Hi Friend,
Happy last week of January to you! Does the speed of time still blow your mind or have you accepted it and moved on?
Sprint into Spring!
We've got 52 days until spring gets here.
You may be looking forward to it and planning for it.
You may be living in the moment and taking each day 1 at a time.
You may be doing both.
Either way, spring brings new opportunities and easier opportunities to socially move outdoors. That's fun and certainly something worth looking forward to. I know I am.
Did you know though, that the old saying and habit of "running to get in shape" has been updated and the modern way coaches say it is "to get in shape to run". Too many people get hurt each year because their bodies aren't ready to handle the stress of the pounding from each step. Or hearts & lungs aren't ready to handle the cardiovascular and respiratory demands. Muscles and bones have difficulty managing the strain from loading & impact. Stabilizers aren't conditioned enough to handle the postural endurance demands. All of these contribute to fatigue, strain and recovery issues that pre-dispose the runner or motivated mover to overuse and conditioning injuries that are easily prevented.
I remember when I was an Athletic Trainer for Chicopee High School. It was preseason for spring sports and I had nearly the entire track & field and softball teams lined up out the door, with injuries needing to be assessed and treated. It was really overwhelming. I arrived an hour early each day to treat injuries before going out to the fields. It was mathematically impossible to see everyone and cover the teams. It caused a lot of stress and ultimately contributed to me leaning more on my Strength & Conditioning credential than my Athletic Training one.
Injury Prevention or now the modern way of saying it, injury risk reduction, was more easily addressed if my athletes and clients were in shape, before they participated in their coming sports seasons, than using the season to get in shape.
What better time than now to focus on addressing nagging injuries, aches and pains. Building up your strength, endurance, power & stability so you're ready for whatever fun activities you want to do this spring and there are sooo many.
running
cycling
canoeing
kayaking
hiking
pickleball
baseball
softball
tennis
golf
roller blading
skate boarding
lacrosse
outdoor soccer
grass volleyball
obstacle course racing
Do you have any of the following coming up:
Did something weighing / slowing you down finally come to pass and you're ready to re-focus and recommit to yourself?
Change is a great opportunity for you to place you back at the top of priorities and build your active lifestyle into your lifestyle.
My clients use me for many things:
private training
program design
group personal training
cardio workouts
injury / nagging aches rehab & programming
travel workouts
personalized warm ups for specific sports
milestone birthday prep
wedding prep
retirement prep
reunion prep
accountability
structure
coaching & encouragement
support
the go to Ace up their sleeve when there's a problem
the cheerleader to share their successes
the co-strategizer to help solve a problem
When it comes to sprinting into spring and getting in shape to run you probably already know what to do, but life sometimes blocks you from thinking fully about what and/or how you're going to do it, or when & where. Outsourcing the thinking might let you be your best, so you can focus on showing up and doing and let someone else do the work of thinking.
You might consider outsourcing to get:
weekly appointments
accountability
a plan
a schedule
structure
a routine
a program
strength training to build muscle and get stronger
endurance training to improve conditioning
mobility & stability to optimize movements
flexibility to recover and manage aches
speed & power training to be faster and more explosive
an assessment to see where you currently are
a nutrition plan to optimize your health, body composition and performance
a cardio plan so you know what to do, when, where, how often and why
a strategy session to come up with a goal and steps to achieve it
a corrective exercise routine to address common, nagging aches
a coach for support (both encouragement and butt kicking)
a team to share workouts, life and experiences with
Life moves faster every year for all of us, except for those times in which it goes too slow.
Having something to look forward to and prepare for gives you energy for living in the moment and making the most of today so you don't miss it and take it for granted.
We can probably agree on most of these statements.
There are 52 days until spring. It's a great time to get in shape to run (or be active outdoors). I'm here to support you when you're ready.
Coach Mike
p.s. whether it's now or later, though I prefer Mike & Ike's (wink), here are 3 ways I can help you when you're ready!
1. Private Training. If you prefer focused attention, a tailored routine, weekly time slots and all the benefits of having your own private coach, then this is for you. When you're ready, reply with "Private Training" in the subject line and let me know how I can help.
2. Program Design. Architects provide the blueprints for the builders. Program design is the blueprint for you to follow while you DIY your workouts when you train on your own. This could be a 2, 3 or 4 day program of total body or split routines, plus cardio workouts to do on your other days and recovery workouts to do in between. It could also be a custom warm up for a sport, a specific workout to target a goal or a custom corrective cardio (C3) workout that lets you get cardio minutes while addressing an imbalance, nagging injury or aesthetic goal you might have. If this interests you, when you're ready, reply with "Program Design" in the subject line and let me know how I can help.
3. Group Personal Training. Want a coach, but not all of the attention. Want to train with like minded buddies. Want to train before work, after drop off or after work. Want a nutrition & cardio plan. Want and need structure and accountability. Want a recurring appointment on your calendar and a program to follow, so you don't have to think and can just do. If this interests you, when you're ready, reply with "GPT" in the subject line and let me know how I can help. If you're ready now, a new phase of Change Your Body Boot Camps started today. Come join us and start "getting in shape to run"!
