CROSS TRAINING FOR THE COMPLETE FITNESS PROGRAM

CONTACT: Angie Kielar, C.P.T., R.Y.T., C.G.C.S. AT 248-488-9830 OR INFO@FITNESSRXONLINE.COM WWW.FITNESSRXONLINE.COM
MAINTAIN FITNESS LEVELS ALL YEAR BY CROSS TRAINING
(FARMINGTON HILLS, MI) – November 24, 2007 -- --
FITNESS RX OFFERS 300 CLASSES IN SOUTHEAST MICHIGAN- VISIT OUR WEBSITE FOR A COMPLETE LISTING OF CLASSES TO ENABLE YOU TO CROSS TRAIN

With the dawning of the New Year upon us, so many are looking for ways to keep up their New Year’s Resolutions to lose weight and to start an exercise program. The solutions include hiring a personal trainer to get you and keep you going, join in an exercise class where you pay for the session in advance (thereby inducing a guilt factor because you paid in advance) and the low budget cross training!

Cross-training is the method in which you blend a series of different activities into your workouts.
For instance, instead of running every day or biking every day, cross-training allows you to delve into a variety of exercise routines. These different activities can vary from day to day or within that day's session. Here is an example: Devote 15 minutes to the treadmill, 15 on the exercise bike, weight training for another 15 minutes, and then take on an aerobics class.
The benefits of cross training include:
Prevent Injuries; Cross Training gives your primary muscles a chance to rest and recuperate. For example, running primarily uses the hamstring and calf muscles. Many runners that experience injuries do so because they over-train. When you chose an alternate activity, you allow the primary muscles to heal and rebuild and other supporting muscles to get stronger. This is all done while still getting a good cardiovascular workout to strengthen your heart and lungs.
Increase Performance & Power; Again, using running as an example, the hamstrings and calf muscles see most of the strain and are usually a runner’s strongest muscles. During races, many runners can lose steam because of sore quadriceps, or weak abs that make them hunch over when they tire; or arms that swing in an uncontrolled & fatigued state across their bodies. These other muscles can help pull a runner through in a race. They can help increase speed, endurance, and overall strength.
Increased Motivation; Repetition can lead to boredom, making our workout routine stale. By adding in this element of change every so often, our alternate workouts can keep us fresh and focused on our goals.
Added Flexibility & Stability; Even football linebackers credit their performance to the addition of martial arts, yoga, and dance!? By adding in those other training tools, they increased their balance and stability which allowed them to elude 300 pound tackles and yet still be agile enough to take down speedy quarterbacks & running backs. Cross training creates a balance within our muscle groups and gives us stability and flexibility that can enhance our overall performance and training.
When we cross train, we get a more complete fitness program making us better athletes. The alternate activity you choose should be one that keeps up your cardiovascular conditioning, uses different primary muscles, yet is convenient and fun enough to keep your enthusiasm and excitement up. Below is a quick list of some other formats that are good workouts, and the primary muscles that you’ll use:
Cycling – Quadriceps & Shins
Swimming – Shoulders, Arms, & Legs
Yoga- Full Body strength, endurance and flexibility
Pilates – Core, Back, Buttocks, & Hips
Boot Camp – Legs, Upper Body, Core & Endurance