A big shoutout to all our newly acquainted and established members in the 60 Day Challenge.
I am impressed with the turnout and commitment for this 60 Day Challenge. I value this challenge as a great opportunity to welcome in 2023 and help you to create the groundwork for a happy and healthier lifestyle change.
We should see this challenge as a steppingstone to propel yourself into a consistent workout routine and to improve your activities of daily living. By the end of the 60 days, no matter your initial goals, we want you to feel confident, consistent, and motivated to continue beyond 60 days.
Whether you are in the 60 Day Challenge or not, there are a couple things to know if you are working on getting stronger.
What comes with increasing your expose to resistance training (lifting weights to get stronger) are some growing pains of muscle soreness.
Starting out you can expect to feel some D.O.M.S (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness) which can be a good sign that tells you pushed your muscles at an appropriate intensity to assist in promoting muscle growth. The caution for this is say you worked out your legs and the next day you’re feeling sore/tight, now this is where listening to your body comes into play, don’t continue to train those legs the next day but instead think of working out your upper body next so we can give those legs time to recover and grow (24 – 48 hours).
In addition, be cautious of overtraining. What comes with a new profound workout motivation is an eagerness to get in the gym and resistance train 5 – 7x a week. I have seen it time and time again. It isn’t necessary, especially if you’re starting to get back into a workout habit.
A great starting point, for resistance training only, is 3 – 4x a week with 1 – 2 established rest days where you prioritize your body and rest so your muscles can start that repair and recover process. If you’re itching to come into the gym on those established rest days, I would recommend doing a form of active recovery which can consist of just walking on the treadmill or going on a low intensity bike ride, do a Slow Flow Yoga class.
This will speed up the recovery process by allowing your circulation to bring nutrients to those muscles that need it and to pull any lactic acid from your muscles, a natural byproduct from resistance training.
If anyone feels like they could be experiencing overtraining, please come speak with Kristyn or I and we can go over your current plan and see what changes to make so you aren’t experiencing any overtraining symptoms. These symptoms can range from prolonged mental/muscular fatigue, poor quality of sleep, extended periods of muscle soreness, increased irritability, decrease physical performance, etc.
Good luck to everyone on your fitness journeys moving forward and please think of Kristyn and I as an open resource for you here at the gym, never hesitate to reach out!
Cheers, Connor
