alkalign classes, the experience can be customized and optimized for you as we offer real feedback and answers for your questions and modification needs (we are an email away).
We recommend (and offer) 3 classes per week taken live or recorded. Each class ranges from 30-45 minutes, targeting specific muscle groups designed with exercises to get you as close to muscular failure as possible. Classes are meant to be taken sequentially so that you work muscle groups in a balanced way. No more guessing, we do all the work for you!
Build is based on the concept of progressive overload—training that gradually increases your workload over time to stimulate muscle strength. Basically, you muscles adapt to stress and become stronger when challenged progressively and properly.
Build’s progressive overload training helps you build muscle to help you live stronger for longer.
We know there is a big push in the fitness world to “lift heavy.” We also know from years of experience in the fitness business that most people do not have the proper training to do it safely. Alkalign prioritizes form, alignment, and provides the most reward with the least amount of risk.
WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF BUILD
The benefit of lifting heavier weights is to increase muscle growth. As we age, we lose muscle mass and challenging your muscles will help you maintain and even gain lean muscle mass. Benefits include:
- Boosting your metabolism
- Maintaining bone density
- Increasing lean muscle / preventing age-related loss of lean muscle
- Functional applications to real world (things in real life are heavy – grocery bags, suitcases, backpacks, car seats, kids, dogs, etc.)
- Improving athletic performance and reducing risk of injury during those activities
- Increasing functional range of motion
Read these testimonials from current Alkalign Build clients who have benefitted from this training.
WHO SHOULD TAKE BUILD?
Are you interested in lifting heavier or experiencing any of the benefits of building strength? Build is for you.
If you’ve considered lifting but are afraid, Build is for you.
If you have no interest, no worries. A consistent Align/Cardio/Mashup practice includes a lot of weight-bearing exercises to maintain bone density as well as the balanced strength to live in a strong, functional body.
Build45 is designed to complement your favorite Alklalign class, pilates, yoga, barre workouts, your favorite hobbies like pickleball, running and cycling, and anything else you do in life.
Build is especially important for women in peri-menopause and menopause. Lifting weights is one of the most effective strategies for women to counteract the effects of hormonal changes. Strength training helps build and preserve muscle mass and bone density, boost metabolism, and improve mood and mental health.
BUILD FOR WOMEN IN PERIMENOPAUSE AND MENOPAUSE
We recommend Build for people of all ages, but especially for women in perimenopause and menopause. Lifting weights with Build can help you:
- Preserve muscle mass: As estrogen levels decline, women lose muscle mass more easily. Regular resistance training signals your body to retain or build muscle, helping to reverse age-related muscle loss called sarcopenia.
- Build bone density: Perimenopause is a period of accelerated bone loss due to dropping estrogen. Weight-bearing and resistance exercises like the ones you find in a Build class places stress on bones, which stimulates the formation of new bone tissue and increases bone mineral density.
- Boost metabolism: Muscle tissue is more metabolically active than fat, meaning it burns more calories at rest. Preserving and building muscle mass through weight training helps to counter the slowing metabolism that often leads to weight gain during perimenopause.
- Manage weight and body composition: By boosting your metabolism and increasing muscle, lifting weights helps manage weight, particularly by reducing visceral (deep belly) fat.
- Improve mood and mental health: Fluctuations in hormones during this phase of your life can lead to mood swings, anxiety, and depression. Exercise releases “feel-good” hormones which can alleviate these symptoms and give you a sense of empowerment and strength!
- Better sleep & more energy: Regularly taking Build can help regulate your sleep patterns, improving insomnia and daytime energy levels, which are often disrupted during perimenopause.
WILL I GET BULKY?
The short answer: no. It is impossible to bulk up from lifting weights unless you are consistently in a calorie-surplus of nutrients that supports bulky mass and are in a program designed to increase your muscle mass.
If you want ot learn more about how nutrition can optimize your workouts nwe offer a self-guided Nourish for Build program. If you need more accountability, personalized information and guidance, connect with us at help@akalignstudios.com for information on our Nourish 1:1 program.
HOW DO I COMBINE THIS WITH MY OTHER ACTIVITIES?
The key to muscle building is in the recovery between sessions. Weight lifting (and intense exercise in general) is a catabolic process. That means your body is breaking down during the workout. You are creating small tears in your muscles and depleting them of glycogen (and there is a whole cascade of hormone responses as well).
The key to repairing the damage and making improvement (getting stronger!) is providing your body with adequate recovery time, high-quality fuel and smart recovery enhancers (like the massage balls).
You are more than welcome to supplement our 3x week sessions with Align, cardio or your own favorite activity 1-2 times per week, but don’t overdo it. Back-to-back workouts in the same day or on consecutive days will likely impede your progress and could be a recipe for injury.
We strongly suggest you try Recharge to make sure you are giving your body enough time to recover from your Build classes and are maximizing your results.
WHY WE DON'T OFFER BUILD EVERYDAY
Two to three times a week can equal all the gain! Studies show adding heavier lifting just twice a week gives you all the benefits of lifting without the added stress and pressure on your joints. This will also give you ample time for recovery, which is why we don’t offer Build everyday.
HOW CAN I ACCESS BUILD?
Build is included in our Livestream Unlimited membership and our All-Inclusive On-Demand membership. You can check out all our memberships and offers here.