beginner cycle a: prepping the body
(first month)
introduction to this cycle:
Prepping the Body
On your mark, get set, GO! Whoa, whoa, whoa… not so fast there, Champ. You are starting the first cycle of the first level of fitness. We are going to take the time in these first 4 weeks to reacquaint ourselves with our body and how it moves. How it moves functionally, how it moves in space, what happens to you when you close your eyes, all of it! We want to know how our body moves so we can see if there are any imbalances we need to focus on before really building any steam.
I say it a lot in my videos, to my physical clients, really to anyone who will listen. Our bodies are amazing and they are capable of so much, we just have to train them. If you are here, you are either brand new to exercise, you have either just recovered from an injury or illness, or perhaps you are more mature and want to work on your balance and overall strength. Either way, we are all here to get started and to grow. We are here to focus on ourselves and our health, and we are here to take control of our fitness journey.
As you navigate these exercises and questions arise, be sure to write them down so you can either contact us, or refer back to the other tools we have available to you.
For our first cycle of exercises, we are going to focus all your attention on how your body works as a whole.
We will have full body workouts that focus on: flexibility, balance, cardiovascular improvement, strength gains, and the building of endurance. In this phase, it is very important to listen to your body during each movement and with each exercise.
Depending on your current level of health, you may need to take some movements slower than what is recommended, and you may find that you need to take more breaks between each exercise. If you feel this way, PLEASE DO SO! You know your body best, although you should push yourself, you also need to listen and respect what your body is telling you.
This program and practice is all about you. I will have variations available to you in the videos, so start with the one that seems best for you and you can make it more-or-less challenging from there. If you come to an exercise that is painful, stop that activity immediately, note what type of pain it is, and be sure to e-mail me for further discussion. Do not rely on the old saying, “No pain, no gain.” That is never our objective at Natural Fitness, and it should never be your objective, especially in the beginner phase. If there is pain associated with a particular movement, it could indicate a more serious problem.
Items to go over before starting your program:
Annotations In Worksheets:
FB = Follow breath
ES= Each side, we will be doing a lot on one side of the body and then the other. Sometimes alternating, and sometimes completing one side before moving to the other.
AFAP= As fast as possible, but REMEMBER only go as fast as you can keep the form in check
EW= Each way, some movements require a front/back or side/side motion. It will make sense in the videos, but it is something to note while looking at the excel sheets
Numbers, EX: 2010 or 4321= Think of each digit as an individual part of the exercise. The first digit is going into the exercise, the second if there is a hold, the third is getting out of the exercise, and the fourth is if there is a hold before your next repetition. Using 4321 as an example, think about a pushup, the 4 would be how many seconds you are going down, the 3 would be holding the pushup in the “push” position, the 2 would be how long it takes for you to push back up, and then the 1 would be holding for one second at the top before starting the movement again. If the digit is a “0” that means there is no hold/pause, and you will continue the movement.
Reps= Repetitions, or how many times you will be doing an exercise
Sets= the number of times you will do the group of exercises. Most of the time there will be 3 sets. If you are not able to get through all three sets of all the prescribed exercises.
a/b/c = this is the grouping of exercises. For example, you would do all “a” exercises for the prescribed amount and then you would start back at the top of the “a’s” and complete the number of sets listed before moving onto the next group. If they are all “a” this is a circuit workout. You will start with the first exercise on the sheet, go through all of them, and then start back up at the top.