Confessions of a Fitness Trainer
Fitness centres spend thousands and thousands of dollars to equip their spaces with an assortment of machines and tools for their members to use. The pandemic created high demand for training tools to be purchased for at-home use. In fact, there was such a shortage of dumbbells last year that opportunists began selling their used ones on-line for up to 10 times their original retail price.
While dumbbells, machines, medicine balls, and other functional training tools can all be very useful to add variety and intensity to your workouts, they are simply tools and not the most vital pieces of equipment.
The most important piece of equipment costs nothing to acquire and is already in your possession – it’s you. The human body is the most amazing and intricate piece of machinery ever created. By moving your body in different ways, at different speeds, from different positions, and in different movement sequences, you can improve any facet of your physical fitness.
For example, to improve your cardiovascular fitness: walk, run, hop, jump, or do any variety of movements that elevate your heart rate.
In order to become more flexible and mobile, try performing a variety of static stretches (the ones that you hold), dynamic stretches (the kind of stretch you move through), or yoga.
Balance can also be enhanced simply by maintaining stability in a variety of body positions. Test out the difference in stability you feel when standing with your feet wide apart compared to having your feet glued together. If that seems simple, try brushing your teeth while standing on one leg.
Furthermore, there are also hundreds of exercises you can do to also increase your muscular endurance (imagine doing 100 pushups) and muscular strength (imagine doing just a few 1-arm pushups).
If you are lucky enough to have access to a gym or possess fitness equipment, by all means, continue to use those tools. They can keep things interesting. Just remember that if you don’t have any equipment at your disposal for your next workout, all you need is you.
Tips of the day
- These are just general suggestions – please seek advice for your individual needs from a certified fitness professional.
- If you have equipment available to you – great! These tools can be fun to use and very effective when used correctly.
- Keep it fun…remember, it shouldn’t always feel like a chore to exercise. Find a type of movement that you enjoy.
Kathryn McKenzie – B.H.Kin, B.Ed / Certified Kinesiologist, Sport Conditioning Specialist & Personal Trainer & Author, Speaker & Owner of Surefire Fitness Phone: 204-802-3131
