Author: Brenda Steward

How Many Times a Week?

Posted on by Brenda Steward

You can strength train up to 5 or 6, but let’s face it we wanted to know the minimum, right?

Strength training should be done a minimum of two times per week.  Yes, you will see results.

Training twice a week you should be focused more on full-body workouts.

Doing 5 or more workouts a week, the workouts are most likely broken into lower and upper body workouts.

Never underestimate recovery.  Full-body workouts should occur every other day allowing the body to rest.  If doing split routines, you are resting the upper body on days you work lower body.

Recovery days are not couch days.  Practice Active Recovery  – which means find something active you enjoy and do it!  Take a nice walk, ride a bike, go for a swim, or maybe some yoga.

As we age recovery may take a little longer, so don’t go gung ho in the beginning.  Stick with a consistent routine and build up to those longer or more frequent workouts.  

Remember muscles aren’t built in the gym, they are built during recovery.

CREATE A MASTERPIECE

Posted on by Brenda Steward

I have been listening to a book on my walks called Creativity, Inc. Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration, by Amy Wallace and Edwin Catmull.   This book is about the birth of Pixar Studios and the unified culture they built.

I’m going to take a story from the book that hit home for me. Did you know Monsters, Inc. started out something like an accountant as the main character who had a box of fears he needed to deal with, which morphed into what we saw in theatres as a non-verbal toddler and a monster in the closet? I never dreamt it started from an idea like that, and I think we can all agree this movie was a masterpiece.

The author describes how many drafts of a movie are made before the final production.  He believes without failure there is no creativity. The author further explains, along the way the drafts are reviewed by outside key team members “brain trust”, who offer opinions on what they like, how they think the movie is flowing, and what sticking points they see. This team has no authority on “how” the problems are fixed, that is all on the director and his creativity; it is just something they noted in a constructive way from an outside viewpoint.

Why am I telling you all this? Because what I took away from this very small sampling in this book I applied to an individual instead of a company:

  1. Our lives are a series of drafts, that are ever changing and morphing. By the time we leave this world, we will have created a beautiful story!  It will be a masterpiece people talk about for years to come.
  2. We should all be lucky enough to have a team who offers some candor into our achievements AND what areas aren’t flowing, where those sticking points are; however, the ownership is on us, as the director, to make the changes.
  3. Don’t let the fear of living the perfect life hold you back, with failure comes growth and creativity.

So my parting thoughts are excitement builds from the drafts we create along the way and I want us to start creating a life we’ll be proud to show the whole world!

Building your foundation

Posted on by Brenda Steward

Foundation to your health starts with the basics both physically and nutritionally.  

Personal Training for strength and endurance, starts with a solid foundation.  We start with flexibility and stability movements. These movements may seem almost pointless if you’ve been working out, or consider yourself an active individual.  However, from what I have learned, not having a solid foundation, is when people end up with lower back pain, poor posture and bad knees. Bottom line increased flexibility and stabilization reduces injuries.

How many times do you skip stretching?  I know I have been guilty of this in the past.  By skipping this very important step, it creates an environment for muscles to tighten and cause an imbalance in the muscle joint relationships.   Stretching your over active muscles on a regular basis, for a duration of 30 seconds can work toward improving these imbalances, reducing the chance of injury.  It is important each stretch should be held for 20 – 30 seconds, in order to allow the body to recognize the need to release the muscle spindles and giving you the full benefit of the stretch.  

The next step in your physical training is stabilization.  You may not believe this but, these movements can be as challenging even to the most active athletes as they are to someone beginning their fitness journey.   This training will focus on improving your core and balance. We may begin training by simply standing while performing weighted exercises. Standing in a neutral position and maintaining stability while lifting weights is a simple way to strengthen your core and balance, for more advanced clients we can move to standing on one leg while lifting weights, or even moving to a balance board.  Try standing on one leg in a safe area- are you stable? Then try closing your eyes, I bet you feel the difference in your stability. Just by adjusting a few variables this training can be challenging and beneficial to even the most advanced athlete and should be part of your regular training program.

The same concept is applied to nutrition, without a strong foundation your body does not  process normal every day function to the best of its abilities.