Speaking from Experience- both as a professional and as an almost 50 year old!

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This isn’t going to be my most popular post, but I feel the need to write it.  The fitness industry has gone a little haywire and we are doing a great disservice to many people.  In the 80s it was body builders (artificially enhanced) leading us to believe that we could have biceps the size of bowling balls.  Then we had the High-Impact Step classes of the early 90s leading to many 50-60 year old former group fitness instructors to have knee and hip replacements.   Today the focus has become high intensity and competition during exercise- every workout has to be all out or the perception is that their is little benefit.  We put your heart rate and work level up on a board (we don’t do this at NF) for everyone to see shaming you into pushing yourself harder than maybe you should (or want to).  If you win you feel great about your effort, but what happens if you lose?  Also- you probably couldn’t win anyway if you are of smaller stature with less body weight than someone else in the class.  Why does our industry always gravitate toward “more is better”.  More might make you feel accomplished on that given day, but what is happening to your joints, including the discs in your spine.  Please keep in mind that you only have one body and it has to last you your entire life.
Here is a suggestion– include your metabolic classes 2-3x week, strength train with heavier weights 2=3x week and don’t forget to include recovery- which might be a yoga or Pilates class that is focused on corrective exercise. 2-2-2 is a great plan- strength train 2x/week, metabolic training or interval cardio 2x/week and do a corrective minded class 2x/week.  And for goodness sake- take a day to recover.  Your results will be better!!  And don’t get me wrong, we love metabolic training, but it was never intended to be done 5-6 times week.
With the New Year many new exercisers are getting started- do yourself a favor, don’t jump into these large group, metabolic classes without getting with an expert first.  I’d suggest these three steps:  1. get a functional movement screen- this will allow a trained professional to see how you move.  2. then hire this professional personal trainer to design an exercise program based on your needs for you to do in preparation for training more metabolically (and with less supervision).  3. Complete an InBody Body Composition Assessment and meet with a Registered Dietitian to get your eating plan designed.  If you aren’t eating correctly, a lot of your training will be wasted anyway.
If we can help you on your fitness journey, please email daleh@nutriformance.com to schedule a complimentary fitness consultation.

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