Welcome to Workout Wednesday, a series where I share exercise programming that I’ve designed for my weekly group fitness classes. The goal of this series is to help take the guess work out of exercise programming by offering simple, functional routines that you can do with minimal equipment.

Workout

Focus: Hybrid

This routine is all about continuous work with little down time. Using moderate weight and higher reps will keep your heart rate elevated - more so than a standard resistance training session. The last block has some plyometric movements included for a burner at the end. I have used (mostly) common exercises so you can search by name if you need reference images or technique videos. For those that may not be searchable, I’ve added a brief explanation.

Complete each block in order. Allocate 30 seconds for each exercise followed by a 10 second transition to the next movement. Take a 30 second recovery at the end of the block. Each block can be completed 2-4 times.

Block 1: Lower Body

1. Goblet Squat

2. Single Arm Overhead Lunge - 1 set R, 1 set L

3. Romanian Deadlift (RDL)

4. Side Lunge - 1 set R, 1 set L

Block 2: Upper Body

1. Gorilla Row

2. Narrow to Wide Overhead Press - Complete 1 overhead press with a narrow, neutral grip. Upon return, switch to a wide grip. Continue to alternate throughout the set.

3. Half to Full Curls - Curl to 90 degrees, release, then complete a full range curl

4. Plank Walk-ups (on step) - In high plank (on hands), walk the hands up onto the step, and then back down to the floor.

5. Tricep Push-ups

Block 3: Core + Plyometrics

1. One-legged Skier Hops - 1 set R, 1 set L

2. Plank Rotations

3. Plank Jack - In plank position, “jack” the feet out and in, hopping in each direction. Remember to keep the hips down throughout the movement.

4. Wide Squat Jumps

5. Lunge Hops (on step) - Place front foot on step, then rapidly pull the back knee through to jump off of the front foot

Workout Wednesday is a series from Simply Fit - a free newsletter with practical, science-informed, fitness advice for everyday life. If you’d like more free workouts delivered straight to your inbox, subscribe below. If you gave this one a try, comment below to let me know your thoughts. Happy Lifting!

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It’s been a while (a year) since writing a “Workout Wednesday” article. But, I teach a functional resistance training class every Friday and really have no excuse for not sharing my Friday workouts on Substack. So, if you’d like a series that shares free workouts that you can tailor for your own goals and routine, welcome!

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Training Framework

I utilize a block format in group fitness classes. You can complete one, some, or all blocks of the programming below. We typically work through each block twice, but each block can be completed up to four times (sets). In class, we used timed sets (30 seconds) instead of reps, but you could use either.

• Sets (Rounds): 2, 3, or 4

• Reps:

  • 8-10 for building muscle OR

  • 12+ for developing muscular endurance

  • You’ll need to choose a weight that matches the number of reps you’re attempting to complete. You can also utilize a timed set (30, 40, or 60s) for each round if you wanted to create more of a circuit style/hybrid routine.

Workout

Focus: Power

The goal of this session is to increase speed throughout the concentric part of the lift, and then control the weight as it returns to its starting position. These are standard movements, but adding speed to the lift trains the muscles’ ability to generate power.

Note: I have used (mostly) common exercises so you can search by name if you need reference images or technique videos. As part of this series, I’ll also highlight moves and demo technique breakdowns that will help you understand the muscular function behind the lifts.

Block 1:

1. Unilateral Dumbbell Snatch

2. Reverse Fly

3. Goblet Squat

4. Overhead Weighted March

5. Combo: Front Raise x High Row

Block 2:

1. Kettlebell Swing

2. Overhead Squat

3. Lunge

4. Push up

5. Bicep Curls

Block 3:

1. Side Plank + Thread the Needle

2. Side Lying Leg Lifts

3. DNS Star

4. Reverse Plank Knee Pulls

Block 4:

1. Prone Flutter Kicks

2. Plank

3. Superman

4. Superman Row

Workout Wednesday is a series from Simply Fit - a free newsletter with practical, science-informed, fitness advice for everyday life. If you’d like more free workouts delivered straight to your inbox, subscribe below. If you gave this one a try, comment below to let me know your thoughts. Happy Lifting!

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You can read the position stand for yourself if you want to dive into all the science-filled details. Spoiler alert: Resistance training improves literally everything about your musculoskeletal health.

It’s important to note that the ACSM primarily focuses on general and clinical populations (e.g. those with existing disease, older adults, pregnancy, etc.) so these guidelines are written with those groups in mind. If you’re been strength training for some time, or have a structured exercise routine, this information may not apply to you. But, if you’ve been doing the same thing for a while or lack balance in your routine, re-thinking your gym time through the lens of simplification may give you a fresh start.

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1. Incorporate at least 2 days per week of weight training

   The simplest way to begin is with two non-consecutive days of weight training. You need a day in between for your muscles to recover. Ideally, your lifting days should include a resistance training exercise for each major muscle group, but if that feels too complicated, incorporate both upper body movements and lower body movements.

2. Any type of resistance training you do (machines, bands, free weights) can contribute to positive changes in muscle function.

   If you’re new to the weight lifting game, start with a mode (type) of training that makes you feel safe, supported, and confident in the movement. For many people, machines are a great place to start because they help your body maintain an ideal position. After getting a feel for basic technique and proper breathing, you can integrate free weights in your routine.

3. There are some basic guidelines you can follow for specific training goals, but tailoring your resistance training programming to your lifestyle is what matters most.
   Those that love numbers may want some specifics to guide their routine. Note: 1RM = one repetition maximum = the weight that you can successfully move one time with the correct technique. If you don’t know this, or don’t want to test this, choose weight that challenges your intended # of reps. For example: If I’m doing a set of 10 repetitions, reps 8 + 9 should feel sticky; rep 10 should feel really tough.

   1. Weight selections

      For strength: 80%+ of 1RM

      For muscle growth: 70-80% of 1RM with a focus on a higher number of sets

      For power: 30-70% of 1RM with an emphasis on moving the weight quickly

4. When what you’re doing starts to feel easy, move the needle.

   Progression doesn’t solely mean you should lift more weight. You can add to the number of sets, reps, or even days per week of training. However, there is a point of diminishing return. One example: research showed a decrease in benefit after 3 sets per exercise for strength-focused routines. The authors recommend 2 sets per exercise for the heaviest lifts. After you’ve increased your volume via an additional set and/or a few reps, then it’s time to increase your weight selection.

5. Consistency is most important. Whatever resistance training program you’ll stick with is the one that is the best for you.

   Maybe you don’t have access to a gym. Perhaps you only have bands at home. What if you only have a 30 minute break in your day at the office? Use what you have and just do something. It doesn’t mean you have to pick one type/style and lock in- mix it up! Exercise works best under the philosophy that anything is better than nothing. Sure, you’ll eventually get to the point where you need to increase the intensity. When that occurs, re-evaluate your current lifestyle and see what you can do to make it work.

TLDR: Consistent resistance training should absolutely be a part of your exercise routine. Whether it’s done in a group exercise class, at home, or in a fitness center, two days a week of weight training is integral for functionality across the lifespan. Lastly, muscle function can improve at any age. Resist the idea of having a “perfect routine” and focus on doing what works for your lifestyle.

Simply Fit is a free newsletter that discusses practical, evidence-based fitness. If you enjoyed this article, please give it a like or share it with someone who may find it helpful. My goal for 2026 is to reach 100 Substack subscribers with meaningful fitness content. If you’d like to help me reach my goal, subscribe below. Thanks for reading!

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In recent talks with folks about fitness routines, simplification, the need to do less (but to do less, well), and the consideration for how all of that affects our mental health, I realized my own fitness philosophy has changed significantly over the course of my career - with good reason.

I began personal training and working in wellness-related careers fresh out of undergrad. The limited, though well-intentioned knowledge, I had in my 20s, coupled with a hefty dose of delusional confidence has transformed into (way) more knowledge, 15 years of practical experience, and a healthy appreciation for all the things I have yet to discover.

While I can only speak for myself, young/novice fitness professionals often feel like they have something to prove. I mean, why wouldn’t they? They’re being launched into a sea of hard-bodied, know-it-alls, who are all vying for the same clientele and trying to make a living while doing it. Fitness is a wild world because it’s one of the few careers where you don’t have to have a degree to be successful. A large number of followers on social media is plenty, as the algorithm will launch you into prominence without proof of real knowledge.

Regardless of how book smart you are (or aren’t), there’s a real need for practical understanding to become successful in this field. You can prescribe all the training, make every recommendation and share every resource imaginable, but if you lack the ability to empathize and meet people where they are, nothing will ever stick. (Ask 20yo me how I know.)

Here are seven core tenets of my (current) exercise philosophy.

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1. Exercise is not an effort in suffering. Yes, it’s important to do hard things, exercise at a therapeutic level to improve fitness, and break a sweat. However, if your goal is to go into the gym, use “calorie burn” as your only metric, and crawl back out, you’re missing a key opportunity to make it stick: enjoyment. If you’re new to exercise, find the mode of exercise you actually like doing. Build the habit with enjoyable movement. As your body adapts, then you can begin to push the intensity with newfound confidence and curiosity.

2. Evaluate your body on what it can do, instead of what it looks like. Bodies come in all shapes, sizes, and abilities. In 2026, can we collectively decide to stop making judgments about others’ abilities based on what they look like? The next time a race, triathlon, or other recreational sporting event is in your neighborhood, go spectate and cheer others on. Be amazed at the efforts of others.

   

3. Set goals that are 100% for you - not societal expectations of you. And certainly not because someone on social media said you should be doing ______. Nearly 80% of Americans fail to meet the physical activity guidelines. If you’re moving your body - even a little each day - you’re in the marginal percentage of Americans who do. So why are you setting goals to “run a 10k” when you hate running?

   

4. Your routine doesn’t have to be perfect. Focus on consistency, instead. The people that you think have perfect routines, don’t. None of us do because we are living life and doing the best we can. What us fitness folks do have on our side is consistency. We’ve cultivated a lifestyle of movement, so that on days we can’t get the workout done, we’ve moved in other ways instead. Make movement work for you, then repeat, forever.

5. You become what you believe. Belief fosters self-efficacy, which is the confidence you have within yourself to do what you set out to do. Without those two things, doubt creeps in and derails your plans. Cultivate a healthy identity with self-kindness as your guide. Believe it or not, it can improve your fitness outcomes.

6. You get to choose what you prioritize. Friend, listen to me (as I listen to myself): You can’t do it all. And, honestly? That should be glorious news. Permission to let. it. go. Pick what you want to prioritize for your health. Once you establish that priority as a routine habit in your life, then add something else to the mix. You can change your priorities as life throws you curve balls. There should be zero guilt and zero shame for adapting your fitness to work within the parameters of your life.

7. Don’t compromise your mental health for the sake of your physical health. See points 3, 5 and 6. If you set unrealistic goals and attempt to do all the things, all the time, you’ll likely accomplish nothing. Optimal physical health becomes null and void if your mental health tanks as a result. Sometimes, the goal is equilibrium rather than optimization. Check in with yourself, or have a trusted friend speak truth if they notice a shift in your mental well-being.

   

My 20 year old self was focused on thinness, the opinions of others, and looking the part. My (almost) 40 year old self is focused on a functional body that is up for spontaneous adventure, nourishing movement, and sustaining itself through the next 40 years.

Simply Fit is a free newsletter that focuses on simple living and practical fitness in pursuit of a less complicated + more meaningful life. Subscribe below to add some intention to your inbox.

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ADHD, in short, can consist of a number of symptoms aside from the inability to concentrate. Impulsivity, difficulty completing tasks, or the inability to simply sit still can impact one’s ability to work, learn, or thrive at home. Compensatory behaviors to counteract these challenges can result in people wanting to sit and do nothing (or scroll, for stimulation) or self-medicate with substances.

Individuals with ADHD are 8x more likely to be sedentary, and 3x more likely to have poorer diets than those without the disorder. Adults with ADHD experience higher rates of obesity, due in part to sedentary behavior and lack of adherence to exercise. Links to these behaviors and late diagnoses in adulthood place individuals with ADHD at risk for premature death.

Exercise Avoidance

A concept known as “effort discounting” is one way researchers evaluate goal-driven behavior. By attempting to quantify how our brains decide whether the reward for engaging in a task is worth the effort required, they can predict our likelihood of completing it.

It has been used in many adolescent studies, but rarely used in analyses of adults with ADHD. However, in a recent study of 181 young adults with ADHD, their symptoms were correlated with sedentary behavior and effort discounting. The connection of an increase in symptoms with higher effort (physical activity) in this study may also be driven by issues with executive function and motor skills that are common in many individuals with ADHD.

Ultimately, this study reveals the way that some adults with ADHD may view physical activity, and the trade offs they may be willing to make to avoid the discomfort of exercise (e.g. knowing that they should be moving, but would rather be comfortable on the couch instead).

If you’re a person living with ADHD, this may help you make more sense of your thought processes. For fitness professionals working with individuals with ADHD, this provides insight into lifestyle factors that we may be helping to address. It can also compel us to make movement more approachable by incorporating it into one’s regular routine.

Coping with Exercise

While some people are sedentary, others with ADHD can be drawn to exercise as an outlet for expending extra energy or the for quick change of pace that sports can offer. A recent push in supporting athletes’ mental health has resulted in more opportunities for screening and assessment. While screening tools are one step in the diagnostic process, it can give athletes insight into their current symptoms and help them pursue next steps in a comprehensive evaluation.

It’s important to note that while some individuals with ADHD may self-medicate with substances, others may self-medicate with exercise. One project, aimed at evaluating mental health and health behaviors in athletes, examined the rates of ADHD in endurance runners. 9.7% of runners (n=601) screened positively for ADHD characteristics, with half-marathoners having higher rates than the other distances (marathon, ultra).

ADHD often presents with other mental health conditions (e.g. anxiety, depression, etc.). Collaborating with a team of mental health professionals to help athletes manage their symptoms is another consideration for fitness professionals and coaches who work with this population.

In extreme cases, individuals (even those without ADHD) can develop exercise addiction (EA). EA is defined by behavioral characteristics of “salience, tolerance, mood modification, withdrawal, conflict, and relapse”. Additionally, those addicted to exercise will do so even while injured and lose control of themselves within their training. Oftentimes, it can coexist with body image or eating disorders. Depression appears to have a stronger link to EA than ADHD, but both are predictive of this extreme behavior.

Walking Points

• Conditions such as ADHD have the ability to not only impact your executive functioning, but can also alter the way you approach health behaviors. It’s not necessarily a lack of willpower on your part.

• Your body’s primary goal is to keep you safe and comfortable. It’s an expert at talking you out of anything that seems remotely uncomfortable or scary. If you are diagnosed with ADHD or any other coexisting mental health condition, especially those rooted in trauma, your body can be hyper vigilant in avoiding threats to the system, like exercise.

• Knowing how your brain works can help you develop systems and rewards that work with your ADHD tendencies. If you’re new to exercise, start out with activities you enjoy. Walk while listening to your favorite audiobook or podcast. Try a circuit style group fitness class with multiple stations and fellow exercisers to keep your brain engaged.

• Pick a worthwhile reward to help you build the habit. Based on what you just learned about effort discounting, your brain will convince you that you can start next week, skip a session, eat fewer calories instead of working out, or (insert ridiculous tactic here). So, name your price. If feeling better and a healthier body aren’t good enough, find another tangible reward that cues your brain and body into action. Once the external reward is “won”, the intrinsic benefits can take over from there.

• Regular exercise is a great outlet for ADHD. Routinely taking an objective look at your relationship with exercise is important, as too much of a good thing can quickly become a not so good thing.

Simply Fit is a free newsletter that focuses on simple living and practical fitness in pursuit of a less complicated life. Subscribe below to add some intention to your inbox.

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At the start of the year, instead of setting resolutions, I prefer to set intentions. Honestly, I don’t feel the need to “resolve” anything. The reframe of an intention helps me to kindly set my sights on what I hope to change, not what I need to change. Don’t get me wrong. Proper goal setting can be quite helpful for measurable change. However, I don’t feel that all change should be measured, even if it can be.

When people think of contentment, their brain likely defaults to “being happy with what you have”. I’m good there. In fact, I’d be equally as content with far fewer things. What I’m referring to is deep soul contentment that is the foundation for personal and professional identity.

Am I content with who I am and what I am doing in this world?

Getting to the Source

Ready for some real talk? Cool.

Over the last couple of years, I’ve felt discontentment within my professional endeavors. I love what I do, yet find myself constantly feeling like I’m not doing enough. The “never enough” tends to zap the joy that comes with fulfilling work.

Much of this is a result of working in a field (fitness) where everyone is seemingly an expert, and has an opinion, whether it is fact-based or not. In a sea of voices, I’ve often felt like I needed to prove more, know more, or show more to validate my place in a social media and appearance dominated industry. I’m fit, but I’m not super strong or super fast; I’m a nerdy, ultra-pale, mom of 3.

Recognizing the discontentment has allowed me to see these patterns before they take root and take appropriate action to curtail them. Social media breaks, reducing the consumption of self-help content (even the evidence-based stuff), and appreciating my body for the fitness it possesses, instead of how it looks, are a few ways I’ve combatted this.

Academia can foster similar concerns. It’s a realm where everyone is an expert, so it’s easy to feel small when you’re not a researcher, published author, or someone with a handful of teaching awards. I intentionally took a teaching position to pursue the aspect of higher education that I loved most, and yet I still occasionally struggle with feeling inadequate. If it makes you feel any better, I spent nearly a combined twelve years in higher education pursuing my degrees and still feel this way. Which makes the fact that there are people on TikTok with zero credentials believing they’re the patron saints of fitness even more ridiculous.

Relinquishing Control

Much, if not all of this, stems from a desire for order and to control what can feel chaotic in my life. People pleasing and performance-based validation still surface from time to time. If that’s you too, we both need to understand:

1. You’ll never make 100% of the people happy 100% of the time.

2. People are going to do, think, and say what they want to, regardless of how it makes you feel.

3. You’re not responsible for others’ feelings or actions. Full stop.

We’d all most likely affirm these statements, yet believing and applying them can feel impossible.

Pursuing an Authentic Identity

I do know myself well enough to understand that if I’m feeling inadequate, it’s likely because I’ve placed too much stock in a certain area of my life (i.e. taken on too much of that identity).

What feels like a personal failure is usually me internalizing some non-existent crisis that I’ve perceived to be true, but isn’t actually so. My brain is always going the extra mile in the least helpful way, telling me all kinds of things that may or may not be so. (Thanks, inner voice.) That feeling of inadequacy, though is right on par with unrealistic academic expectations that were placed on me as a kid, but this isn’t therapy, so I digress…

Having our worth as a human in this wild world determined by what we do is not ideal, but there’s a reason it’s one of the first questions we ask when meeting someone new. Society has cultivated this absurd hierarchy of worthiness based on how much you know and how much you make and nowhere along the way have enough people pushed back against the status quo. I feel like we’re starting to round the corner on this, but have done so at the expense of burnout and mental health. It’s certainly not sustainable.

Oddly, I felt this deeply after becoming a parent. I kept wondering how I had been reduced to a part time chef, nurse, and maid while working my full time job under full time exhaustion, as if being a working mom of twins wasn’t good enough.

When I’m mentioning what we’ve done or accomplished, please know I’m not solely referring to corporate production. Raising children, caregiving, volunteering - anything where we have taken of our time and resources to allocate elsewhere, all fits here.

Doesn’t it seem ironic that our desire to do more keeps us from being content with what we have already done? Sure, hustle culture is partly to blame, but if we took a step back and evaluated our accomplishments through the lens of a supportive friend, would we find contentment there?

Who are we trying to appease? And for what reason? A brilliant friend and I were chatting about this and she said, “We must pursue [whatever it is we’re doing] from a sense of security - not for security.” It’s so true. If we measure our worthiness on outcomes, we’ll crumble at even the most inconsequential failure. It’s the reason why certain critiques sting more than others.

Using the character of who we are instead of what we have done is a far healthier way to begin disassociating ourselves from the identities which may have taken over too many corners of our lives. Separating the outcomes from the process allows us to experience contentment along the journey because contentment certainly isn’t synonymous with comfort. Without the discomfort, I know I wouldn’t adequately appreciate the lessons learned along the way.

Contentment, for type A, reformed perfectionists like myself, can be challenging. And, I think it’s important to share that things are never as they seem from the outside looking in. Being okay with being good enough, resisting the urge to do more, and actually taking time to truly rest, takes practice. So, regardless of what your intentions are for 2026, here’s to pursuing the good kind of discomfort and finding deep, soul contentment and joy along the way.

Thanks for reading along this year!

Recommended Reads

If you’re interested in some personal growth in this area, check out these books:

Soundtracks by Jon Acuff

Chatter by Ethan Kross

Do Nothing by Celeste Headlee

Simply Fit is a free newsletter that focuses on simple living and practical fitness in pursuit of a less complicated life. Subscribe below to add some intention to your inbox.

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Throughout 2025, I made a number of substantial changes to improve my well-being: numerous social media sabbaticals (which I’m still currently on - and may be forever), consolidating my news consumption to a day per week, and screen-free sabbaths.

This year, I also committed to reading more. As a predominantly non-fiction reader, I gravitate toward books discussing productivity, habit building, simple living, and health science.

My “rationale” is to read evidence-based content that I can utilize personally and professionally. Research is part of that content, but most of the fitness questions people ask me are about things they’ve seen in mainstream media. Scientific journalism helps to fill that gap and does so in a way that isn’t a total snooze fest. I’ve yet to read a riveting research article.

Inevitably, the consumption of this type of content fuels an indirect compulsion for self-optimization. It’s virtually impossible to read about habit formation and not want to implement the author’s strategies so I can finally start drinking an adequate amount of water each day. (Still working on that one, by the way.)

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With each book we read, each podcast we listen to, or each YouTube video we watch, we start to buy into the hype that if we could only get this part of our life together, things would be so much easier. However, I’ve yet to meet someone who is living their best life simply because they kicked their sugar habit or were exceptionally hydrated.

The reality is that most of us (myself included) feel like we’re constantly failing to do the basics to keep us “healthy” such as: getting enough physical activity, consuming enough protein, drinking enough water, lifting enough weights - you know the ones. If you’re a parent, you probably feel this pressure tenfold.

Sharing what I learn from my personal research is not going to make that much of a difference in the day to day lives of what people do. If mainstream media has taught us anything, it’s that people are even more skeptical of science these days.

People are typically going to do what the loudest voices or the skinniest influencers are doing. Do as they say and you’ll look/feel/be just like them, right? Scrolling fuels the self-optimization trap in the worst way. Non-stop reels and algorithms fill your feed with fit bodies, new supplements, and must-have products guaranteed to change your life.

Furthermore, this isn’t limited to fitness. How many times have you swiped through your news feed and read a post that made you question your parenting skills, or watched a reel of a perfectly clean house while you side-eyed the mountain of dishes in your kitchen sink?

Look, I love learning, teaching, and helping others improve their well-being. Even as a professional in this field, I, too, feel this pressure to continually do more and be better. But, if we constantly try to improve ourselves without taking a moment to assess where we currently stand - physically, spiritually, emotionally, etc. - we end up aiming for a moving target.

I want my focus in the coming year to be on cultivating simplicity in my own life and, by sharing my experiences, I hope to encourage others to do the same. I don’t want to fan the flame of continual self-improvement, but rather, want to create space for self-reflection

While I still plan on writing about fitness, you’ll likely see my newsletters incorporate personal reflection and simple living. By peeling back the layers of life that aren’t serving us, we can find room for authentic growth. I honestly believe that’s all the self-optimization we need.

Next came the full. Honestly, I was dreading it after a rocky finish to my training program, but my brother swore he’d never let me live it down if I bailed on him since I was the one who asked him to do it in the first place. And, after seeing that the half was full and I couldn’t change my registration, I stuck it out.

For a mid-November race, the weather was perfection: slightly cloudy and mid-60s with a sweet breeze throughout. My (survival) plan was to run as far as my legs would carry me and then run-walk when I had to.

Despite the awesome energy during the first few miles, I knew better than to get sucked in and made sure I started out at a modest pace. Conservation was the only thing that would keep me in it for the long haul. I also knew that my brother was going to be faster than me, and I didn’t want him to have to slow down to stick with me.

The first half felt much like the half I ran the weekend before. It went smoothly, despite some unexpected calf tightness early on which I knew would come back to haunt me. I just wasn’t sure when.

When I saw that 13.1 mile marker, not going to lie, the thoughts of having to do it ALL. OVER. AGAIN. almost sent me into a panic. Instead of spiraling, I started some Marathon Math and started reframing the miles in my head: “4 miles x 3”, “just 7 + then 6”, and finally, just chipping them off one mile at a time.

Truthfully, I thought I’d fall off around the 16 to 20 mile mark, except delusion (the good kind?) set in. I powered through the middle section with the hope of someone who just took a swig of pickle juice from a couple dressed up like aliens (true story). I felt oddly unstoppable.

Around mile 21, my legs informed me they no longer were capable of moving at their previous pace, or really any running pace for that matter. I had plenty of fuel and electrolytes on board. I wasn’t cramping, but my body had produced enough metabolites to make me question all of my life choices. This is where the run-walking began and it felt much better to walk as fast as possible than to trot.

In the home stretch, the crowds were electric, but the ability to sustain a run was quickly fading. And, while seeing the finish line is usually the best part, the finish line was at the BOTTOM of a gigantic hill. I feared losing my kneecaps in the process, but didn’t want to walk over the finish line, so I hopped, skipped, and trotted my way to victory.

Am I glad I did it? Sure. I’ve written extensively about my desire to intentionally choose things that feel slightly out of reach and cause me to sit in discomfort. Movement is a gift. Full stop. I never want to take that gift for granted, and getting uncomfortable with training is a way to ensure that I don’t.

Will I do it again? Probably not. There are plenty of other great challenges and plenty of other things I’m not good at that I’d like to incorporate into my training. I’m not a naturally gifted runner, and the distance of a marathon (for me) does more harm than good to my body. My Garmin told me I had 65 hours of recovery the morning after, if that’s any indicator.

Additionally, the stress of fitting that level of training into my life was starting to steal my joy. I’m looking forward to just running for fun - completing whatever distances I want, when I want, and truly allowing my body to breathe for a bit.

It was awesome and hard and wild and just miserable enough to motivate me to continue pushing my own limits in new ways. I’m convinced the best way to live this life is to do the things that feel just out of reach. Proving to yourself you can do something that feels slightly impossible is good for the soul - maybe not for the legs - but certainly for the soul.

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My marathon is less than a month away and thanks to life doing her thing, I’m on the heels of two weeks without more than a couple of short runs and one week of essentially no exercise altogether. If this were any other time in my life, I’d roll with it and not worry about a break in my schedule. However, my training schedule is closing in on peak training volume and I’d be lying if I wasn’t slightly nervous about how this will affect me on race day.

As someone who has been in this position before (although not while training for a distance I haven’t run), I’ve tried a few strategies that have been helpful. So, I thought I’d share them with you.

Have the existential crisis & feel the feels. Whatever the self-help, therapists, and life coach gurus have ever said about naming it, claiming it, and then moving on from it: do that. While I’m not one of these kinds of professionals, there is validity in acknowledging the emotional weight of losing your momentum, feeling like you’ve let yourself down (which you haven’t), and, frankly, just being frustrated by the whole thing.

Show yourself kindness. The second part to naming your cavalcade of emotions is then responding with kindness, gratitude, and sincerity. The diatribe from your inner voice is going to want to rage against you and your alleged shortcomings. Start to silence your inner critic in a way that works for you: being in nature, journaling, mindfulness, boxing (?) - you get the idea.

While you may not be into flowery self-talk (me either), you can respond practically with thoughtful truths:

• “If I had a friend in the same position, I’d tell them they were doing the best they could.”

• “In the scheme of life, this is a bump in the road.”

• “You’ve put in so much work prior to this point that your body will still respond to the training you’ve logged.”

Do the next right thing… which doesn’t mean going on a long run or attempting some other monumental feat of movement. If you set out to make up for lost time, end up getting fatigued and call it quits early, you’ll be back in the same boat. This is also a valid way to sustain an injury and end up out of the race altogether.

In my current scenario, it looks like a few short runs a few days in a row to get some easy wins. I’ve been back to teaching my group fitness classes this week and have felt good about returning to that training volume (cardio + lifting + mobility). And, while we’re honest, it’s not the aerobic part of the marathon I’m worried about. It’s the potential of my toenails falling off at mile 15, cramps at mile 17, patellar tendonitis at mile 20, and

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The National Strength and Conditioning Association has advocated for the introduction of weightlifting in youth, provided programs are methodologically sound and supervised by a trained professional. At-home training, self-guided training in a fitness center, or group sessions with inadequate supervision are likely culprits for the injuries listed in the study above.

Start with Simple Technique

Just like adults, teaching kids how to lift weights starts with no weight at all. There are essential movement patterns that should be mastered before any weight is added to the mix. Starting with a dowel / broomstick / pvc pipe is an excellent way to move the body with the feel of a bar, but without the risk of injury. (If you’re wondering why machines aren’t an option, it’s because they’re not made to fit pediatric sizes. Even on the smallest setting, they’re often too large for young lifters.)

• Squat - Focus on pushing the hips back, and sitting back on the heels while keeping the knees aligned with the toes to avoid knee cave (valgus). As the body lowers into the squat, the spine should not round or fold forward. Having a small stool or chair behind them to feel adequate depth is ideal.

• Lunge - A proper lunge should begin with the feet on railroad tracks, rather than a balance beam. There should be appropriate width both side to side and front to back in the feet. The torso should remain upright while the back knee drops straight down. Both feet should stay pointing straight ahead. If the back foot tries to turn out, it’s because the hip is lacking extension (the ability to move behind the pelvis).

• Hinge - Being able to move about the hips, or to hold a hinge position is a critical step for bent over rows, RDLs and a variety of other upper and lower body movements. A proper hinge starts with pushing the hips back, while maintaining a neutral spine. It’s easier said than done with wiggly bodies and goes hand in hand with proper core bracing.

• Overhead Push - Moving weight overhead requires sufficient core stability. My favorite way to coach this movement is by setting up a split stance to eliminate excessive rounding in the low back. The pelvis should be tucked with the core braced. Instruct the lifter to exhale during the press and inhale on the return.

• Press - Whether an incline press or a bench press, teaching proper pressing mechanics begins in the starting position. The elbows should be tucked slightly to elicit effective shoulder engagement. A strong belly and powerful breath, coupled with a 5 point stance (feet flat on floor, hips on the seat, upper back and head back and hands on the bar) set up the lifter for success.

• Pull - As the arms pull weights toward the body, the shoulders can often compensate by “shrugging” up toward the ears. Keeping the shoulders back and down allows the back to facilitate the movement. Bracing the core and pulling from the back (but not with the back) is a key facet of movements like rows or deadlifts.

Safe Programming

Every training session should start with a dynamic warm up:

• 10-15 minutes of cardio to prime the system

• Dynamic movements that align with the training session. Examples: leg swings, glute bridges, plank walkouts, etc.

As your young lifter begins to work on the technique mentioned above, they should be able to complete 1-3 sets of 6-15 bodyweight reps with successful technique before progressing to weighted lifts. Once it’s safe to introduce weights, I’m still a fan of at least one bodyweight set to reinforce technique, expand the warm-up, and prime the brain for how the lift should feel.

In addition to effective technique, proper core bracing and breath should be utilized. The idea is to exhale during the challenging part of the lift and inhale on the return. If control is lacking on the return, work on cueing the athlete to “slow down on the way back home”.

Lifting on two non-consecutive days per week with an emphasis on leisure physical activity (and play!) helps keep movement fun and keeps post-exercise soreness at bay. Youth may benefit more from variety within their routine, so logging programs and weights used can be helpful for both engagement and proper progression. This can also be a great tool for exercise education in adolescent lifters, while giving them a voice in their exercise routine.

Ultimately, the best way to teach your child how to lift is to lead by example. If you’re uncomfortable with your own technique, one option may be to hire a trainer for both you and your child. Learning together can offer a bonding experience through shared success (and frustrations).

For experienced lifters who may have more confidence in technique and coaching, starting with the key movements above - even in preschoolers - can also help them grow their own confidence as they learn to move their bodies in new ways.

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When I signed up for this race last Summer, I was teaching three classes a week at my gym. Since signing up for the race, I now lead six regularly scheduled classes, and routinely sub for others as needed. Each week, I instruct two cycling classes, two yoga/Pilates/mobility classes, and two resistance training classes.

While my schedule is about as well balanced as it could be for both my instructor role and my running regimen, managing them in addition to my full time job as a professor, and my full time job as a mom has been really hard. (No surprise there.)

The running program I was originally following was a 16 week long, 5 runs per week routine with long runs on Sunday. After only making 2-3 runs per week happen for the first 6 weeks of training, I had to make some changes. So, I dropped a day of running, and opted for a M/W/F weekly run, moved the long runs to Saturday mornings, and dedicated Sundays to recovery. All of my regular group fitness classes are scheduled during the week, so that at least ensured the long runs would happen on the weekends.

Even with the schedule tweak, the training has been spotty at best (and that’s probably generous). But here’s the thing: my only goals are to 1) finish the race and 2) avoid injury. The majority of the time, when we set fitness goals for ourselves, we set these obscenely lofty goals that are unrealistic. In the beginning, when I set out to determine my race pace, finish time, etc., I kept worrying about the numbers and lost sight of the simplest goal I originally had: to finish well.

Finishing well means:

• I can walk if I need to

• I’ll take time to enjoy the moment

• I’ll celebrate every mile that my feet carry me

• I’ll savor the feeling that never gets old: being part of a collective body of movement. (No lie, I get emotional in races because it makes me so unbelievably happy to see people enjoying movement.)

If you don’t take the time to make the miles (or insert whatever metric that applies to you) count, then you’re not only missing out on the countless other benefits that fitness can offer you, but you’re likely fostering negative self-dialogue every time your training gets derailed.

There’s absolutely nothing wrong with challenging yourself, setting the goals, and doing the things. However, once you’ve lost the joy as a result of the excessive parameters you’ve placed on yourself, you’re also more likely to lose your momentum.

Exercise is not solely meant to be an effort in suffering. Find the reasons why you love to do the things you do and honor the movement for all of the ways that it helps you grow.

The funny thing is, I don’t really love running as a form of exercise. I love running for all of the other things that it offers me: time in nature, a quiet mind, grit, and feeling those deep, cleansing breaths. Those are the things that keep me going, even when the training isn’t perfect.

The miles you’ve run are miles that you wouldn’t have run otherwise. Every step is an achievement. Let’s celebrate any win that we can, regardless of who carries the trophy.

Simply Fit is a free, weekly newsletter written by Dr. Amanda Durall, a Kinesiology professor, fitness professional, and busy mom who aims to simplify exercise science and deliver practical recommendations to help you achieve your fitness goals. Want more free content like this delivered straight to your inbox? Subscribe for training tips, technique overviews, and evidence-based fitness content.

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1. You don’t have to get in shape before you come and see me. That’s like cleaning up your diet before you go in for your yearly physical. I want to see the real you. Sure, if you want to begin exercising or want to incorporate new things into your routine before using a trainer, you’re welcome to do so. But, please don’t think that I’m judging your fitness based on the skills, abilities, and body composition you show up with. I’ve seen it all and welcome you as you are. It’s the whole point of individualized training.

2. I don’t want you to be dependent on me (i.e. my services) forever. If you're new to fitness, one of the best investments you can make is with a qualified fitness professional. My goal is to teach you the basics of proper technique and program design. I want to foster your confidence in your exercise technique and your fitness knowledge. By growing self-efficacy, your belief in your skills and abilities will compel you to continue on your own. Learning how to progress safely and effectively will keep you functional throughout your lifespan. (But you can always come back for a technique refresh or for some new programming.)

3. I am going to help you reach your goals within the broader scope of functional fitness. Occasionally, clients will come to a consultation saying, “I just want to work on my core and my glutes.” And I love when folks show up with a vision. However, it would be a gross misuse of time and money if that’s all I did. While a trainer should help you conquer your goals, they can work on those areas you mention…and more. I always want training to be balanced and comprehensive. From a biomechanical perspective, there are likely plenty of other postural imbalances going on that are contributing to a weak core and glutes. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to change your body composition. Just know that it happens with a balanced approach (and usually a lot slower than you think).

4. I can’t want it for you more than you want it for you. Understand that when trainers take on clients, they want the best outcome possible for you. (If you don’t feel that’s the case, find a new trainer.) Naturally, there will be days where you just aren’t feeling motivated, you lack energy, or you had a stressful day at work and you’re off your game. However, if the majority of your sessions are that way, you’re cancelling more than you’re showing up, or you aren’t giving your best effort on your good days, then it may be a good idea to take a break. Regroup by starting smaller to build your gym habit - focus on simply showing up consistently for smaller bouts of work. Once you’ve built the habit, you can incorporate personal training sessions with the commitment is there. Your investment into training should be worthwhile and efficacious.

5. We aren’t magicians. We can give you all the tools, support, and recommendations. However, if you don’t apply those resources to your life outside of your two or three training sessions per week, you likely won’t see change. Cutting down sedentary time by walking or by simply standing more often, cutting out your daily Starbucks bev, and exercising on days your aren’t training are just a few of the changes that may be recommended to you. These changes don’t have to happen all at once. Approach those recommendations in a way that works for you. Yes, if you’re new to this, it’s overwhelming. Take the baby steps. Be honest with your trainer. They can help you strategize and direct you to other professionals outside their scope of practice for support.

   Most importantly: be honest with yourself. Own the effort you’ve invested and fairly assess the work that you’ve done in and outside of the gym. You owe it to yourself to show up meaningfully and wholeheartedly as you craft the best version of you.

   Simply Fit is a free, weekly newsletter written by Dr. Amanda Durall, a Kinesiology professor, fitness professional, and busy mom who aims to simplify exercise science and deliver practical recommendations to help you achieve your fitness goals. Want more free content like this delivered straight to your inbox? Subscribe for weekly training tips, technique overviews, and more evidence-based fitness content!

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My husband is an accountant by trade, so over the last ten years, I’ve had loads of practical life lessons as we’ve paid off debt, been meticulous about our saving, and been frugal when necessary. We’re minimalists and while we’ve still accumulated more “stuff” in our house than I’d like (thanks to kids), we are constantly pushing back against overconsumption.

That’s not to say we don’t ever buy anything. We spend money on things that we find value in, things that we and our kids need, and yes, we sometimes buy things just because. I love to thrift and have amassed a massive book collection through my secondhand shopping. (Books are the one area that I’m NOT minimal.) However, the reality is that we need very little to function and even purchasing secondhand can get out of hand.

I recently read Cait Flanders’ book, The Year of Less, and enjoyed following along as she documented her no-buy year. While a full year seems daunting, starting with a no-buy month (or even a week) could be a great place to start. No-buy doesn’t mean that you don’t spend a dime. It just means you put parameters on how you’re going to spend your money during that time period to avoid unnecessary purchases and overconsumption.

Make your no-buy list

We all have certain things that we know are problematic areas of spending (mine = books + food). Below are some other areas to consider.

• Individual drinks / snacks on the go (tea, coffee, smoothies, etc.)

• Cosmetics, fragrances, and/or skin care

• Electronics

• Clothes / Shoes / Accessories

• Books

• Kids toys

• Home Decor

• Eating Out

• Movies

• Alcohol (if you imbibe)

Decide how you’ll buy what you need

You’re still spending money during your no-buy experiment. You’re just spending it solely on what you need to function. Buying groceries, gas, and paying bills are unavoidable for most people. Decide how you will buy what’s necessary.

If you know that purchasing groceries in-person at Target may be a trigger to buy unnecessary extras, then place a grocery pickup at Walmart. One key to breaking bad habits is to make them more difficult to access. Make yourself jump through more hoops by shopping at a store you hate, so you’re less likely to spend money on something you don’t need.

Identify your triggers

Some people shop solely because they’re getting a good deal. They absolutely do not need the item they’re purchasing, but the dopamine takes over and they buy it anyway. Then, usually shortly thereafter, they feel the regret of bringing yet another thing they don’t need into their house.

Others shop as a coping mechanism for (insert stressful event here). They’re numbing something they don’t want to face. Maybe they’re having “me time”. Perhaps they’re just taking a break from their kids and going on a Target run. The thrill of buying something new gives that same mental override to their stressful day, and the cycle repeats the following day.

Find your minimum

There’s a reason why you feel so light when you go on vacation with only your essentials. Decision fatigue is quickly eliminated when you only have access to your favorites. The lightness reaches past personal belongings, too.

You’re not staring into the abyss of your overstuffed pantry wondering what in the world you’re going to make for dinner. You don’t have a mile-long list of places to choose from when you want to go out to eat. The rental isn’t filled with toys, either, so you have to go adventuring for new experiences to occupy your kids’ time.

No-buys and minimalism go hand in hand for this very reason. By not purchasing, you’re forced to face all of what you currently own and consume it mindfully. (Well, that’s the goal at least.) As you use up the excess in your home, you become more minimal in the process.

As you’re using up the excess you’ve accumulated, you can be critical in the best way about what has and hasn’t worked for you. Pay attention to what you keep reaching for. Finding what works best for you also helps you eliminate everything that doesn’t. Some products may serve multiple purposes. An example from my skincare arsenal: I use jojoba oil in place of shaving cream, to remove my makeup, and to moisturize my kids’ skin.

A behavioral experiment

At face value, a no-buy period seems like a financial experiment, but it’s really a behavioral experiment. Being exceptionally intentional about how you spend your money helps you identify triggers that elicit bad spending habits. The goal is to break the bad habits and to develop new ones.

Most underlying bad habits are driven by stress. You have a rough day at work, so you come home and let your brain seek out the dopamine in the quickest and easiest way possible. You grab a handful of M&Ms, plop down on the couch, and turn on the TV. Before you know it, you’ve squandered your opportunity for exercise and only feel like going to bed.

The ways in which we cope with stress are on autopilot. These are your bad habits in action. You automatically engage in the same behaviors when stressful triggers arise because that’s what your body knows to do. Changing those takes serious work, but money is a great place to start.

As I was writing this my husband said I’m the worst candidate for a no-buy experiment because I rarely spend money. However, I think self-discipline can be developed in a number of ways. Research also tells us if we turn our habits into a game or a challenge, we’re more likely to stick with them.

So, where are you going to start? If not a no-buy experiment, what other habits do you need to evaluate? It’s time to take a closer look at how our habits are running our lives.

Simply Fit is a free, weekly newsletter written by Dr. Amanda Durall, a Kinesiology professor, fitness professional, and busy mom who aims to simplify exercise science and deliver practical recommendations to help you achieve your fitness goals. Want more free content like this delivered straight to your inbox? Subscribe for weekly training tips, technique overviews, and more evidence-based fitness content!

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The reality is that women lose up to 10% of their bone density in menopause. With bone loss also comes muscle loss (sarcopenia), which is likely why your social media feed is filled with women talking about hitting their protein goals. Physical inactivity, coupled with declining levels of estrogen, can result in significant changes to bone and muscle health. A recent study revealed more severe menopausal symptoms to be correlated with lower muscle mass. While we’ve certainly made women aware of the need to strength train, there seems to be an underlying urgency that we still aren’t doing enough.

What constitutes enough?

Social media has women believing if they walk with a weighted vest a few times a week they’re strength training. Taking a group fitness class and lifting a set of 2 pound dumbbells isn’t going to move the needle either. While all movement is good movement, all modes of exercise still have a threshold for therapeutic outcomes - especially when it comes to resistance training.

I feel like we as a collective society have moved past the myth that if women lift heavy weights, they’re going to “bulk” up. But if you’re reading this and still believe that lie, I’m saying it again. If you want to become stronger, improve your bone density, and change your body composition, you have to lift heavy weight.

Untrained beginners obviously aren’t going to jump straight into heavy loads. In the initial days of training, those smaller loads are effective for novices. As the body adapts, progressive overload is critical for maintaining an adequate stimulus to the body to initiate bone remodeling.

The loads used in exercise should exceed the loads you move throughout your day to day life. So, if you’re carrying around a 30 lb toddler throughout the day, hauling in 6 bags of groceries at a time, and lifting your 50lb bag of dog food to feed Fido, it’s easy to see how the 5 pounders that you’re lifting in class aren’t cutting it.

Lifting for Strength vs. Endurance

There are four primary resistance training goals: strength, power, hypertrophy (increase in size), and endurance. Strength and endurance are on opposite ends of the training spectrum but most pertinent to this discussion, so I’m focusing on those.

Strength is defined as the maximum amount of weight you can move one time, while endurance is the maximum amount of times you can move the same weight. Both are necessary for the general population. You need to be strong and to have muscular endurance for stamina.

Endurance is commonly used in group fitness classes. High repetitions, minimal rest time, and a modest weight selection are all characteristics of endurance-based lifting. The National Strength and Conditioning Association’s guidelines for endurance are 2-3 sets of 12+ reps with 30 second rest periods.

The NSCA’s parameters for strength are 2-6 sets of 6 or fewer reps at or above 85% of 1RM. This means 85% of the weight that you can lift 1 time. Even if you don’t know what that number is, you can still dial in your weight selection by simply choosing a weight that’s heavy enough to only lift 5 or so times. Because each set is so taxing, a 2-5 minute rest between sets is recommended.

Only compound (multi-joint) lifts, such as squats/leg press, bench press, and deadlifts need to be done at this load. Smaller, accessory lifts that only use one joint, like bicep curls and leg extensions, should follow a less intense protocol. The more joints that are involved in the lift, the more weight that can be moved safely.

Even for individuals with osteoporosis, the American College of Sports Medicine recommends using a load that is challenging enough to make the last two repetitions in a set difficult to complete. ACSM also indicates that high intensity resistance training should be performed, if tolerable.

In addition to resistance training, multiple studies have incorporated jumping as a way to improve bone density in perimenopausal women. Jumping rope, or hops without a rope, done on a stable surface are an excellent way to evoke the necessary forces to initiate bone remodeling. If you’ve avoided jump training because you thought it was all box jumps and crazy plyometrics, you’ll be happy know that small hops are sufficient.

While the push to build as much muscle as possible is important to mitigate the losses that are prevalent during perimenopause, the recommendations for postmenopausal women aren’t much different. High intensity exercise consistently performed 3 or more times per week showed promising improvements in bone density.

It should be noted that oftentimes, in these studies evaluating bone density, there may be conflicting outcomes in studies due to where the bone density is measured (e.g. lumbar spine vs. femur). Some of this discrepancy can depend on the exercises used in the study. If the body isn’t loaded in an upright position, which may be common when older adults are being assessed, the spine isn’t sustaining the same load that the limbs are. Functional limitations in older adults impact study design, and therefore study outcomes. Lastly, outcomes can also be affected by the study’s power. It’s not always easy to recruit enough subjects for studies - especially using older adults. Small samples preclude us from assessing the true effect of the intervention.

Training Recommendations

So, what would this look like for a perimenopausal woman who has been training for a while and needs to up the ante? I’ve included an example with some rationale.

When I list cardio below, these are dedicated gym sessions 30-60m of some mode of cardio. This doesn’t include the regular 7k-8k steps you should be aiming for, daily.

Novice exercisers: I still would recommend the same structure below. While you may not be able to incorporate heavy lifts, training 3d/w is still recommended. Cardio and mobility are also still necessary for heart health. On Saturday, instead of the HIIT session, add in another cardio day to help build stamina. The key to progress from a novice to an experienced exerciser (aside from training time) is to increase the weights every 8-12 weeks as you feel yourself becoming stronger.

Monday: strength training

I’d make this a heavy lifting day following the strength protocol above for volume and intensity. Pick or two major lifts to go heavy on (e.g. deadlift, squat or bench), and incorporate other lifts at a lower intensity to address the whole body.

Tuesday: cardio + mobility

Recommend mobility sessions directly after cardio while the body is still warm for optimal movement. If time is an issue, mobility can be done at any time of the day. Pick 1-2 movements to work on for 10 minutes. Done.

Wednesday: strength training

Again, I’d pick 1 or 2 heavy lifts, and the others can be in the 8-10 rep range. While they won’t be as heavy as the primary lifts, choosing a weight that is heavy enough for the 8-10 reps will still elicit muscle growth (hypertrophy).

Thursday: cardio + mobility

These cardio sessions in between lifting days incorporate movement to workout muscle soreness. Dedicated cardio sessions in addition to daily walking are necessary to elicit a training stimulus to enhance your aerobic fitness.

Friday: strength training

For this training day, I’d focus on lifting for endurance. This helps offset the heavy days, but fortifies the training session with another day of total body lifts. Again, one exercise for each major muscle group is sufficient.

Saturday: HIIT

Since there is a rest day built in on Sunday, this would be a great place to incorporate a HIIT session. Because Friday was a lift day, I would avoid weights again and use this for sprint interval training: maximal high end cardio (10/10 effort) in short intervals (20-30s) with ample time to reset (such as a 1:5 work/rest ratio). The bike, treadmill, or rower are great options for this. Either after the warm up or immediately after the training sessions, I’d also incorporate a few rounds of jump rope or double leg hops (3x20).

Sunday: rest

After a busy week, rest needs to be built into the routine for the body to repair. I like coupling this with other forms of rest on Sunday - rest from screens, work, etc. While I still may move intentionally throughout the day, I do not engage in structured exercise.

Ultimately, the order throughout the week is important. Avoid lifting weights on back to back days. It’s also ideal to schedule high intensity cardio sessions after lighter lifting days. Following those parameters, you can still structure a similar training regimen like the sample above that works for you.

Now go pick up something heavy!

Simply Fit is a free, weekly newsletter written by Dr. Amanda Durall, a Kinesiology professor, fitness professional, and busy mom who aims to simplify exercise science and deliver practical recommendations to help you achieve your fitness goals. Want more free content like this delivered straight to your inbox? Subscribe for weekly training tips, technique overviews, and more evidence-based fitness content!

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The “experts” don’t only live on social media, either. I’ve been teaching group fitness classes for nearly 15 years. Occasionally participants will critique classes they don’t love - without any knowledge of exercise science or program design - telling instructors they wish a class had more Y or Z. It’s happened to me! (Side note: exercise isn’t supposed to provide entertainment value. It’s work. Sure, parts of it may be fun, but you’re not going to love every second of it, just like you don’t love every aspect of your job.)

Becoming a Discerning Learner

I understand not everyone knows how to find and interpret research articles, so that’s certainly not a prerequisite for fact finding. However, assessing someone’s knowledge based on their body type, their follower count, or how smart they sound, seems to be one of the biggest flaws in our chronic overconsumption. There are so many grifters on socials trying to make a buck through supplements, or by convincing you that your current routine is so flawed, you have to try their 30 day program.

I used to recommend making sure someone was credentialed, but sadly, even having a certification doesn’t guarantee someone knows what they’re talking about these days.

At the end of the day it’s your body. You can do whatever you wish. I’d never discount someone’s personal experience, so if something worked for you that perhaps wasn’t supported by the research, it still matters. Life isn’t lived in a vacuum and we all have unique factors that shape our decision making and action taking when it comes to our well-being.

Experts aren’t who you think they are

You should know that experts don’t know everything. When we go through graduate training, we often hyper specialize in one niche area of our field. We tend to know a great deal about very little. Acknowledging these shortcomings is critical. Until you realize how much you don’t know, you won’t deem it necessary to continue to learn more.

While I can only speak for myself, the research based content that I write about and share takes extensive research. Not all of the knowledge that I share lives rent free in my brain. So, in addition to reading the research, the texts, and whatever validated information I can get my hands on, I also consult with my friends and colleagues who are experts in other fields. We may not know everything, but a true expert is always in pursuit of more.

Tips for truth seeking

Here are some recommendations for utilizing credible sources.

1. For written sources, textbooks are always my first go-to for the general public. They’re written by experts in the field who hold terminal degrees in the content, and are usually a collaborative effort by many, many experts with each chapter having different authors. Think about it: nearly every college course uses a textbook as its foundational source of info. Textbooks are literally anyone’s opportunity to obtain free college-level information. They provide a scaffolded introduction to knowledge: concepts are defined, explained in context, and then linked to more complex concepts with pictures, graphs, and images. If you want to learn more about a specific topic, buy the textbook. Yes, they’re expensive, but $150 beats $3000 for a college course (and there are no assignments!)

2. Listen to experts who interpret the research. Most fitness influencers I’ve come across when scrolling spout off tons of opinions which aren’t supported with evidence. Whether it’s changing your training throughout your cycle or fear-mongering cortisol levels, an influencer’s job is to 1) grab your attention in 5 seconds and 2) sound really technical. This conveys expertise, whether the claims are validated or not. Luckily, to combat this, actual specialists in the field are translating the research into practice by explaining technical details in ways that anyone can understand. More of this and less exercise bashing, please.

3. Understand that books written by physicians and other experts often have the same underlying motive as an influencer: espouse a certain diet or method of training and convince you that you need to eat this way otherwise you’re doing it all wrong. They write to make money and to gain notoriety. That’s not to say don’t buy them or read them. As you start to learn how to discern evidence-based information, you’ll be able to assess a variety of viewpoints and make an informed decision that’s best for you.

4. Read the research. As you start to learn more in the respective area you’re investigating, visit PubMed.gov or Google Scholar and read the articles published in the last five years on that topic. Sure, some of the stats may be over your head, but you can always do a quick YouTube search to learn about that statistical test to better understand the interpretation. Scan the abstract, which is the small summary at the very beginning, to determine if it’s worth reading. You may not be interested in the methodology, but look at the information about the participants. For example, did the study look at males 18-25? If you’re a middle aged woman, these outcomes likely won’t pertain to you. In the article itself, the background section will also give you a good overview of the topic (with some more citations to cross reference).

5. Make a decision, take action, and be consistent. You can literally find any article to support any way of thinking. When you begin to learn, it can feel like drinking from a firehouse. The main issue that happens is paralysis by analysis. You constantly feel like you’re not making the most optimal decision, or there’s always something better that you could be doing. The fitness basics have been the tried and true basics for years because they’re effective when applied consistently. Don’t waste valuable time trying to make things perfect when you could just start and see what happens.

Do you have any other tools or tips you use when evaluating your health and fitness based content? I’d love to know. Share them in the comments so we can all become better together.

Simply Fit is a free, weekly newsletter written by Dr. Amanda Durall, a Kinesiology professor, fitness professional, and busy mom who aims to simplify exercise science and deliver practical recommendations to help you achieve your fitness goals. Want more free content like this delivered straight to your inbox? Subscribe for weekly training tips, technique overviews, and more evidence-based fitness content!

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His recommendation was a “Biblical training week”, which incorporates cardio, strength training and mobility with a dedicated day of rest (hence the Biblical reference). The rule for the training was that the same modality of training should not be done two days in a row.

A sample week

• Monday: Mobility

• Tuesday: Cardio

• Wednesday: Strength

• Thursday: Cardio

• Friday: Mobility

• Saturday: Strength

• Sunday: Rest

A couple things to note:

1. The dedicated cardio days can be used for HIIT, endurance, hiking, or whatever mode of cardio you enjoy. This is not referring to regular step counts that you should be aiming for every day. They’re training sessions specifically for cardio.

2. Focusing on strength 2d/w means that all muscle groups should be worked each time: chest, back, shoulders/arms, core, legs

3. Your rest day can be any day of the week that works with your schedule.

Dr. McGill also emphasized the importance of sufficiency in training. Rather than devoting an entire week to splitting lifts with virtually no mobility or dedicated cardio, one should prioritize balanced training. Knowing your threshold of “enough” is critically important to ensure you’re not hitting the ceiling every time you train. The caveat to this is that the more you train, the more you learn about your body and how you respond to various workloads and intensities.

In last week’s post, I mentioned how gym goers can easily get wrapped up into one style of training. If someone only does yoga, they may be highly mobile, but have practically no functional strength. Dr. McGill gives the example of a study done on belly dancers who had exceptional mobility in their hips and spine, but couldn’t do a single sit up. Conversely, lifters who spend all their time strength training are incredibly strong, but may have limited range of motion because they’re so tight.

When we think about functional fitness for the long haul - the type of work that’s going to keep us moving in our 70s and 80s - we need to understand that there is a sufficient threshold to movement. The workloads required for the constant pursuit for PRs, gains, and certain body compositions aren’t sustainable and tend to throw practicality out the window. The quest for the seemingly unattainable isn’t only unrealistic, but it creates a system of imbalance. Ultimately, those goals come at a cost and the body can end up paying the price.

A note for beginners…

If you’re looking at the sample week above and thinking, I can’t make that happen or am not fit enough to dedicate 6d/w to exercise, I get that. I’ve been there, too.

First, understand that mobility sessions can be as brief as 10-15 minutes / day and done any time of the day. I personally find that during my evening TV time is easiest and keeps my mind occupied while I do the work. Pick one or two mobility drills, stretches, or soft tissue mobilizations to work on during each session. It’s as simple as that.

To taper it down, you can also begin with 1d/w of strength training and focus on weaving small bouts of walking throughout the day to start to build a bit of cardiovascular stamina, while still aiming for 2d/w of structured cardiovascular exercise. This is 3 days of exercise in total.

The goal is to work up to a consistent baseline (and habit). Then you can start to build the frequency and intensity from there. Starting small allows you to get some weekly wins while the intrinsic motivation starts to take root. You’ll keep showing up for yourself because you’ve made the goal so easy that you can’t fail. Then you’ll be so proud of yourself for crushing your goals. Win - win.

A note for experienced exercisers…

If you’re looking at the sample week and thinking, this isn’t enough training, that’s okay. It’s obviously not a program for someone who is training for an event, who desires to exercise at a higher volume, or who is trying to lose weight. But that’s the entire point. Its focus is on simply being sufficient.

It’s a structure for the general population: for those who are busy and are trying to get into the habit of exercise, who are overwhelmed with where to begin on their fitness journey, and for those who have trained to burnout and need to dial it back.

Regardless of your training level, here are some questions to consider when you evaluate your own routine:

1. What are my training goals?

2. Why have I chosen these goals?

3. Is what I’m doing comprehensive (meaning it includes strength, cardio, and mobility)?

4. Is what I’m doing sustainable for the long haul?

Remember that when it comes to exercise, more is not necessarily more. I’m not trying to convince you to move less, but rather consider how you are moving so that you can optimize your routine. If you’re not recovering well and restoring your body’s tissue health, you training won’t be sustainable.

At the end of the day, I think we all want to move well for as long as we possibly can.

Simply Fit is a free, weekly newsletter written by Dr. Amanda Durall, a Kinesiology professor, fitness professional, and busy mom who aims to simplify exercise science and deliver practical recommendations to help you achieve your fitness goals. Want more free content like this delivered straight to your inbox? Subscribe for weekly training tips, technique overviews, and more evidence-based fitness content!

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We don't care how fit or unfit you are. We’re here to meet you where you are and help you grow.

One of the best parts of group fitness is the shared suffering camaraderie. Even if you’re super fit, trying new classes is a great way to mix up your training. Exercising with others can be incredibly motivating, but if you’re comparing yourself to the instructor (or to anyone else in the room for that matter), you’ll miss your own personal growth. Fitness is lifelong. There is no “destination”.

We were all beginners once and we’ve all felt like beginners when we’ve taken breaks (looking at you post-partum sabbaticals). When I first started teaching Spin, I could barely talk and ride at the same time. I was constantly pulling my mic away from my mouth because I didn’t want my class to hear me gasping for air!

We know how it feels to start new and we know how scary it can be to show up to a class. Rest assured that we have been in your shoes. Oh, and just know that aside from the instructor, no one in class is paying attention to you. They’re busy worrying about themselves.

We love when you take our classes. But, you shouldn’t only take our classes.

Seriously. I love when my regulars show up. I love having newbies! But, I also love when folks try new classes (and I don’t just mean the new ones I’m teaching). If you only do the same format, week in and week out, you’re likely either plateauing, putting yourself at risk for overuse injuries, and/or missing out on the benefits of a well-structured training program.

A few facts to consider:

-Lifting for strength is different from lifting for endurance. There are different sets, reps, and loads required for each. You should have both strength and endurance in your routine.

-You still need dedicated cardio for heart health.

-You can be strong and have zero mobility because you always skip the recovery.

-You can overtrain your core (and any other muscle group). More core classes aren't your answer.

If you’ve been at this for a while, you probably need to lift more weight.

If you’ve been training for more than 6 months, and your weight selection is the same as when you started, you need to lift more weight. Oftentimes, participants will just grab the same dumbbells for class without a second thought. However, without progressing the weight selection every 8-12 weeks, you’re missing out on musculoskeletal and metabolic benefits.

Another common mistake I see is folks intentionally choosing small weights because “they can’t lift a lot of weight”. While that may be true, relatively speaking, the key is choosing the maximum amount of weight that you can lift for the duration of the class. I get that it’s hard sometimes in a fast moving class to have the perfect weight selection for everything, but having a couple sets of weights that you can choose from allows you to start heavier and drop down to lighter weights (or bodyweight) when you need to.

Prepping for a class is no small feat.

From curating the perfect playlist (here are mine on Spotify!) to designing a scientifically sound workout, the prep put into coming up with programming is worth noting. For choreographed formats, the time it takes to learn and memorize an entire class takes hours.

We pay for premium streaming services ($), quarterly releases for our choreography ($$), continuing education units to maintain our certifications ($$$), and additional training ($$$$) to be the best we can be.

While we don’t teach for the money, if we showed you the math, you’d see we end up teaching a few classes for free before we “break even”. Your instructors commit a lot of time, money, and effort to deliver great programming because we want to. Delivering a great workout disguised as a great time brings us loads of joy.

Try your best + be kind.

If you show up to work out, give it your best shot. Sure, that looks different for everyone, but the energy you bring helps carry the class vibe. The planning, instruction, and effort that goes into making a class happen takes a ton of work, but that doesn't mean the spotlight should be on us. It’s a collective space of support, sweat, and strength.

You owe it to yourself to have the best possible experience we can provide. If the class requires equipment, or extra time to get you fitted to a bike, then that’s a key component of you having a great time. Give yourself a few extra minutes to meet with your instructor and figure out what you need. It’s a game changer.

One more thing: We fitness instructors know that you have favorites and that’s okay! We know we can’t be everyone’s cup of tea. But, if you show up for your intended class, and there’s a sub, or maybe it’s a different format than what you were expecting, guess what?

That instructor still spent time designing and prepping a workout to deliver, knowing they had someone else’s shoes to fill. Plus, you put in the time and energy to come the gym to work out. Running your mouth to your friends about the instructor or class doesn’t burn calories. Just. do. the. class. Try sticking around. You may just find your new favorite format (or instructor)… and you probably needed to mix it up, anyway.

Simply Fit is a free, weekly newsletter written by Dr. Amanda Durall, a Kinesiology professor, fitness professional, and busy mom of three aiming to simplify exercise science and deliver practical recommendations to help you achieve your fitness goals. Want more free content like this delivered straight to your inbox? Subscribe for weekly training tips, technique overviews, and more evidence-based fitness content!

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Research Question

The systematic review (which is when researchers pull a ton of studies that meet certain criteria and then compare them all) looked at studies that evaluated three groups: 1) resistance training, 2) aerobic training, and 3) concurrent or combined training (both resistance training and aerobic training in the same week).

Both aerobic training and resistance training contribute to fat loss in different ways. Aerobic training reduces fat by placing the body in a caloric deficit, when accompanied with proper nutrition. Resistance training enhances metabolism by increasing muscle mass. Because muscle is an active tissue, having more muscle contributes to a higher resting metabolic rate (RMR) and thus, more calories burned at rest.

Researchers wanted to know how these methods compared - specifically, if concurrent training contributed to greater fat loss since both methods were utilized within the same time frame.

Studies included in this review examined adults 18y and older, free of metabolic and/or chronic disease. Exercise interventions lasted at least four weeks and include a concurrent training group. The analysis included studies that were designed as a randomized controlled trial, using the aerobic training and resistance training groups as controls to compare to the concurrent training. This ensured that each control group only participated in their assigned mode of exercise (e.g. aerobic participants did not lift weights). Lastly, studies reported body mass or body fat at baseline and post-intervention.

Results

When compared to resistance training, aerobic training results in greater reductions in body mass (i.e. overall weight) and body fat mass, but preserves less fat free mass (muscle).

This makes sense, as in the absence of muscle building, body mass (weight) as a whole decreases, so muscle loss is part of that process. Similarly, greater weight loss occurred in the aerobic training group, when compared to the combined group, but changes in body fat weren’t evident.

When work-matched (e.g. same level of effort) comparisons across all three groups were analyzed, no differences in weight, fat mass, % body fat, or fat free mass were noted. Controlling for similar energy expenditure in all three groups indicates that all three modes of training provide similar body composition outcomes.

For fat reduction, aerobic and combined training both were more effective than resistance training alone. Adding in resistance training did not enhance or deter from fat loss. Ultimately, while aerobic training, greater weight loss may occur, likely explained by the energy expenditure that is evident across various intensities of aerobic training. Combined and resistance training programs generally have breaks buffered in, which may inhibit energy expenditure. However, aerobic training comes at a cost: the preservation of fat free mass.

Resistance training has been touted as the best way to enhance your excess post-oxygen consumption (EPOC). However, research has demonstrated that exercise intensity, not mode is the driver of this phenomenon.

Practical Application

If the goal is preservation of muscle, then resistance training should be incorporated into training programs. However, if equivalent fat loss is desired, then increasing the duration of combined training programs may be necessary.

Circuit training that increases heart rate while lifting weights can offer a greater metabolic demand than resistance training alone. But, if you’re only lifting weights with zero to very limited cardio, you’re not going to achieve the same fat loss outcomes that aerobic exercise offers. Plus, your heart health is going to suffer.

If the goal is to reduce body mass or body fat, aerobic training should be prioritized. These changes can be adopted in the short term (<10 weeks) to focus on a specific body composition outcome (i.e. weight loss), and then subsequently adjusted to meet training goals as needed.

Both of these are important implications for exercise professionals working with clients and for the general public as a whole. Knowing how the training decisions that you make affect your body is a critical first step in becoming an informed exerciser.

Simply Fit is a free, weekly newsletter written by Dr. Amanda Durall, a Kinesiology professor, fitness professional, and busy mom of three aiming to simplify exercise science and deliver practical recommendations to help you achieve your fitness goals. Want more free content like this delivered straight to your inbox? Subscribe for weekly training tips, technique overviews, and more evidence-based fitness content!

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I move my body because I want to. I also eat the foods that I want to. I don’t workout to eat “cheat meals” or to pay my penance to the calorie gods. You shouldn’t either.

However, I do try to fuel my body well. One way that I’ve been getting loads of veggies in is via a salad the size of my head. There are two things that make this salad so delicious.

1. The ease of preparation. Clearly, minimal work = more delicious food.

2. The simplest “dressing” on the planet. No pre-mixing required. I don’t know where this has been my whole life, but I’m never going back.

   Share this post with a salad loving friend.

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Here’s how I do it.

1. SHREDDED lettuce. This is critically important. I have come to realize that I haven’t liked salad as much as I could have before because I didn’t enjoy feeling like I was shoving a tree’s worth of leaves down my piehole. Enter shredded lettuce. Rip the bag open, dump it in, and enjoy the perfect proportion of lettuce to all the other deliciousness you’re about to add to your salad.

   

2. Add the accoutrements. See, I’m a food blogger, now. My go tos for this particular salad: black olives (although, I do love a kalamata), sliced red onion, grilled artichoke hearts (see: Trader Joes), and parmesan cheese. Sadly, I was missing some cherry tomatoes because I ate them all on the other five salads I’ve had this week.

   

   

3. Finish with the (not) dressing. Do not mix this in a separate bowl because no one needs another dirty dish in their life. Dump everything straight on top of your under construction salad mixture.

   1. Salt + pepper

   2. A drizzle of olive oil (i.e. the “good kind” if you care what Ina thinks)

   3. A splash of white vinegar. Lemon juice works well in place of the vinegar, or if you want a more citrus-y kick.

   4. Roughly a tsp of minced garlic. If you aren’t subject to any other human interaction for the rest of the day and want to use fresh garlic, it’s even more delicious. However, your breath will be kickin’.

      

4. Stir, then eat the entire bowl.

I’ve tried it with various proteins (e.g. grilled chicken, grilled shrimp) and it’s just really freaking delicious every time. Test it out with your favorite toppings and find your perfect blend.

Simply Fit is a free, weekly newsletter written by Dr. Amanda Durall, a Kinesiology professor, fitness professional, and busy mom of three aiming to simplify exercise science and deliver practical recommendations to help you achieve your fitness goals. Want more free content like this delivered straight to your inbox? Subscribe for weekly training tips, technique overviews, and more evidence-based fitness content!

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It’s been a minute. Well, over a month to be exact. I’ve been busy surviving the “end of the school year” obligations for my kids, continuing to teach academic courses (looking at you, Summer school), and working on some new fitness certifications.

This read is a completely non-scientific newsletter, by the way, so if you’re interested in what I’ve been up to, keep going. Otherwise, keep your eyes peeled for the next evidence-based newsletter.

1. I recently completed The Ready State’s Mobility Specialist Certification. Over the last year I’ve taken a very invested interest in all things mobility, flexibility and functional fitness. My goals have shifted from the performance driven metrics I set for myself in my 20s to being able to do all the things I want to do for as long as possible. I want to be running, cycling, lifting, and moving when I’m 70 and 80 (God-willing). This means training smart now, focusing on injury prevention, and focusing on quality over quantity.

   I’m incredibly proud of the fact that I returned to a consistent training schedule (after having babies), while teaching all my regularly scheduled classes last year and managed to avoid injury. I’m currently teaching more classes and base building my running in preparation for a fall marathon (my first!). I’m committed to 2d/w of strength training + balance training along with 2d/w of mobility + flexibility work (see below for how I’m working on that) to keep the running volume high and the mechanics strong.

2. I also completed another group fitness certification: LesMills BodyBalance. You likely know LesMills classes from BodyPump, which is their endurance focused resistance training class. BodyBalance is what I can best describe as a Yoga/Pilates/Core fusion with plenty of isometric muscular work woven in throughout. I wanted to add something to my teaching schedule that was flexibility and mobility focused so I could ensure that I’d get it done during the week. I’m so excited to offer this class to enhance my own training and support my musculoskeletal and tissue health. P.S. As far as group fitness trainings go, the LesMills certifications are no joke. You complete initial training, then have to record yourself teaching a full class, submit it for review, and THEN if you pass, are granted full certification to continue teaching the class regularly. Whew!

3. I’m planning on my first marathon this Fall, which basically means I’ve already registered, paid the monies, and put it on the calendar. Otherwise, there’s not much happening right now other than progressively increasing my Zone 2 volume. I use my cycling classes each week for my intervals and higher intensity work and will adopt a more structured training program about four months out. I’ve said before but it’s my “one scary thing” for 2025, so suffice to say I’m somewhat excited, somewhat scared, but mostly looking forward to having something to train for in the cooler months.

4. With all the extra fitness trainings I’ve taken on, my academic load, and keeping my kids busy this Summer, I’m not sure how much I’ll be writing on Substack. My hope is to at least publish a high quality article once a month. If you have any interest in specific topics, or want me to keep the Workout Wednesday series going by just posting workouts I’m taking my classes through during the week, let me know. I have a small following here, but I’m also not posting like those putting out paywalled content. My content is free. I do this as a service to the field, and try to keep it exercise science and fitness specific. I don’t expect (nor do I really want to be) Substack famous. My readers are mainly just friends and family, which is why I’m giving a life update via this post too.

5. I’ve taken a social media hiatus for the Summer and I think I’m going to be off of it indefinitely. Since having kids, I’ve lived by the mantra, “If it’s not serving me, it’s holding me back” and social media definitely provides no service to me. It’s a time-waster, an anxiety-inducer, and keeps us all from just living life in the moment. I encourage you to take a digital detox over the Summer and see how you feel after a month or two (or more!). We live in a society of chronic over-consumption - via food, consumer goods, technology, and even information. I don’t want to feed that monster. I want to model solid habits for my kids and removing addicting behaviors (such as phone use) from my life is at the top of my list.

If you’re read this far, thanks! I may occasionally post some more content like this as I go through marathon training. I’ll also provide a recap once the race has been run. If there’s anything else you’d like to see in the meantime, comment here or email me at dramandadurall@gmail.com

Happy Summer, friends!

Simply Fit is a free, weekly newsletter written by Dr. Amanda Durall, a Kinesiology professor, fitness professional, and busy mom of three aiming to simplify exercise science and deliver practical recommendations to help you achieve your fitness goals. Want more free content like this delivered straight to your inbox? Subscribe for weekly training tips, technique overviews, and more evidence-based fitness content!

Subscribe now