June 9, 2024
"If You Can’t Fly, Then Run…"
June 9, 2024
There’s more to a healthy lifestyle than hitting the gym—though we highly recommend that part. Good food, hard workouts, and strong mental health all build upon each other and help make each healthy choice easier than the last. A healthy life isn’t created by a single decision, it’s built by each choice you make. So, as your fitness community, we’re here to give you the information you need to make each healthy choice and create the lifestyle you deserve.
Eating right and knowing what you’re filling up your tank with will help fuel your workouts and keep you burning healthy calories long past when that last drop of sweat falls.
Quiz/Poll:
Which would you choose?
To make an effective workout, you need to think beyond how many sets or how far to run. The food you put in your body, especially immediately before or after a workout, can make all the difference. Before a run or intense workout, you want to have a snack high in carbs, like a banana, oats, or bread. These carbs will give your muscles the energy and endurance you need to go the distance! However, different goals might call for different pre-workout snacks. If you’re trying to build muscle, a pre-workout protein burst from something like egg whites, grilled chicken, or a simple protein shake itself can help repair and build your muscles while you exercise.
Regrowth:
You don’t have to have a green thumb to turn your kitchen into a mini-garden. Some food scraps, like these green onions, can be regrown by simply placing them in a jar of water—they’ll do the rest! Celery, lettuce, cabbage, and herbs like mint, basil and cilantro can all be regrown by placing them in a cup or bowl of water with adequate sunlight, before transferring them into soil once they have grown strong enough. If you’re channeling your inner gardener and want to step it up a notch, try burying your onion and potato scraps in soil. These projects will take closer to a couple of months, but once you get to the other side, the world of in-home gardening will be your oyster.
Kimchi:
For those who haven’t yet tried Kimchi, we’ll give you the run-down. A widely popular Korean dish, Kimchi’s main vegetable can vary from radishes and other roots, though the most common version uses cabbage. Kimchi is known for its spice and flavor, but might not be as well known for its health benefits. The cabbage alone is packed with an array of nutrients, but added benefits begin to stack up as healthy bacteria, like probiotics, are able to flourish through the fermentation process that Kimchi undergoes. And if the spice is what scares you, just remember that red hot pepper powder is packed with plenty of powerful nutrients to boost anything from your digestive tract to your immune system. Sounds like something that might be worth giving a taste?
Say hello to month 2 of our #FCFitCircuit, where we challenged you to follow along each week while we built a circuit workout exercise by exercise! We just hate leaving anyone out, so this month, we hit a little bit of everything!
Our circuit this month started off with 30 seconds of Speed Skaters to get your heart pumping. Now to really get the most out of this, you’re going to have to push yourself to stay low, step wide, and keep your core tight. For an extra push, you can add a hop from one leg to the next and try to pause on each leg for a moment, working your balance and core stability.
For Round 2 we’re hitting that upper body with 12 Push-Up To Rows (6 each side). This exercise works on your upper back and chest, so it’s crucial to keep your back flat, butt down and core engaged. If you’re not at full push-up mode yet, that’s okay! The same exercise can be done from knee push-ups, just remember to keep that back flat.
Round 3, we’re focusing on those shoulders. Depending on how you’re feeling after those push-ups, the 15 reps of Overhead Shoulder Press could be the extra push you need to break through to that I-feel-it stage of the workout—and that’s where we want to live! Once you’ve grabbed your dumbbells, put yourself in an athletic stance, keep your movements controlled, and, you guessed it, engage your core!
To round out this month’s circuit, we’re getting low with Goblet Squats. Position yourself in a relatively wide stance with your feet between shoulder and hip-width apart. Then, with your dumbbell in front of your chest, sink into the squat, making sure your back stays straight and your knees don’t pass farther than your toes. The dumbbell you’ll hold can also act as a counterweight, relieving pressure from your back and allowing you to focus on your squat technique.
Repeat this circuit 3 times through, giving yourself a minute break between each and you’ll have yourself a full-blown workout!
After you’ve worked your muscles this hard, they’ll try to push back if you let them. So, once you’ve finished up the circuit, don’t forget to stretch properly and drink plenty of water to avoid soreness and cramping. And for those who participated in this month’s circuit, don’t forget to tag us on IG and include #FCFitCircuit to show us how it’s done!
Last but not least, we want to showcase some inspiring members from this past month. With a long road ahead, it can be easy to lose motivation, but @julioalvarez.official and @jennamichell_7 remind us that each person’s fitness journey is just that—a journey. And though each of our paths may look a little different, when you remember that your fitness community is here to support you, nothing is insurmountable. Thanks again for staying positive, staying safe, and sticking to that grind!
If you can’t fly, then run. If you can’t run, then walk. If you can’t walk, then crawl, but by all means, keep moving.” -MLK Jr.
Closing:
Have any questions about safety concerns or a healthy eating regimen? Need some more workouts to try in the gym or at home? Visit us at Fitness Connection today and our staff of fitness experts will be glad to help on your fitness journey.
