Hey there, WAFs! My name is Kirsi and I’m so excited to be chatting about fitness with all of you today. I have a BA in Health Studies, am a CPT (certified personal trainer), and GFI (group fitness instructor), currently working towards becoming a CNS (certified nutrition specialist) through the American Council on Exercise. Aside from studying I am a group instructor and design workout programs at a gym in Southern Maryland.
My fitness background is heavily rooted in team sports. After my years of conditioning and two-a-day practices were over, I found myself itching to get back to people who wanted to better themselves. I have always had an undeniable desire to encourage others and help them reach their goals. I firmly believe there is a place for everyone in the fitness world. I’m an advocate for a sustainable lifestyle that emphasizes balance and how to make healthful choices without sacrificing fun weekends or family time. My enthusiasm for fitness and healthy living is why I’m here today to touch on the foundation and basic aspects of working out.
In all aspects of life having a good foundation is important. When it comes to working out, building a strong foundation is what allows you to excel and challenge yourself with new exercises or programs. When I think of the basic foundation of a workout I immediately think of three things: warm up, functional movements, and cool down.
I know how boring warm ups and cool downs can seem. Who wants to walk on the treadmill for five minutes when they’re itching to hit that squat PR? No one. But it is important! I know how eager some people are to get to the gym and put in the work, or how antsy people can get when they are in a time-crunch and need to be quick in the gym. Trust me, your body will thank you for properly warming up your muscles and then letting your body approach homeostasis again by properly cooling down.
A proper warm up should be 5 to 10 minutes for healthy adults. Most warm ups should be low to moderate intensity and should include more than a walk on the treadmill. It’s a good idea to incorporate stability and mobility exercises into your warm up to properly engage muscles and practice functional movements. Foam rolling (a type of myofascial release) is a great tool to incorporate into your warm up to loosen and stimulate muscles. The goal of a warm up is (of course) to warm up your body temperature and begin to elevate your heart rate. As you move through your warm up the intensity should increase, but not reach the same level as your workout.
Now you’re probably asking, “what are the functional movements you’re talking about and why do they matter?” Functional movements are the five primary movements that we all perform in our activities of daily living. These five movements are: bend and lift movements, single leg movements, pushing movements, pulling movements, and rotational movements. The underlying and most basic goal of any workout program is to better the client’s daily activities. To do that you need to establish a strong foundation through these five primary movements in which you will build on in more complex and challenging exercises. In the general warm up below you can find examples of these and explanations of how to do them.
So let’s skip ahead. Now you’ve done the warm up, finished the workout and are GASSED so you grab your keys and head for the car. STOP! Seriously, turn around, you’re body will thank you for it, I promise.
Making an effort to cool down is necessary and it doesn’t require much time at all. An active cool down keeps your blood from pooling in your extremities (which can cause dizziness because blood isn’t flowing back to the heart) and allows metabolic waste to be removed from muscles. There should be a focus on deep breathing to allow your heart rate to decrease. A cool down should be 5 to 10 minutes (the same length as the warm up). Exercises in a cool down should be low intensity and include some kind of full body movement for a few minutes, like walking or jogging. After the light exercises are completed, do a few minutes of low intensity static stretching (holding positions for 15-30 sec) and foam rolling if possible. It is also very important to refuel and rehydrate your systems after a workout.
Alright, if you’ve stuck with me this far I promise you’re getting to the good stuff! I’ve offered up my knowledge about the foundation of a good workout, so now you can move on to an example of that workout!
is a rundown with photos and a description of a general warm up and cool down. And
is a HIIT workout which includes movement descriptions as well.
Thanks for hanging out with me today and listening to me babble about my passion! If you have any questions, are looking for more information or workout plans you can find me through my personal social media accounts (Instagram: @kirsheb20 or Facebook: @Kirsi Cochell) or through my email: klheban@gmail.com. I can’t wait to be back to chat with you more about fitness…and maybe even share a killer lower body workout? Hmm…Happy sweating, WAFS!
Xo, Kirsi
-WAF Ambassador Naval Air Station Pax River-
