Between Strength Training

Strength training is a key component in achieving any fitness goal! It's crucial to our health and fitness because it helps make our bones and joints strong, helps us develop muscle which burns more calories at rest than fat, and helps us to have more endurance/stamina when participating in daily activities; the list goes on! However, too much of anything can be hazardous to our health! We shouldn't lift weights or do resistance training for the same muscle groups on consecutive days, as we need the rest to allow our muscles to repair and build up stronger! So, what do we do on our "off" days?

In between days where you use weights or any other type of resistance training, you should stick to cardiovascular exercise like biking, jogging, swimming, walking, or even dancing! These types of activities will allow your muscles to repair from the strength training you did the day before, while still letting you burn some calories and keep active! Unless you're training for a specific type of event or race, there's no reason why you would need to spend more than 30 minutes doing this type of exercise (not including warm-up/cool-down). You're better off to go harder than longer as it's more time effective and you'll burn the same amount of calories.

One of my favorite cardio drills is to walk for 1 minute, jog at a moderate pace for 2 minutes, and then go all out for 1 minute! Intervals are a great way to burn lots of calories and increase the strength of your heart and lungs. If you're brand-new to exercise, you can repeat the intervals 4x and add 1 interval each week to a max of 8-10 intervals. Make sure you do a proper 5 minute warm-up and cool-down, and stretch!! The warm-up and cool-down/stretch are just as important as the cardio work itself, so don't leave it out!

The weather outside is getting nicer each week, so start getting out to enjoy it while working your way to a healthier body and mind!

I offer cardio classes on Saturdays at Peakes for only $5! Email me if you'd like to be on the mailing list for the class :) embodybia@gmail.com

Happy Mother's Day to all you moms and enjoy the rest of your weekend!