Tuesday, July 10, 2018

Wait, I actually THINK about what we're going to do?



It is no surprise that there are lots of kinds of workouts.  I design mine the way I do on purpose to meet some specific goals.

One of my goals for my clients is basic cardio fitness.  I want us all to be able to go up stairs without heavy breathing.  Some of my clients work out other times than when they see me, either cardio or weights, but others not so much.  At least on days they see me, I want them to get their aerobic box checked.

Another goal I have is improving metabolism.  The combination of cardio and weights and the multi-joint exercises I like to choose not only burn more calories in the moment, but cue the metabolism to burn more the rest of the time, too.

Functional fitness means being strong, balanced, and flexible enough to do all the things we want to do without getting hurt.  The core exercises, the asymmetrical exercises, the ones with the BOSU, and all those squats contribute to making us all more likely to be independent well into old age.

I also care about strong muscles, although I find that just doing the work causes that to happen:  clients, over time, find that I keep handing them heavier weights and they handle them just fine.  Maintaining and building muscle mass is important for general health, weight maintenance or loss, and encouraging strong bones.

How these goals play out across workouts depends on the client in front of me.  If a client has a goal to reduce body fat percentage, I’m going to be zeroing in on building muscle mass and metabolism.  If someone is recovering from an injury, we work on corrective exercise, range of motion, and mechanics for prevention of future injury.  The workout of the week can look sharply different depending on who is doing it and what those folks want out of the experience.

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