Hi 🖐😃 Welcome to Phase One of the Challenge! I am psyched to embark on this journey with you. Here’s a quick introduction into Phase One of this Challenge and my reasoning for starting with recovery.
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Day One: The Benefits of Moving A Little Bit More
I know I don’t need to sell YOU on the benefits of daily exercise. After all, you enrolled in this program for a reason. But what most people conceive as exercise looks a lot like going for a run, attending a fitness class, lifting weights at the gym, etc. etc. Be honest. When you think of working out, what does your mind conjure up? For me, it’s visions of myself sweating, breathing heavily, and doing heavy cardio. This way of looking at exercise is actually quite common. But do you know what some of the biggest killers of motivation to work out are?
- Lack of Time
- Lack of Energy
The thing is, exercise is a chore for many of us because it doesn’t fit easily into our days without disrupting our lives in some way. This is true if you go all in right off the bat. If there’s one thing I can impress upon you as we move throughout the challenge is that a slow and steady pace gives you the best chance at successfully creating a healthy lifestyle. So, when it comes to exercise, here are two rules that we’ll keep coming back to.
#1: Move more. Sit Less.
Fairly recent research has shown that when it comes to experiencing the consequences of an unhealthy lifestyle, one of the greatest dangers people in our society faces is SITTING TOO MUCH. According to the Mayo Clinic, excessive sitting could increase your risk for developing a host of health issues, including but not limited to osteoporosis, cardio vascular disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, and even cancer. Yikes!
The SOLUTION: Move a little bit more. Sit a lot less.
You don’t have to jump into a tough exercise routine. The fact is that you can make a HUGE difference by making a small change. That leads us to our second rule.
#2: Start with Something Easy
A common myth of exercise is that your workout needs to be STRENUOS in order for you to reap any benefits. Well, let me be the first to tell you that this notion is FALSE. As a matter of fact, the best thing you can do to create a lifestyle that includes regular exercise is to DO SOMETHING EASY and once you get used to that, you can move forward from there. In the world of personal training, we call this Progressive Overload. We’ll go deep into this concept in Phase 2 of your program. For our purposes right now, you can think of progressive overload as the process of starting small with your exercise routine to get your muscles and your nervous system used to activating and slowly working our way up to something more challenging.
The reason we start slow is because exercise causes stress in our bodies. Although working out is considered to be a good kind of stress, it’s very easy to overdo. So my #1 rule when it comes to taking on a new routine is this:
Do less than you think you need to.
I truly believe that the most effective workouts are those that we end with some energy left in the tank. So, instead of leaving it all out on the gym floor, I’m encouraging you to consciously dial it back. That’s why we’re starting off our 6 week challenge with a method that’s so simple, some may not even consider it working out: foam rolling and mobility work.
Let’s Roll! Your First Habit
The main habit we’ll be focusing on for these first two weeks is getting into a routine of FOAM ROLLING & MOBILITY. If you’re just getting started with exercise, this is a great way to ease into a regular regimen of movement. Not only does it help release the tension in your muscles and your joints, but it also helps to ACTIVATE muscles that have become stagnant and weak due to underuse. Even if you already have a workout routine, adding mobility days or completing a mobility routine before your workouts can prep your body for movement, so that you have a better experience during and after exercise.
WHAT YOU’LL NEED TODAY: Your foam roller. If you’re completing today’s routine on a hard surface, feel free to grab a mat too (totally optional). Follow along with the video below to complete today’s practice. You’ll repeat this same sequence Monday through Friday for the next two weeks. Once you get familiar with the moves, you can complete it without the video 😁 When you’re done with today’s assignment, check the boxes below to mark that you’ve completed them.
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