Fitness Together Brecksville: Trainer Tuesday: What was the most challenging workout that you've ever tried?

Trainer Tuesdays

Welcome back to the weekly edition on Trainer Tuesdays. Make sure to check in at our blog every Tuesday evening to learn the expertise of our great staff. Aside from being fantastic exercise coaches, they are also extremely knowledgeable in many aspects of health and fitness; so, it's time that you get to know them a little better! Each week, we will post a frequently asked, or sometimes just a fun fitness related question followed by the answers of each of the trainers at Fitness Together Brecksville.

What was the most challenging workout that you’ve ever tried?

Kelly Bailey: I try to challenge myself during every workout, but the hardest workouts I've ever done are running sprints and uphill intervals. They are typically short workouts (20 minutes or so), but running 5 or 6 sprints at all-out effort is brutal! Swimming also feels particularly hard to me, so any kind of swimming comes in a close second.

Adam Teplitz: It's hard to pinpoint the most challenging workout I've done. I try to challenge myself and push the limits with every workout. If I had to choose one though, it would have to be a high intensity interval workout I recently did. It was a cardio workout that consisted of burpees, mountain climbers, jump rope, jump squats, and treadmill intervals. It was one of those workouts out of my comfort zone, but in order to see results, mixing up the routine and scorching the calories is the perfect way to go.

Joshua Teplitz: The most challenging workout I have ever tried was running five miles in under an hour. Any type of running is extremely challenging for me and I struggle greatly with any workouts that require having good to great endurance. This summer, I plan to improve my overall cardiovascular health and increase my speed and agility while slowly yet efficiently building my endurance back up to an acceptable level.

Steven Madden: The hardest workout I have done was the 10,000 kettle bell swing challenge. 4 There were other exercises as well, but it was all focused on the swings. This workout showed me that my grip was not as strong as I had thought. Also, 50 swings in a lot of swings. Rest times were limited as well, so I was pretty wiped at the end of each one of these workouts. In the end, I had a new appreciation for the kettle bell swing, as well as seeing how easy it was to cheat the exercise and not do it properly. I do recommend the routine though as a fitness test.

workouts a week for 5 weeks, 500 swings in each workout.

Monika Cotter: Fitness is all about finding what works your life style, which is why trainers suggest trying different avenues of exercises so it negates boredom and you find what you like. For me the hardest type of exercise that I have tried is yoga. I have always liked pilates so I thought that I would give yoga a try thinking that it would be fun. Boy oh boy was I mistaken. The first time I tried it I was so frustrated. Not only was it hard to get my breathing down correctly, but it was uncomfortable holding all the poses and stretching muscles I have never used before. The more I did it though the more I enjoyed it, now I look forward to yoga class and I truly enjoy sharing my love of yoga with my clients. Whatever kind of exercise program you try give it some time to enjoy it and have fun with it!

Lisa Clark: As a trainer I love to try all sorts of new exercises and different types of exercise equipment. Everything I have done has its own form of challenge, whether it's trying to get the technique down, trying to push through reps of heavy weights or trying to push through a cardio workout. However the most challenging thing I have ever done was a type of cycling called randonneuring. Randonneuring is long distance unsupported endurance cycling. This style of riding is non-competitive and self-sufficiency is paramount. Because of the distance of these rides (the shortest one being 125 miles) it's not only your physical abilities that are tested, but your mental strength as well. When you are 100 miles into a 250 mile bike ride, it begins to feel endless. Dealing with the heat of the summer, physical exhaustion, and sometimes dehydration can make quitting the ride very tempting. That's where the mental strength comes into play. Knowing that when you reach the end, the feeling of success and accomplishment is worth all the hours on the bike. It is by far the most challenging thing I have ever done and at the same time something I am most proud of having accomplished. Having participated in randonneuring events (called brevets) is exciting and important to me because it means I am part of a long tradition that goes back to the beginning of the sport of cycling!

Tuesday, May 5, 2015

Trainer Tuesday: What was the most challenging workout that you've ever tried?

No comments:

Post a Comment