My Fitness, Pal

When I began my fitness journey, it was all amount the numbers. How many push-ups can I do? How much weight can I push? How big can I get? I thought more was better. My workouts at the gym were mainly isolated movements that targeted individual muscle groups.

Strength Training

At the end of high school, I started hearing about StrongLifts 5x5. The boys that were doing this routine were getting much stronger than me and I first realized that size does not necessarily mean power. Power is the explosive ability you get when you train explosively like in strength training. I tried strong lifts out to great success however, towards the ends my strength plateaued and I ended up injuring myself trying to keep up with the program.

Cardio Training

All during this time, I can safely say I never focused on cardio training. I remember the exact day my cardio journey started. It was on a day where I was feeling extremely stressed out about life. I didn't know what to do so I went downstairs to walk on the treadmill. After an hour-long walk, nearly all my stress was gone. I remember feeling like I had found the secret to reducing all my stress and anxiety.

Mobility Training

After finding myself injured time and time again. After having countless issues with my lower back, neck, shoulders, ankles and knees, I realized something had to be done. I noticed that after injuring my right ankle, the entire right side of my body just didn't feel right and was prone to pain. The body is biomechanically connected in complex ways and I've started to realize that due to ankle injury my body had been compensating. This compensation doesn't play out too well when I keep exercising and reinforcing bad movement patterns.