Train Like you played as a child
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Recently I had an epiphany that I’m going to share with you: as I was writing a new training program for myself it occurred to me I have exercised more as an adult then I played as a child. As children, my friends and I would get together outdoors to decide what we wanted to do according to the time of year, the weather condition, and what would be fun that day. Then we would play, doing whatever activity we decided, and have fun while unintentionally getting fit.
We would climb trees, ride bikes, play tag, hike in the woods, go sledding, or play the sport of the season, etc. I realized I have been doing the same thing for my training for the past year; I have a choice of resistance training, working the heavy bag, running, training outside in my courtyard, or doing my Make Em Sweat competitions at the football field. I look at the weather forecast for the week then plan my daily training according to the weather. Once that day gets here the next step is doing what I feel will be a fun and an effective workout for the day. |
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This makes me look forward to training just like playing when I was a child. I try to do the same with my clients.
One client in particular, Vikki V, follows this methodology out in New York City. She often gets bored with routine workouts so to ensure she stays active, weekly she does fun yoga, adult kickball, and sometimes even adult dodgeball. On the weekends, she participates in MeetUp hikes, kayaking, and other activities like standup paddle boarding, beginner adult soccer camps for singles, beach days etc.
Because she does all of this, when we do training sessions (via Skype) we do a specialization training to focus on her core and stretches to prevent/repair injuries.*
Note: it is important to make sure you don't overexert yourself or do activities that are outside your current body limits anymore. In Vikki's case, she had to stop certain activities like bike rides because of mild knee arthritis and the motion aggravates her patella.
One client in particular, Vikki V, follows this methodology out in New York City. She often gets bored with routine workouts so to ensure she stays active, weekly she does fun yoga, adult kickball, and sometimes even adult dodgeball. On the weekends, she participates in MeetUp hikes, kayaking, and other activities like standup paddle boarding, beginner adult soccer camps for singles, beach days etc.
Because she does all of this, when we do training sessions (via Skype) we do a specialization training to focus on her core and stretches to prevent/repair injuries.*
Note: it is important to make sure you don't overexert yourself or do activities that are outside your current body limits anymore. In Vikki's case, she had to stop certain activities like bike rides because of mild knee arthritis and the motion aggravates her patella.