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I can’t say it enough: You need a goal. The more specific your goal, the more likely you are to be successful. Read more about setting a S.M.A.R.T. goal here. Your goal will be either health, fitness, or performance based.

Training for Performance:

You have performance-based goals if you are training for a sport or an event, like a marathon, an obstacle course race, or weightlifting meet. You are an athlete and you probably have a coach (in-person or on-line). Your training, nutrition, and recovery support your performance goals. You make sacrifices for the sake of your training and the sport you love.

If you are like most of the population, you are not a competitive athlete. You are training for health and fitness. You are the reason I do what I do: I’m here to help you getting healthier and fitter. The good news is, you don’t need to train for a marathon or miss out on life to be healthy.

Training for Health:

For adults, The American College of Sports Medicine (ASCM) recommends:

• Strength training 2-3 days each week with 2-4 sets of 8-12 repetitions per exercise (10-15 repetitions for middle-aged adults).

• Cardiorespiratory training at least 150 minutes each week (30-60 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise over 5 days or 20-60 minutes of vigorous-intensity exercise over 3 days).

• Flexibility exercises at least 2 or 3 days per week.

• Neuromotor exercises or functional fitness 2-3 days per week, 20-30. Exercises should involve motor skills (balance, agility, coordination and gait), proprioceptive exercise training and multifaceted activities (tai chi and yoga) to improve physical function and prevent falls in older adults.

You can be healthy with 2-3 days of basic strength training, a brisk 30-minute walk serval times each week or a few Zumba or Cycle classes, and 2-3 yoga classes each week.

Do you like more of a challenge? Want to see some muscle definition? Enjoy picking up heavy weights? Motivated by a bit friendly competition with your workout buddies? Being healthy is important to you, and you are also training to be fit.

Training for Fitness:

You enjoy seeing your squat numbers go up, but you’re not willing to miss your kid’s recital for leg day. You want to look good, but not if it means never eating pizza again. You stick to your training routine and make progress, but you don’t feel guilty taking a rest day or a vacation. Your training, nutrition, and recovery support not only your training at the gym, but more importantly, your real life beyond the gym walls.

What are you training for? What’s important to you? Answer these questions to reach your goals faster!

Alicia Cross is a Certified Personal Trainer, Wellness Coach, and Yoga Instructor with more than 15 years’ experience working with clients in classes and one-on-one.  She is a yogi, meditator, vegan, and lifter of heavy things. If you’re ready to discover the strength and peace that comes from within, email Alicia@AliciaCrossTraining.com

Related Posts:

What is Fitness?

Goals or Resolutions?

The 5 Biggest Mistakes You’re Making at the Gym

Strength is defined as the ability of the neuromuscular system to produce internal tension to overcome an external force OR the amount of force a muscle can exert against an external load. That external load can come from gravity (think good posture and planks), weights, or bands. Bands are big part of my own training and clients’ programing.  I use:

• Thera bands
• Mini Bands
• Monster bands

Here are 10 reasons why I love bands:

1. Bands are great for exercise and stretching (like a yoga strap or assisted stretches).

2. Bands are light weight and easy to carry in your gym bag or in luggage on travel.

3. Bands are inexpensive. You’ll spend hundreds of dollars amassing a complete set of weights.

4. Bands provide progressive resistance. You can make exercises more challenging by taking up the slack, doubling up the band, or using a thicker band.

5. Studies have shown bands are just as effective as free weights at increasing strength and reducing body fat.

6. Exercises with the band anchored externally require more core stability compared to weighted exercises and machines.

7. Bands require more eccentric work (resisting the band snapping back) which joints love. Connective tissue needs more attention as we age. Starting around age 40, overuse injuries like tendonitis occur because the tendons do not adapt or heal as quickly as they did in our 20’s. Older adults need to keep this in mind when starting something new.

8. Bands don’t rely on gravity as free weights do. For example, to perform a chest press with dumbbells, you have to lie down. Performing a standing chest press with weights, is not the most effective way to work the muscles of your chest. You can remain standing for a banded chest press if you anchor the band behind you. This standing movement is more similar to a movement you would make in real life (i.e. functional) and core stabilizers will be recruited more in standing.

9. Unlike free weights, bands provide non-linear resistance. The more the band stretches, the more resistance it provides (more range of motion, more resistance, more muscle fibers recruited). It’s the opposite with many free weight and body weight exercise: They are easier at the top (for example, bicep curls, squats, deadlifts, pushups).

10. You can’t use momentum and cheat with bands.

Ready to gain the benefits from band training in your routine? Email me for programing or to sign up for the next Semi-Private Training session!

Alicia Cross is a Certified Personal Trainer, Wellness Coach, and Yoga Instructor with more than 15 years’ experience working with clients in classes and one-on-one.  She is a yogi, meditator, vegan, and lifter of heavy things. If you’re ready to discover the strength and peace that comes from within, email Alicia@AliciaCrossTraining.com.

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Full Body Static Stretch Video

The 5 Biggest Mistakes You’re Making at the Gym

The most important thing to know is that it is never too late to begin a fitness routine. If you haven’t been exercising and taking care of yourself, start now.  Be sure to talk to your doctor first and start slow.

Exercise is the fountain of youth.

Researchers have found that people who maintain their leg strength have less age-related cognitive decline and have better mortality rates. Adults over 65 can delay the loss of independence by as much as 10-12 years with progressive aerobic training (i.e. cardio). And people with a slower gait speed are more likely to die than their faster walking counterparts.

For some, a fall can be a death sentence.

20% of older adults who break a hip (95% of which happen as a result of a fall) die within 1 year. 1 in 3 women and 1 in 12 men will experience a hip fracture. Falls cause more than 32,000 deaths each year in the US (more than 4 times the number caused by drowning and fires combined). 41% of falls are caused by incorrect weight shifting, excessive sway during standing, or missteps during walking, not due to slips and trips.  Exercise has been shown to reduce the incidence of falls by up to 40%.

What kills the body also kills the brain.

2/3 of people over 65 are overweight. Obesity doubles the risk of dementia and increases the risk of depression and diabetes. Diabetes triples the risk of heart disease, which increases the risk of Alzheimer’s. Only 40% of Alzheimer’s patients have the gene for it. The majority of people with this disease are not genetically predisposed for it. This means environment and lifestyle are bigger predictors than genes. Heart disease kills 600,000 people per year (that’s 1 in 4 deaths). Risk factors for heart disease are: high blood pressure, high cholesterol, smoking, diabetes, overweight and obesity, poor diet, physical inactivity, excessive alcohol use. These are all preventable and manageable with exercise, diet, and lifestyle.

Exercise to the rescue.

Active adults over 65 are 50% less likely to suffer from dementia. Exercise slows amyloid plaque build-up and prevents inflammation, both associated with Alzheimer’s. Exercising a little as twice per week reduces risk of dementia by 50%. And exercise effectively treats Parkinson’s by increasing dopamine.

For you in your 60’s and beyond, exercise and a healthy lifestyle are vitally important. It’s never been an option, but now the stakes are really high. We’re talking life or death, independence or assisted living, staying involved or missing out. Maintaining your fitness, your strength, and your cardiorespiratory endurance, will help you to live a long, happy, fulfilling, independent life.

Alicia Cross is a Certified Personal Trainer, Wellness Coach, and Yoga Instructor with more than 15 years’ experience working with clients in classes and one-on-one.  She is a yogi, meditator, vegan, and lifter of heavy things. If you’re ready to discover the strength and peace that comes from within, email Alicia@AliciaCrossTraining.com.