Holla! Empowered Humans,
Welcome to Weekly Pump #30! I can’t believe I’ve hit 30 newsletters already! I hope you’re finding these insights valuable and helpful in your health and wellness journey. As always, I’d love to hear from you—what’s resonating, what you want to learn more about, and how I can continue to support you. Feel free to reach out and share your thoughts!
Now, let’s dive into something I hear a lot of questions about: the difference between endurance activities (like hiking, running, biking, skiing, skateboarding) and strength training, and why both are essential for a well-rounded fitness routine.
Endurance activities like running, hiking, biking, and snowboarding challenge your cardiovascular system and improve stamina. These are fantastic for heart health, improving lung capacity, creating adaptation in your bodies’ anaerobic energy systems, and utilizing energy. They’re also mentally refreshing—there’s nothing like a good hike or a long bike ride to clear your mind!
However, while endurance work builds stamina and improves aerobic fitness, it doesn’t address all of your body’s needs—particularly when it comes to strength, muscle mass, and bone density. That’s where strength training comes into play.
Strength training builds muscle through resistance—whether you’re lifting weights, using resistance bands, or doing bodyweight exercises like squats and push-ups. It’s crucial for:
- Injury Prevention: Strong muscles support your joints and bones, reducing the risk of injury.
- Bone Density: As we age, maintaining bone density becomes critical to prevent osteoporosis. Strength training, especially with added weight, helps keep bones strong.
- Muscle Mass: Our muscle mass naturally declines with age, but strength training helps preserve and build muscle, boosting metabolism and keeping you feeling strong.
Let’s not forget balance training—it’s the often overlooked element of fitness that becomes essential for both the longevity of your sport and everyday life. Balance training enhances coordination, improves proprioception (your body’s awareness of its position in space), and helps prevent falls and injuries.
As we age, our balance naturally declines, which can impact our ability to perform both in sports and daily activities. Incorporating balance work into your routine—such as single-leg exercises, stability ball movements, or even yoga—can help you stay agile, strong, and reduce the risk of injuries, making it easier to continue enjoying the activities you love for years to come. Plus, better balance and stability translate to enhanced performance in endurance sports like skiing and mountain biking, where agility is key!
Bodyweight exercises are fantastic, if you know me, you know they are some of my favorite moves, especially for those newer to training, but relying on them alone can limit your growth over time. Why?
- Limited Load: Your bodyweight is a fixed load. As your body adapts, it becomes harder to continue building strength. Without additional resistance, your muscles won’t be fully challenged, and progress can plateau.
- Lack of Rep Variety: Bodyweight exercises often fall into high-rep endurance categories. To truly build strength and muscle mass, you need a variety of rep ranges—from low reps with heavy weights to high reps with lighter loads.
If you love bodyweight exercises, you can scale them up by incorporating dynamic movements and unilateral exercises. This keeps your workouts challenging and effective.
- Dynamic Movements: Plyometrics, explosive movements, and incorporating speed add intensity. Think jump squats, plyometric push-ups, or box jumps.
- Unilateral Movements: Single-leg or single-arm exercises like lunges or single-leg squats build balance, stability, and strength, and help correct muscle imbalances.
To truly optimize your fitness, you need to incorporate a full spectrum of rep ranges and load:
- Low Reps, High Load: Builds raw strength and power (think 3-5 reps with heavy weight).
- Moderate Reps, Moderate Load: Ideal for building muscle mass (8-12 reps with moderate weight).
- High Reps, Light Load: Great for endurance (15-20+ reps), but should be balanced with heavier work for full development.
As we get older, preserving muscle mass and bone density becomes crucial. Strength training is one of the best ways to prevent age-related muscle loss, improve bone health, and maintain balance and coordination. It helps ensure you stay strong, mobile, and independent as you age. And it will keep you doing your favorite sports and activities well, longer!
So, if you’ve been focused primarily on endurance or bodyweight-only exercises, it’s time to add some variety and load! By incorporating both endurance activities and strength training, you’ll create a balanced routine that promotes long-term strength, health, and injury prevention.
Need help finding the right balance? I’m here to help you design a well-rounded program that supports your goals and fits your lifestyle. Whether you want to train with me in the gym or remotely, we can work together long-term, or I can design a program for you and offer occasional accountability check-ins. I can cater to your needs, schedule, and budget to make sure you’re set up for success!
Thanks for joining me on this journey, and here’s to 30 newsletters and counting!
Until next time,
Coach Christine
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