“The great thing in the world is not so much where we stand, as in what direction we are moving.” - Oliver Wendell Holmes

Move: an action that initiates or advances a process or plan, change of place, position, or state

Movement is life.

Movement is what enables your body to operate in time and space and engage with the world around you.

Movement gets blood pumping and oxygen flowing throughout the body to activate your organs, muscles, and tissues. It stimulates your brain, heart, and lungs to activate and mobilize your body to perform physical tasks.

Your body is designed to move. There are universal ways that movement is produced and improved; by performing fundamental patterns and locomotion.

Movement is a skill that can be practiced. There are principles that promote enhanced qualities of movement – stability, coordination, balance, strength, power, endurance.

Training is a focused way of practicing movements that lead to desired performance outcomes.

Training and Adaptation

Fitness training is fundamentally about placing new demands on the body that ask it to adapt and grow.

In very simple terms, challenge leads to growth.

Challenges bring out the best in you; they force you to grow and adapt. Challenge = Opportunity.

Applying specific challenges leads to specific areas of growth.

• If you train with progressively heavier loads, you get stronger.
• If you run longer distances over time, you build endurance.
• If you consistently put the body in a caloric deficit, you lose fat.

The opportunities are endless.

Whatever change you’d like to make, find the right forces that produce that change and apply them appropriately.

The key is to keep progressing the level of difficulty of the training without getting hurt or burnt out. Challenging, but not overwhelming. The body can only adapt so quickly, so pacing yourself is important.

Some adaptations to exercise will occur more immediately but most will occur over time. The kind of exercise, intensity, and the frequency you engage in will play a significant role in how quickly your body adapts.

Little improvements over time turn into more substantial gains down the road. Think of it like compound interest – small investments now can turn into millions of dollars years later. Investing can return big dividends, but the amount you put in and for how long makes a big difference.

Work, Rest and Recover, Repeat…Grow!

Work + Recovery + Consistency = Growth

Training places stress on the body but it's not until after training that adaptations take place.

Sleep is the primary time this occurs, so getting the recommended 7-9 hours is the BEST post-workout recovery tool.

Work: Movement and activity, mobility and flexibility, resistance training and conditioning

• Put stress on muscles, connective tissues, bones, heart, and lungs
• Use energy (calories) from carbohydrates and fat, ATP stored in muscles
• Challenge the mind-body connection, stimulate brain activity, learn new skills

Rest: Recovery, rebuilding, restoration

• Replenish glycogen (stored carbohydrate) stores and ATP
• Repair and rebuild muscle and connective tissues
• Strengthen heart and lungs, improve the efficiency of oxygen delivery and energy production
• Reduce inflammation, reset healthy metabolism function, and restore the body to homeostasis

Growth: Adaptation, improved performance

• Increase strength, power output, endurance, capacity
• Increase muscle tissue, connective tissue strength, bone density, blood, and oxygen supply, and ability of the heart and lungs
• Improve efficiency and coordination
• Improve energy utilization and storage
• Improved body composition - more muscle, less fat

In the upcoming weeks, you’ll focus on applying challenges that promote higher levels of performance.

• The primary focus will be on improving movement quality, capacity, and capability, building strength, and increasing stamina.
• A byproduct of this focus will be better body composition, more efficient and powerful heart and lungs, and toned, defined, and sculpted muscle.