Strategies To Win #LevelUp45: Fitness
By: Jon Collette (Prototype Trainer and Nutrition Coach)
As we approach the start of the #LevelUp45 challenge (which starts Monday, October 5th), the team and coaches at Prototype Training Systems want to help you as much as possible in your journey. The #LevelUp45 challenge was created as an opportunity for you and the community to come together to build better habits. And better habits lead to a higher probability of you being successful in whatever your health and fitness goals are.
As you may be aware, there are 5 categories that make up the #LevelUp45 challenge. Those categories are:
- Fitness
- Mindset
- Nutrition
- Recovery
- Personal Growth
Today, we are going to be discussing the proven strategies that will help you CRUSH the FITNESS category in the #LevelUp45 challenge.
To start, how is exercise defined?
Exercise is defined as:
1. “an activity requiring physical effort, carried out to sustain or improve health and fitness”
2. “A process or activity carried out for a specific purpose, especially one concerned with a specified area or skill”
What are some of the benefits of regular exercise?
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Contributes to Weight Loss
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Improves Sleep
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Healthier Skin
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Stronger Bones
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Reduced Blood pressure
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Increased Strength
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Better Balance
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Improves Mood and Memory
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Reduced Injuries
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Better Mobility
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Reduce Stress & Anxiety
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Builds Confidence
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Boost Energy
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Reduced Risk of Disease
As you can see there’s a laundry list of health benefits from doing one simple thing regularly and that’s moving your body. These health benefits can come from any type of exercise that you do, but if you have specific goals you’ll want an exercise program or what we call a “training program” to reflect that.
How do I know what type of training program is the best for me?
Your training program should align with your goals and also be something you enjoy doing. After all, if we hate the training program we are doing, we’re more prone to stop.
An easy example of this is if your main goal is to reduce your stress and lose weight. Your training program will look a lot different from someone who is looking to gain muscle and enter a powerlifting competition.
(If you’re reading this and are unsure of what your fitness goals are, book a goal review session and we can help you come up with a plan!)
If you’re participating in the #LevelUp45 challenge, for the next 45 days committing to doing some exercise might be a little intimidating. Now that you know the benefits, I want to help you with some strategies to be successful! Below are the tasks for the Fitness category along with some strategies to crush the next 45 days!
1.A 12-15,000 STEPS:
- Walk or run 1 CFP lap before and after class
- Take the stairs
- Park further away
- Pace on calls
- Walk after dinner with your family or pet
1.B 30 minutes of unstructured physical activity a day
Go for a lunch time walk
Do yoga daily
Work on cleaning your house and chores
Get your buddies together for walking or jogging on a regular recurring basis
1C. Class or exercise 30 minutes a day
- Take a class or do a Prototype Home WOD
- We offer Strength and conditioning in our CrossFit classes, high-intensity interval work in our THRIVE classes, and our Barbell program is targeted to help get you strong and learn the Olympic lifts.
- Do one of our free at-home workouts! Check your email daily for at-home bodyweight workouts that you can do out of the comfort of your living room.
- Leverage a Coach to help
- Work 1-1 with a trainer. If you’re struggling to consistently get into a workout routine and you’re intimidated by classes, then have a personal trainer hold you accountable. Don’t feel like you’re on your own!
- Practice technique work
- Shower at night and sleep in your workout clothes so you’d have to change to do anything other than exercise in the morning
- Spend 5-10 minutes with an extra barbell before or after class to movement prep better
1D. Get outside each day for 15 minutes
Schedule in a daily walk with your loved ones or pets.
Go for a run or walk! This doesn’t have to be something overly stressful or overly complicated to get moving. A nice walk is going to be a great way to lower your stress as well, especially getting out of the house!
Make it a habit before or after dinner or over lunch.
Just get outside! Whether you’re going for a hike, walking your dog, gardening, or playing catch in the yard with your kids. Take a break from work, it will clear your head! Set that reminder in your phone and do it EVERYDAY!
1E. Hold a wall sit while you brush your teeth 1x/day
Put on your favorite song and brush, brush, brush
Make it a family challenge
Remind yourself with a sticky note on your mirror
Overall there are lots of ways to get active and they don’t all have to be highly demanding on the body day after day. The goal of this challenge is to build habits, make small daily lifestyle changes that help you feel better!