What good is it to have biceps like Kelly Ripa if you can’t hit a golf ball without wrenching your back, play tennis without knee pain or run up your stairs at home?
Being fit is no longer about bulging biceps but about being able to run up stairs, jump over a creek, bend over and pick up a quarter, toss around your toddler and keep up with your grandchildren efficiently and pain-free. Our bodies are breaking down because they are no longer doing what they were designed to do and the result is muscle imbalances, chronic pain and weight gain.
Luckily, personal training is returning to the basics of fitness with functional training. Functional fitness has been identified as the biggest fitness trend of the year. Trendy, but it’s also down-to-earth at the same time. Instead of using weight machines designed to isolate, functional fitness is more likely to call for equipment like free weights, wobble boards, stability balls, medicine balls, elastic bands, or body weight. You can use nothing but your own body weight with exercises like push ups or pull-ups.
According to Web MD, Functional Fitness means “building a body capable of doing real-life positions, not just lifting a certain amount of weight in an idealized posture created by a gym machine.” It means that the goal of working out is to prepare your body so it can perform daily activities such as walking, bending, lifting, climbing stairs all without pain, injury or discomfort.
Your muscles may get stronger working on machines, but you’re not creating synergy in the body. .An example is the bent over row using free weights versus the seated row using weight machines. The bent over row has you lifting while bent over – how many times a day do you lift things bent over? I can tell you just bending over correctly is an art unto itself. Add some free weights into the mix and you are training your entire body (legs, core, back and arms) for real tasks. The seated row using a machine will just isolate specific muscle groups without integrating them into real movement.
I like to think of a workout as training for life, not just building sexy biceps or having an overly developed chest, so that when you are out in the world and something unexpected happens, your body knows how to deal with it.
If you are interested in learning more about how to make certain daily tasks easier, be it lifting the hood of your car or running with your two year old thrown over your shoulder, I am here to help guide you on your way to becoming functionally fit for life!
Melinda Johnson
GICC Athletic Director
706-580-2295
**New Fall Classes**
GOT CORE?
If you are looking for a killer workout or to add variety to your strength-training routine you need to check out Got Core? Never before have such small movements made me so sore! The exercises are designed to strengthen and stretch every major muscle group, and let me tell you from experience they do!
Start with ballet, add a dash of yoga, a pinch of Pilates core work, a bit of stretching and more body sculpting and you’ve got the ingredients for the perfect Core Class. Workouts are designed after the well known ‘Bar Method’.
Limit of 12 people per class
Tuesday & Thursday at 8 a.m. & 11 a.m.
Class begins September 7th.
Reserve your spot now!
Call 706-580-2295
GOOD MORNING STRETCH CLASS
This class is great for improving your golf game!
If you want to improve your sports performance, prevent sports injury,
alleviate back and other muscle pain or just increase your flexibility, this class is for you.
Gentle and relaxing, yet invigorating. Learn the proper way to stretch for every day!
Sign up for 4 weeks and feel your body come alive!
Tuesday &Thursday mornings
6:00 am in the Ball Room
***GICC FITNESS BOOTCAMP***
Monday, Wednesday & Friday 6 & 8 a.m.
GICC Outdoor Terrace Area
This is a fun, challenging, group training class
It is a high intensity bootcamp workout that will challenge your entire body.
Blasting away body fat and building lean muscle in the process.
Join the fun! Sign up today!
Call Melinda at 706-580-2295
