Recently, I was looking for a new workout program to help me get more fit. I have gone to a gym for years (ever since college) and learned exercises and programs from friends, books and magazines. I never really thought I needed a personal trainer or a set workout program, but felt like I was not really getting the results I wanted. 
Curious Joe's Workout
Last Friday, I tried a little experiment. I offered to be the "alpha-test client" for the new LIVESTRONG.COM fitness program and application. We are in the process of defining the requirements for our new fitness application that will complement The Daily Plate Calorie Tracker. We want to create a fitness program and app that can work for EVERYONE … no matter your age, your goal (lose, gain, maintain, be fit), or your current health profile (from fit/strong to recovering from injury, diabetic, obese, etc).
What better way to kick off the product development process than to test it on myself, and in the next week on the rest of the LIVESTRONG.COM team. Our plan is for all of us to try the fitness program, and give you our thoughts on the pros and cons. At the same time, we want to blog about it as it happens and get your feedback on features, philosophy, exercises -- everything that will go into it.
We want the LIVESTRONG.COM fitness program to educate, demonstrate and motivate you. We also want it to be non-intimidating and allow you to succeed at your own pace. At LIVESTRONG.COM, we believe being healthy is a lifestyle; it is not just a diet or a fitness program that you do once in a while. It is changing your life, educating yourself to make healthy choices every day. It is the small things you do daily that make yourself healthier and it all starts with a commitment. Taking the first step to live a healthy lifestyle is often times the hardest. We want our programs and tools for food (The Daily Plate) and fitness -- coming soon -- to make that process as easy as possible.
Inflict Training's Craig Donen and Danny Nigro
We chose Craig Donen and Danny Nigro's program at Inflict Training to help guide us in this effort. At Inflict Training, they stress the importance of training hundreds of movement patterns to prepare you for any activity from basic to extreme. It can be customized for anyone, is a total body program, and it focuses on strength, agility and flexibility. The best part is that, their workouts are easy to do.LIVESTRONG.COM already added more than 100 videos highlighting many of Inflict Training's exercises, which will be part of our upcoming workout app.
My personal goal was to get more fit (strength and cardio), maintain my weight, and maybe even gain a few more pounds of muscle while working on total body strength and agility. I did my first ever workout with real personal trainers, Craig and Danny, last Friday. And, yes, I survived. I even highlighted some details of the experience.
- Muscle activation is key; warming up never felt better
- Run faster in less time (I felt my body working harder)
- A foam roller is a powerful tool for muscle activation
- Technique is a must; you can get injured if you are not doing things right
- You will use many muscles that otherwise never get used
- Injury-prone areas felt much better post workout … and the following days after
In the meantime, stay tuned for more behind-the-scenes testimonials and videos. The LIVESTRONG.COM team has already started group training sessions … should be interesting. For now, here is a sneak peek:
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