It’s Time To Get Moving ‒ Focus On Functional Fitness

Written by: Jenn Trepeck, Guest Writer

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There are a million approaches to exercise. We all have yoga and pilates friends and bootcamp friends. When it comes to deciding what’s right for you, it can feel intimidating to try something new and yet that’s what’s required (a bunch of times) to experiment and find the thing you’ll actually enjoy doing. What’s more, following what you like may require a bit of defensive work to block out all the thoughts and influences of what workout is “best.” As a health coach I have some insights here and to answer further clients' and podcast listeners’ burning fitness questions, I turned to some of the industry’s leading experts. Here’s what we said:

Between all the workouts out there, how do we know what to do?

First, do whatever kind of movement you’ll actually do consistently. In thinking about the movements, functional training is highly recommended. Functional fitness is doing exercises look like movements you make in your daily life. This allows the muscle we build to help us live our lives and not hurt ourselves when we have to pick up a child or put a heavy jug of laundry detergent on a top shelf. The goal with activity is longevity and consistency, think about what you’re able to do regularly and build muscle (muscle dictates metabolism).

How does our mindset affect our fitness?

Mindset tremendously impacts workouts. First, during the workout itself, awareness and knowing what you’re feeling in your body goes a long way toward effective exercise, preventing injury and even getting the most impact with each movement. Mind to muscle, as they say. Being more mentally aware of what muscles you’re using, how you’re contracting your muscles, and how your body is moving to create that workout, can make everything so much more effective! More likely though, this question stems from motivation. You don’t need to push yourself to do something you hate with every fiber of your being. Find the songs or the approach to movement that jives with you. The most important thing is that you’re moving, moving daily and building muscle. Most often it’s not motivation that gets us off the couch to stop waiting for lightning to strike. What’s more effective is to schedule it daily, know what you’re going to do at that time and then just do it. Momentum is actually what creates the motivation to do it. Move every day until you want to move every day, then keep going.

How much should I do and what should I do?

It’s a HUGE misconception that it has to be “long enough” or “tough enough” to count. A few minutes here and there adds up! A 10-minute walk after each meal will work wonders for your blood sugar (and therefore your metabolic health). I also give my clients a 2-min workout called “30-30-30” which is 30 squats, 30 crunches, and 30 pushups. You can do any combination of three exercises and adjust it to a level that meets your strength. This is a great option for when you have two minutes before your next zoom. Having said this, do enough to fatigue the muscle and use your heart as a muscle (get it pumping…it’s our most important muscle). You can do this faster with greater resistance or gentler with less resistance and more time. Finally, do what you enjoy, whether that’s group fitness or alone, at home or at a gym/studio or even just dancing to your favorite song in your living room.

How important is stretching before your workout? Is this how you increase flexibility?

The “old school” thought behind stretching is that you have to stretch before doing anything. However, stretching cold muscles can cause strain or injury. Pre-workout, rather than a stretch, think about warming up with dynamic movement. Ease into your activity, get the blood flowing. Swinging your arms and lifting your knees, or bending the knee bringing your heel to your glutes or even walking is a great warm up. After your workout, is your better time to stretch. This is your cool down. It slowly brings your heart rate back to its resting pace and now that your muscles are warm, you can gently stretch them. Be careful not to push too hard and you can use stretching guides from a trainer, a stretching studio or even a YouTube video to give you ideas. Flexibility can be improved, over time, with regular stretching. Remember though, much of flexibility is also about skeletal, structural differences between people and this, we can’t change.

Is walking enough? What’s the magic of 10k steps?

Never underestimate the tremendous impact of a simple walk! No need for the ankle or wrist weights, you’re likely just adding undue stress to your joints. Walking can operate as a moderate exercise that helps you get closer to your target movement amount and heart rate. To build it into your day, find a couple of 10-minute blocks (we recommend right after eating to support postprandial glucose). Walking impacts the body from a cellular level. We’ve heard sitting is the new smoking. I often say it’s not human to sit as many hours as we do each day. It’s also not human to sit all day and go berserk for one hour. The human body was designed to move and that movement is walking! There is some evidence that 10k steps is a threshold to see health benefits but that doesn’t mean that less than 10k steps is bad or not work it and it doesn’t mean that more isn’t helpful. You can use it as a benchmark for yourself, day-to-day, but don’t get stuck on it.

Will I get bulky lifting heavy weights?

A lot of women are nervous using heavy weights for fear of looking “bulky.” This is simply not the case; women don’t have enough testosterone to create the body-builder look. Heavy weights allow us to build muscle faster as it’s greater resistance. You can certainly use your own body as resistance too.

If I’m ready to level up, how do I do it?

You can level up in a variety of ways: increase resistance, increase speed, increase time under tension. The caveat to all of this is form before power. Having proper form promotes an awareness of our muscles while we exercise. This is essential to learn before going into power training because an injury is bound to happen if you don’t have the proper form when you go to increase intensity.

I hope these tips and insights offer you the guidance to confidently focus on your physical fitness. This is certainly not an exhaustive list of every topic or every consideration yet it’s absolutely plenty to put in your back pocket and get moving or level up. So, I have to ask, what will you do to “move your mass” today?

For more info follow me on Facebook. Instagram, YouTube, Tiktok, Twitter LinkedIn and visit my website!

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Jenn Trepeck, Brainz Magazine Guest Writer

Jenn Trepeck is described as a “force of nature" in the wellness space, has been recognized as one of Podcast Magazine’s 40 under 40, and was nominated for the 2022 International Women’s Podcast Award for Visionary Leadership. She is an Optimal Health Coach, Podcaster and Business Consultant. After graduating from the University of Michigan Ross School of Business, Jenn launched her health coaching practice on the side, while working full time in hedge funds. After over a decade of coaching clients, Jenn started Salad with a Side of Fries Podcast to help pay it forward and reach a larger audience to teach the nutrition education we are all supposed to know but no one ever taught us. Jenn implements revenue-generating wellness programs in doctors' offices, salons and spas to further expand the impact and help change the state of healthcare as a Certified Transitions Lifestyle Coach and Consultant with nutraMetrix Custom Health Solutions. Jenn is typically working out at Physique57, discovering hidden gem restaurants in NYC or traveling to spend time with friends and family.