By: Rhys Geske, NSCA Certified Personal Trainer
Some people train for competition or a sport. Other people train for improved body composition. While others train for overall health. Whatever your reason for training, it’s important to keep the “long road” ahead mindset. I’d like to elaborate more on the importance of overall health. Think about your future self and the things you want to be able to do when you are older. Being able to walk up a flight of stairs without your knees hurting. Or, being able to pull weeds out of the garden or pick something up that doesn’t hurt your back. Getting older is inevitable, however being a little wiser on how you train will help preserve and delay the aging process. Therefore, you might want to incorporate some L.A.S.T techniques to help.
- Warming up before you exercise is very beneficial. It prepares your body for the work ahead and ignites that psychological mindset for training. Increased body temperature helps reduce injuries as well.
- Warm-up sets before your actual “working” sets for lifting weights. Work on your range of motion and form.
- Reserve time at the end of your workout to stretch, foam roll or cool down.
- Be more in-tune to your body and energy levels. If your at the gym and feeling tired or stressed, well, that day might not be the best to test your one-rep max or lift heavy. Instead, focus on technique, switch up your routine and perform an “active rest” day.
- Work on stretching tight muscles and increasing your range of motion. Yoga classes are great for this!
- Vary your routine. I can’t stress this enough. Take care of your joints. If you’re always running and your knees hurt or have foot problems, switch things up. Try biking, elliptical, stepmill or the rowing machine.
- Periodize your training. Include a de-load week where you lift roughly 50% of your one-rep max and don’t go to failure on the lifts. This will let your central nervous system perform a reset.
- Supplements can help as well. Glucosamine helps some people with joint relief.
- Natures medicine cabinet:
-Strawberries for inflammation
-Blueberries are a good anti-oxidant
-Bananas help with potassium and cramping
-Garlic for earaches
-Turmeric for chronic pain
-Peppermint leaves for sore muscles
-Pineapple can help with bloating - Remember ice is good for reducing swelling and inflammation while hot packs are good for tight muscles.
To sum things up. Take care of yourself, sometimes dial down the intensity, switch up your repetitive movements, try a new class and remember to keep that L.A.S.T mindset. If you have questions or need some guidance, reach out to me to set-up a free consultation. I would love to assist you to meet your goals. Visit our website for more information.
Education: National Personal Training Institute, North Dakota State University with a B.S. in Speech Communication and Minor in Mass Communication
Certifications/Memberships: NSCA Certified Personal Trainer, NSCA Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist, IKFF Kettlebell Instructor
