FC TRAINING PHILOSOPHY

Using Body Weight Exercises

One of the most versatile and healthy ways for you to exercise is often the one that is overlooked most often. It is the power of your own body and using your own body weight in order to give you resistance to get stronger, leaner and healthier than you had ever imagined possible. Strength training is certainly one of the best ways for you to add real muscle to your body but by using your own body weight as resistance, you will not be overtraining in the process.

You can also use bodyweight training for weight loss. Not only is it one of the most convenient types of exercises that you can do, it is a very versatile way of training as well. You can modify your body weight training program to give you both aerobic and anaerobic benefits at the same time. These are two of the key elements in any good weight loss program with exercise at its core.

Learning a few of the basic exercises and begin doing them on a regular basis. Within just a few days, you will begin to notice some of the benefits that this type of exercise has to offer.

Utilizing Functional Movements

Functional movements are patterns of movement that are key to normal everyday function. Things like bending and lifting, lifting and twisting or reaching and stepping are basically a series of movements in a chain that are linked together. We identify the chain of movements for you and make you aware of them (body awareness). Then we strengthen the weak links in the chain. In this way we restore mechanically sound movement patterns to increase your overall strength and reduce the potential for injuries.

Benefits of utilizing functional movements:

Breathing is Paramount

If you cannot control your breathing, life will not fair well for you. When you consider how many bodily functions are regulated though breathing one can never emphasize its importance enough. It keeps the mind calm and focused, regulates core body temperature and supplies much needed oxygen to the body.

Breathing begins by inhaling through the nose and exhaling through the mouth. Here are a few simple examples of how this is applied: when walking or running, take a step and inhale through your nose, then take a second step and exhale through your mouth. You can keep repeating this cycle or increase to 10/20/30 steps inhaling and 10/20/30 steps exhaling. The number is not that important, the focus is on connecting the breath and movement.

The same idea can also be applied to exercises like push-ups, squats or leg raises. For downward movements you inhale; upward movements you exhale or vise-versa. Once again, you can keep this cycle or increase it. I have seen students that can complete 20 push-ups inhaling and 20 exhaling with less than one year of training. The concept is to be aware and in control of your breathing, no matter what you doing. The ultimate application comes when breathing is incorporated with the exercises and movements in a fitness context.

Another important component to breathing is the rate of breath. Your body takes many cues from your breathing rate. If breathing speeds up the body becomes more alert, while a slow breathing rate makes you calm. As a situation changes so must your breathing if you're interested in getting the most out of your abilities.

It is like an engine of a car, if you want the most out of the engine you must be in the right gear. However, the right gear changes as the road or situation does. Similarly a situation (road) will dictate the proper breathing (gear) rate. Your training must be diverse enough to allow this to happen. The reality is that a common day for most people may involve many different breathing rates. No one is right or wrong, until you know the situation.

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