If you’re heading into the warmer months feeling a little like the tin man, you’re not alone. Most of us spent the winter in some version of hibernation mode and now we’re in need of a good ol’ tune up!
It’s the perfect time to start preparing for fun summer activities by working on your mobility, balance, functional strength, and cardiovascular endurance.
Mobility
Increase your range of motion and reduce your risk of injuries. It goes without saying, don’t jump straight into action without warming up first! But you know what’s better than a one-off warm up? Making dynamic stretches and controlled, full range movements part of your daily routine.
Balance
Balance is an unsung hero. But believe me, you’ll notice when you don’t have it! Shifting weight distribution during daily activities (like standing on one leg while brushing your teeth) can help you practice stability. If that feels too easy, take it to the next level in the gym with offset load exercises like the Farmer’s Carry or Single Leg Romanian Deadlifts.
Functional Strength
You’ll enjoy a positive ripple effect across all endeavors by improving your strength. Think about building strength across functional movements like pushing, pulling, hinging, squatting, and carrying. Use body weight, resistance bands, weights, or whatever you have around the house to get started. But don’t get complacent. Keep challenging yourself in order to keep getting stronger!
Cardiovascular Endurance
Cardio fitness makes activities more enjoyable by increasing ease and endurance. Get your heart pumping with rhythmic, sustained movement. Walking, hiking, cycling, jogging, and swimming are all great ways to boost your cardio fitness! Once you can easily have a casual conversation during a session, you’re ready to increase your pace, intensity, or duration.
Don’t wait to start conditioning your body. People only ever tell me they wish they’d started sooner.
Feeling overwhelmed? That’s what a personal trainer is for.
No more saving reels and bookmarking YouTube videos in order to hodgepodge together a workout. You don’t have to do it all yourself! Instead, enjoy a holistic workout plan that is tailored to your fitness level and keeps you on track and moving toward your goals. Every new client starts with a $79 intro session: book yours here.
Shout Outs
Shout out to Matt, who just stepped up his Nordic curls. We changed the angle of the bench to 15 degrees from 20 (which makes the exercise significantly more difficult) and he’s already hitting 10 full reps! That’s serious hamstring strength built rep by rep.
Shout out to Sarah, who just hit 15 pounds on her single leg cable curl and knocked out 10 reps right out of the gate! That’s a clean jump, and it shows real single leg strength.
Shout out to Andrea, who went from 2 to 3 pounds on her bench pullovers and hit 15 clean reps already. Clearly she’s ready to graduate to 4 pounds next time.
A Note From Caleb
You’re not the only one getting excited about the change of season and making plans. Personally, I’ve been looking forward to training for the Hood to Coast run.
I was going to begin training last month, but life had other plans. Due to a fractured big toe, I had to hold off on running completely and allow my body to heal. It was a bummer. It’s hard for me to slow down and take it easy. But I made it through and I’m grateful that I was cleared by the doc to start running again.
Realistically, all of us encounter injuries and limitations at some point in our fitness journey. If you’re recovering from an injury or navigating a limitation, I know where you’re coming from. I’m proud to have a certification in corrective exercise so that I can help you safely keep training and making progress even when life happens and things don’t go as planned.
Keep moving, whatever that looks like for you this month.
Caleb