ECP Blog

Train for Life

  We all want to look better, is that the only thing you’re training for? Are you training for the right thing but for the wrong reasons? Try being fit for life instead. What I mean is, instead of being fit for cosmetic purposes only, which we all want; why not try fitness training to live! Have more flexibility, increase your strength, for health, your children, families, retirement, functional fitness and overall enjoyment of life.

 Let’s start with flexibility. Over time, and frequently due to a lack of movement diversity, men and women begin using a movement strategy that leads to excessive and improper wear and tear on parts of the body. Our EC Performance Coaches can help with these challenges by essentially re-teaching the body how to move. People are masters of movement compensation which leads to overactive and under active muscles.

  Muscle Imbalances can be improved and treated with Corrective Exercise by your certified EC Performance Coaches.

Corrective Exercise: Inhibit, Lengthen, Activation

• Inhibit
  Inhibiting releases tension and/or decreases activity of overactive tissues in the body.
• Lengthen
  After inhibiting, the client will then move to adding increased mobility with a combination of static, active and/or dynamic stretches.
• Activation
  once the body can move through adequate ranges of motion, stability is added.

Ankle

1. Foam Rolling Caves
2. Standing Static Calf Stretch—30 seconds each side.
3. Buddy System Single-Leg Calf Raise—internally rotate leg, use a buddy for stability and perform 12 slow reps each side.
4. Single-Leg Balance with Reach—do not use a buddy, stand on one leg and reach the other leg into multiple planes of motion.

Hip

1. Foam Roll Quads/Hip Flexors.
2. Kneeling Hip Flexor Static Stretch—30 seconds each side.
3. Floor Bridge—12 reps with slow tempo.
4. Reverse Lunge to Balance—balance on one leg, slowly step backward into a lunge position (keep weight shifted forward), then step back up to single-leg balance.

Shoulder

1. Foam Roll Latissimus Dorsi. (side of back)
2. Child’s Pose (lat static stretch)—30 seconds.
3. Standing “Y-T-A’s”—12 reps with slow tempo.
4. Bent Over Dumbbell Row—50% max intensity.

Losing Weight

Losing weight can be tough, even a struggle for some. It's a physical/mental combination that takes great effort and will power. That's why it's always best to have a support system! If you have a family that you cook for every night it's most helpful for everyone to be on board together... that means everyone eating the same healthy meal. It also means getting rid of all the junk food from the pantry so that there are no temptations. Pop and other sugary drinks DEFINITELY need to go! Those can devastate your weight loss progress as they are too convenient and extremely high in calories AND sugar, making it a quick option to grab and go. Back to your support system, it also helps to have a workout buddy! Not only does it make your workouts more enjoyable for most, but it also holds you accountable! It's rude to cancel plans on a friend, and that's just what it would be if that friend had planned their day around your workout and you either cancel or no show. A big piece to the puzzle though is what you're actually going to DO for your workout. That's when it's easiest and most effective to have a trainer, but if that's not in your budget there are other options. DVDs, apps, magazines, and books all offer ways to get a workout in wether it be home, outside, or in the gym. There's no substitute for a professional trainer who is able to tailor a program to your specific needs, but that just means it might take a little more time and effort on your part to reach your goals without that trainer. So get your friends and family on board with the plan you have set up, invest in the help that you feel you need, get focused, and get lean and healthy! 

 

 Do what you say

Do what you say you are going to do!! What's more aggravating then

hearing people SAY they're going to lose 30 pounds, eat better,

exercise, etc and then not do anything and complain when there are

no results. Remember the old saying"word is bond"?.... Well let's get

back to making that true. If you say you're going to commit to working

out 4 days a week and only show up just 2 of the days, that's not 4!!

How can you expect results when you're not putting in the work? The

answer is you can't, because nothing comes for free. Have some

willpower, slap that cookie out of your hand and get your workout in!

If you say you're going to do it, DO IT!

 Find that dedication that first got you started. If you're missing that

extra push to get you re-charged, that's what we are here for, EC

Performance.

GET INSPIRED!!

Are you having trouble staying on track? Do you find yourself slacking off? Here's a tip... GET INSPIRED!! Whether it's a picture of the body you want posted up in your house or the thought of hiking your first mountain, get inspired! We all have lulls in our training program, happens to the best of us, but we can overcome it with some inspiration and goals. Picking up a magazine and seeing what others are doing to achieve their goals can be inspiring. For some people watching American Ninja Warrior gets them going! Others need a goal to work towards, like signing up now for a 5k (or 10k!) in August. Ask yourself "what pushes me? What motivates me? How can I be better?". Once you answer those questions you should have some inspiration! What inspires me?.... I have an 11 year old son that runs track, and when I see him bust out a sub 5:30 1500m run I'm inspired! Just a young kid, putting in hours of training to be the best he can be. Putting in hard work to be a legitimate competitor. That inspires me! So I keep race pictures of him on my phone so that when I start to feel lazy in a workout I can refer to them, and I always end up pushing harder! Find your inspiration, push harder, be better!!

Bootcamps

Who doesn't want to burn the maximum amount of calories in their workout?! With a results driven Bootcamp that's one of the many benefits you'll get. As an Army veteran I know what a "real" Bootcamp looks like, and as a CPT I know that the physical and mental benefits are endless. You can expect your metabolism to switch into overdrive as you work the high intensity/heart rate periods with your low intensity/recovery periods. Your body will never adapt to a good Bootcamp because the variety of exercises and styles is always changing! Be prepared for cardio endurance, muscular endurance, strength, core, balance, functional movement, yoga, agility, speed, and many other techniques to take you to the next level and tone up those soft areas! Because you can go as hard as YOU possibly can, a Bootcamp class is perfect for men and women young and old alike. So let's stop SAYING we're going to do something about our health and fitness and actually DO something about it! Expect the unexpected and live your best  life NOW!!

Welcome to the ECPerformance

Welcome to the ECPerformance blog, first one coming right up! Most of you already know who we are, but for those who don’t we are the fitness studio you’ve been searching for! ECP is ready to help you reach the body, fitness, and health of your dreams! We will help you reach your fitness goals with our highly certified (and nationally recognized) trainers. Weight loss, sport specific, running, muscle gain, functional fitness, conditioning, flexibility… we’ve got you covered. Invest in your personally tailored program to take it up a notch! Now that we are in summer full swing there should be NO excuses on why you can’t get that 30 minute walk in every night. And all the delicious fruits in season right now!... do me and yourself a favor and take your left hand and smack that chip out of your right hand! Get ready guys, it’s time to put in some REAL work!!