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Health & Fitness

"Substitute" from the NFL

Remember the joy of discovering a substitute teacher in school?  It's so different walking into your favorite workout and seeing an unfamiliar instructor there. Automatically my guard goes up.  I was looking forward to a certain workout and now I am not going to get it.  "Is he/she going to be able to push me like "Michelle" does?  What are their qualifications anyway? Wait, what are they doing?  This isn't what we normally do.  I don't like this." This is what new or substitute instructors have to deal with!   

By the end of the workout I generally come around and am typically sore the next day because ironically the beauty of a new instructor is that they do different things!  They make you use your muscles in different ways. 
 
Kathy McLean, owner of Fitness Advantage, encourages us to take advantage of both the boxing & conditioning and boot camp group classes, as well as personal training, for this very reason.  The bootcamp classes, particularly, are always different. Coach Anne Clay has more imagination than a 5 year old and she loves to "play" outside!  

Last Friday, Kathy, treated us to a really special class.  Dave Puloka, strength and conditioning coach for the Miami Dolphins, gave us a taste of an NFL workout!  

He kicked off the master class with a 30-minute warm-up that focused on dynamic stretching and drills to prevent injury. He carefully prepared every muscle group for the workout ahead. 

He interestingly used a technique called neurological activation, which warms up the brain to create the focus professional athletes need.  He would randomly shout "go!" and we had to run in place as fast as we could but have our arms moving as slowly as we could.  It definitely took concentration!  

Next he set up eight stations.  We spent 30 seconds at a station, with a 30-second break to prepare for the next one, until everyone completed the circuit twice. Working in pairs, we navigated through such drills as rope slams, ball slam burpees, throwing balls against a wall, suitcase carries, step-ups, planks, and ring rows. 

It was exciting to be trained by someone who coaches professional atheletes.  I tried new exercises, learned a few things, had a lot of fun, and was very sore the next day.  I guess I'll start giving the new guys a chance.  :)

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