Ease Into a New Fitness Routine

Not Every Workout Needs to Be a Killer When You're Just Starting Out! StrongBoard Balance Board
Not Every Workout Needs to Be a Killer When You’re Just Starting Out!

It’s that time of year when you see the gyms get busier, classes get crowded, our normal running or cycling paths get swamped with new riders. Unfortunately, that can lead to more accidents, people getting sick from overdoing it, and injury. No one wants this! Taking time to ease into a new fitness routine will help you in the long run.

If you’re planning to hit that New Year’s Resolution hard, please take the following into consideration. Your body will thank you!

  • You Don’t Need to Hit it Hard Every Single Time

Yes, we all love muscle soreness. We feel like we have to hit 110% to be on our way to serious results. This just isn’t the case. With a consistent workout plan, you really only need to up your resistance every three weeks. Soreness can also indicate a muscle strain and potential injury. Extreme soreness and Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS) will typically pull you out of your routine for a few days, so isn’t it better to bump up your workout gradually? Try having a moderate workout in the beginning of the week, a harder one in the middle, an easier one, and then a harder one. You’ll feel more motivated to hit the gym consistently and won’t have to regress your training plan.

  • Take Recovery Days

Every athlete takes a rest day. Whether that means a slow, easy bike ride, a long walk, some gentle yoga, or simply putting something else important in your life as a priority, taking a day of rest is essential to your health and well-being. Schedule one or two days off each week to rest, recover, and rejuvenate. Muscles need recovery time to get stronger and leaner.

  • Mix It Up

No matter what your fitness goals are, it’s imperative to incorporate cross training. Triathletes do yoga, bodybuilders go running, and boxers use cardio machines. If we do the same thing every time, our bodies will adjust and our workouts will become easier, and not necessarily better. Using your muscles in different ways will prevent them from getting worn down by one sport. Mix up your routine by adding classes, at-home workouts, or new machines at the gym. You’ll notice a difference!

  • Stretch

Gentle stretching is just as important at the end of a workout as it is at the beginning. Stretching will help to prevent injury by increasing blood flow to your muscles and help limit muscle fatigue and soreness. Plan to stretch the working muscles for at least 5 minutes after you’ve completed a workout. Add some calming music to the end of your playlist so you won’t forget.

  • Sleep

Believe it or not, but our bodies burn calories while we sleep. During this time our muscles get to repair themselves and recover faster, because we aren’t asking them to move. Poor sleep will negatively impact your results. If you’re feeling too tired to workout when you first start exercising, skip it, and get some rest. Lack of sleep can result in overtraining, bloating, weight gain, and decreased motivation. Plus, when we are sleepy, we tend to overeat. Who wants that?

  • Listen to Your Body

If you feel sick, dizzy, nauseated, uncomfortable, or too hot- Stop Immediately. These are signs that you are working too hard. If we push too hard, our bodies will rebel. If you start feeling any of these symptoms or generally don’t feel well, find a seat out of the way and have some water. Only return to exercising once these feelings stop, sometimes this will take 5-10 minutes. If it takes longer than 10 minutes, end your workout and go back when you’re feeling better. Once you get more used to working out at a certain level these will start to go away.

Happy New Year!

Stay Balanced.

 

How Balance Can Take Your Game to the Next Level

StrongBoard Balance Board BaseballBalance is something we all take for granted, until we lose it. Then we find ourselves on the ground with scraped knees and bruised egos, and we realize balance is an integral aspect of our daily lives. Balance is also integral to the sports we play, and improving your balance can help you take your game to the next level.

The following is a list of some of the most popular sports and ways balance plays a role in each:

Baseball – Hitting a baseball is all about balance. There’s primarily two different times when balance comes into play during an at-bat. The first is when you take your stance. Having good balance allows you to move in all directions while keeping your feet in place and staying steady. The second time balance comes into play is after the swing when the body needs to remain upright and steady during the follow-through. A lack of balance in any direction directly impacts your power, ability to make contact, direction of the ball, and speed down the first base line.

Soccer – You’re never standing on both feet at the same time when you run, and soccer is a game of running. Balance is pivotal to being able to quickly change directions when running, whether you juke left or right. Players with good balance can fake out defenders and recover quickly when someone tries to put a move on them. Those without good balance are left on the grass.

Football – Throwing a football requires similar balance to hitting a baseball (mentioned above), however, unlike hitting, football quarterbacks are rarely standing still when they pass. The motion has to be accomplished on the run from some very large people trying to tackle you, and the slightest bit of imbalance can mean the difference between a completion and an interception. It can also mean a major injury when the big guys finally make contact.

When playing any sport, the athletes who are able to move about the field and perform the mechanics needed for the task at hand with the least amount of unnecessary movements are going to rise above the rest. Fluidity comes from balance, while a lack of balance creates the need for additional effort, exhaustion, and a breakdown of form.

While you may not always be aware of the need for balance, it requires just as much attention and conditioning as any other aspect of your game in order to succeed.