Last week we discussed the importance of using the benefits of strength training and power to slow the aging process to live the life we want to, the way you want to. Now we look at how to stay healthy so you can gain that strength and power to make your next goal attainable with less injuries.
The Key to making your Goals a reality is to stay healthy, stay consistent at the gym with me here at Rockstar Fitness by avoiding pitfalls like overuse injuries, recurring pains, and learning to say when enough is enough and take a little break 🙂
This morning I heard and I agreed. “Don’t push through an injury…or pain.”
Nothing could be more true if you are looking at a short term goal or a long one like climbing Mt. Everest base camp or just around the grand canyon.
“You can’t make the club in the tub.”
I may be filled with a lot of saying and fun quotes from my days in the gym and on the athletic fields, but these 2 thoughts are so true especially as we all live busy lives nowadays.
If you have a goal, just like a dream, you have to protect it and take care of it.
First it starts with your body:
-Listen to how you feel
-If something isn’t right, stop and assess a way to work around it or just stop doing that thing.
-Rest is the most underrated recovery tool we all have.
a. Go to bed at roughly the same time each night
b. No bright screens 1 hour before bed
c. Turn the TV off 20-30 minutes prior to laying your head to the pillow
High Intensity Training in Moderation
We all want to be Rocky running up those steps to fist pump at the top, but everything in moderation to my Headliners and Rockstars who love to get after it!
-Many studies have shown a good strength training program with safe exercise selection done 2-3x per week and moderate conditioning with bouts of 30 minutes…walking at a brisk pace counts Headliners 🙂
Now that being said, High Intensity Training is very popular right now, but in moderation and in a progressive way is key to allow yourself enough rest to recover and avoid overuse injuries and burnout from your exercise goals.
Treat your Fall Chores like the Gym:
When we are looking at things to do as we all do each weekend to make our lawns look better, gardens pop with color, or cleaning out which seems like fun (cleaning out the gutters or my favorite of all-time raking the leaves off the ground under that old Oak), let’s look at it like this:
Chores like a Workout:
-We have a set time per session
a. 60 minutes or so
-We have a set number of reps per exercise
a. 8/10/12..maybe 15
-We give ourselves a break when we are tired or when the set/time of the workout is eclipsed.
…but when it comes to Chores, sipping our pumpkin spice coffee, we go a little too far too fast.
If you are thinking “Jake, that’s just not true”…well I 🙂 say maybe this is a good example:
-You are a powerful 61-years old
-Its Saturday morning
-If you planted 100 plants
-Ripping up each plant by hand before putting the new one in
that would be a workout that would look something like this-
-100 squats
-100 get ups off the ground
-100 weighted carries
-100 rows
Enjoy your pumpkin spice and enjoy your moderate workout doing chores with moderation because I care about you!… and I care that you can move Sunday morning so you can watch your grandson or daughter play soccer 🙂
If you have any questions about fitness, nutrition, or how to drink your fall favorite coffee I’m your guy!
-Jake Cheney
Rockstar Fitness, LLC.
Safe
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Community
References;
New York Times,
“Habits to Remain Injury Free”
Hilary Achauer
9-3-2025