Move Deliberately

Exercise carries with it a risk of injury. There are things all exercisers can do to reduce the risk. None of the things is more important than controlling posture while exercising. Learning and adhering to the right way to move is the best way to stay safe.

The same point can be made about moving through life. Pay attention when bending, reaching, and lifting. Pick things up carefully. Tighten the abs, contract the glutes, and squeeze the grip before lifting something. Even if the object seems light.

Thoughtless movement will get you hurt. Everyday tasks, like picking up groceries or moving furniture or lifting a small child, have strained many backs and knees.

Be smart — move deliberately, both in and outside of the gym.

Do The Best With What You Have

Photo from GeekPhilospher.com

Your workouts will be different because you will be different. There will be days when you feel rested, energetic, and upbeat. There will be days when every act feels harder than it should feel.

A workout will be really good when you feel really good. When you’re not feeling so good, you may not perform as well. Effort is what makes a workout good, not performance. Your best effort for that day — not some other day when you felt really great — is what matters most. If today you ran 10-minute miles, even though you are normally a 9.5-minute performer, then you had a good workout, if the best you had was 10-minute mile speed.

I’ve seen members look dejected after workouts; disappointed that the workout wasn’t as good as some other workout. That’s like an athlete feeling disappointing because he doesn’t equal his own record, each race!

There will only be sometimes when you have your absolute best stuff. But you will always be able to put out a good effort.

Run!

Don’t forget about the Training Station’s Saturday Morning Drills tomorrow morning at 8:00 am at the Piazza! Come out and complete an aerobic run and some sprint drills with a group of ALL LEVELS.  The Drills are free for Training Station members. Non-member fee is $10 which includes all day access to The Training Station.

Bench Press Clinic

Want to learn how to bench press, or get some tips on how to press with better form? Drop by the Training Station this Saturday, May 8th, at 9:00 am for our Bench Press Clinic. Phil will explain and demonstrate how to bench press and will critique each attendees’ form.

Clinics are $10 per person.  Members and non-members are welcome!

The Momentum of Good Decisions

There’s a very funny guy that I’ve known for about two years. He’s a foot shorter and is 20+ pounds heavier than me. His distinguishing physical attribute is a beer belly.

He joined The Training Station and immediately started working out with me. I focus on his aerobic and strength training, not his diet. But his diet has changed for the better.

He is riding the momentum of good decisions. His first good decision was to exercise regularly. That decision gave him the incentive to eat right — because he didn’t want a poor diet to undo all of his hard work in the gym.

Good decisions create momentum that leads to other good decisions. Bad decisions are like an inertia that is difficult to overcome. Riding the momentum of good decisions is better than overcoming the inertia of bad ones.

You Can’t Weightlift-off Body Fat

If you need to lose fat, then you need to do a lot of aerobic exercise.

Strength exercise is important, no doubt. But strength training is not a good fat burning method. Weightlifting muscles tend to use carbohydrates and proteins — and fats to a lesser extent — for energy. Aerobically exercising muscles tend to primarily use fats for energy.

If your aim is to lose body fat, then you should do weekly at least 150 minutes of aerobic exercise.

Get Stretched

Manual stretching is one of the best ways to speed up the recovery from strenuous exercise. If you ran down Broad Street today, you’ll want to completely and quickly recover. Let us apply Deep Muscle Stimulation and stretch each of your muscle groups. You will feel good in your skin.

Saturday Morning Drills

Join us tomorrow, Saturday, May 1, for Philly’s best running workout. The workout starts at 8AM and ends at 9AM. Meet on the Piazza. Members run for free. Everybody else can run for $10, which also buys a day pass to The Training Station.

You’ll drill, run, and sprint until there’s no more oxygen! Be fast.

New Additions to The Lists

The Training Station has new members added to The Training Station Lists!  We congratulate the following:

300 MINUTE LIST
These members have completed 300 minutes of cardio in 7 consecutive days.

Andrea Wilczynski
Candace Karch
Michelle Graser
Iris Laboy (2)
Wanda Rodriguez (2)

150 MINUTE LIST
These members have completed 150 minutes of cardio in 7 consecutive days.

Andrea Wilczynski
Chris Morrell
Kim Pelle (2)
Marybeth Acevedo
Michelle Graser

STRENGTH TRAINING LIST
These members have completed 2 sessions minimum of total body strength training in one week.

Gene Peir (2)
Iris Laboy (2)
Kelli Wagner (2)
Kim Pelle
Tamlyn Burhoe
Wanda Rodriguez (2)

CARDIO MAX LIST
These members have maxed out one of our cardio machines at full speed and/or level for atleast 1 minute:

Eric Belsinger (Bike)
Josh Phillips (Octane elliptical & Arc Trainer)

15 MPH LIST
These members have run for at least 10 seconds at 15 mph on a treadmill

Adam Joseph (20 sec)
Aerik Williams (35 sec)
Chris Morrell (20 sec)

Water Rower Clinic

Did you know The Training Station is the only gym in Philadelphia that has a Water Rower that rows water instead of a fan? Rowing provides a low-impact yet intense cardiovascular workout while exercising major muscle groups in a single stretch.

Stop by the training station this week and attend one of our Water Rower Clinics!  Phil Clark will demonstrate how to row with power, efficiency, and proper form to maximize your cardio while strengthening your core, back, and legs.

Clinics are held every Tuesday (7:30 pm), Thursday (12:00 pm), and Saturday (9:00 am).  The cost is $10 per person.  Drop-ins are welcome!