Monthly Exercise Success Tips- April 2017
Training Tip of the Month
“Ask yourself WHY you’ve set a fitness goal. The ‘why’ behind your goal is by far more important than the actual goal itself.”
A strong “why” often brings emotion, and emotion will bring a drive and passion that will push you to get to the gym—even after a long day at work. Your goals could be as specific as totaling a certain amount in a specific weight class during a powerlifting meet or as simple as getting to the gym twice during the week and learning how to eat a healthier breakfast.
Regardless of how simple or complex your goal is, be sure to ask yourself WHY it’s your goal in the first place and how will you feel when you achieve it.
Article Review
Should Kids Sit Still in Class?
This month’s article review comes from The New York Times and is titled Why Kids Shouldn’t Sit Still in Class. The article does a great job summarizing the wrong turn our school system has taken since President Kennedy said that students need physical activity to thrive in 1961. There is mounting evidence that brief physical activity breaks help stimulate the brain and puts an individual in a position to learn, reason, critically think, and problem solve better. As achieving high standardized test scores continues to rise to the top of the priority list in our school systems, it’s important to read this article and click below to learn why this isn’t the best way to learn and why it isn’t setting you or your child up for future success.
When it comes to learning optimally, you need to know that the limbic system is the portion of your brain involved in motivation, emotion, learning, and memory. Because of the intricate wiring of your limbic system, it has been shown in order to learn and remember something, there must be a sensory input, personal emotional connection, and movement. When children (who are mostly kinesthetic learners) are placed in a classroom, confined to a desk, and told to sit still, it’s likely they’ll be more stressed and less apt to obtain and retain information. And this doesn’t just go for children in a classroom; it’s also applicable to those who work desk jobs and are sedentary most of the day.
From the book Smart Moves by Carla Hannaford
Below is a brief list of the benefits of putting aside time for movement every day to not only improve your fitness, but also improve your ability to learn and retain information. I’ve found that the best times of the day to schedule 5 minutes of movement is in the morning before work and during your lunch break.
Benefits of Daily Movement:
Many will have a tendency to think better and more freely while engaged in a repetitive, low concentration physical task.
Executive functions of thought associated with frontal lobe and hippocampal regions of the brain are sustained and enhanced in people with higher levels of fitness.
Breaks during school and work can help re-establish three-dimensional and peripheral vision in a relaxed and natural way that can be lost when staring at a screen.
Cross-Crawl patterns and movements involving both hemispheres of the brain allow nerve cells and networks to form and myelinate across the corpus callosum, which can lead to more integrated and higher-level reasoning.
Aerobic exercise increases blood supply oxygen to the brain and stimulates the production of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF)—both are vital to learning and memory.
Client Highlight
Henry Peterson
Henry has been one of the most consistent clients at Pure Performance Training over the past three years. He came in with goals that most people can relate to: build muscle, increase strength, improve his appearance, and get rid of pain from an injury. Because of Henry’s dedication and work ethic he has reached all of his goals and continues to achieve new one’s, including deadlifting over 400 lbs. and gaining 35 lbs. of lean mass.
