A trail workout is one of my favorite ways to beat the gym.  I love to be out in the elements.  It makes me happy and it make me feel strong (and there is research to back this feeling.  A lot of it.)  I'm challenging my body but also learning to listen to it and accept what it's telling me (even if I don't like it).  

If you're a local SLO resident, I did this workout on Felsman Loop.  But any trail or path with benches along the way will work.  And always take the time to soak in the view and observe nature.  That's the part that's good for your soul. 

Warm Up
Muscle Activation Sequence

• 10 Squats focusing on spreading the ground and engaging the core
• 20-30s Forearm Plank 2x focusing on tucking the tail bone, belly button toward the spine and strong through shoulders
• 20-30s Side Plank (on knees for warm up) 2x each side focusing on pushing top hip up, squeeze glutes, tuck tail
• 10 pushups

Dynamic stretching Sequence
*Do this as you walk the trail, ideally an open trail without protruding rocks for better stability 
*Always check in with your core, make sure it's activated as you proceed.

• Elbow to opposite knee alternating sides as you walk.  Stand tall, don't round through the back, twist at the waist, don't worry if your elbow doesn't ACTUALLY come to your knee.
• Finger tips to opposite toes (kicking a straight... or slightly bent... leg up) as you reach slightly forward and across. You should feel this in your hamstrings so go to your limits, your fingers DO NOT have to touch your toes. :)  
• Butt kickers - As your heels come back toward your butt, your hip bones in the front will pitch slightly forward.  The goal is to feel this in the quads. 
• Walk on your toes, bouncing a little, feeling your toes on the ground and activating the calves
• Walk on your heels, activating the shines 
• Start a light jog and take really little quick steps
• Transition into long slow steps, you should feel a stretch in the front of the back leg (Hip Flexor muscles).  If you're not feeling it, try to square up your hips a little.  
• Speed skaters - side to side steps with a forward direction (anterior lateral).  Feel the outside of your leg and foot engage to achieve the lateral step. 
• Jog backwards - this activates the shines, be safe!

First stop: Swing (I LOVE nature swings!)

• Swing push outs: hands on swing and slowly lean forward into swing as arm extent out in front (like superman).  Maintain a plank-like core and a little extension can go a long way!
• Inverted swing rows (this swing was a little high off the ground so there was plenty of clearance to hang underneath it) Straight leg is harder, bent knee is easier.  Pull your chest to the bottom of the swing, squeezing shoulder blades together and keeping tension out of the neck.  
• Leg lifts - sitting on the swing, lean back to activate core then lower bent or straight legs then raise back up.  Maintain core engagement throughout, take breaks when needed.  

Second Stop (Bench with a spectacular view)
*I brought a light weight, easy to shove in a pocket, band

• Bench plank walks with banded ankles - with band tied around ankles come into an incline plank with hands on bench.  Keeping core engaged and hips steady, walk hands and feet the length of the bench.  At the end, with slow precision, lower hand to the ground then the other hand and do a push up.  Back up on bench and back across.  
• Banded Squats - with band just above knees, come into a slightly wider than shoulder squat keeping knees pushing out resisting collapsing from the band.  Think of tearing a seam in the ground to activate your upper glutes.  Engage the core and hold 20-30s.  
• 10 jump ups (soft landings and controlled step downs)
• 10 push ups

Third Stop (Another bench with a spectacular view)
*This circuit was yoga inspired because I love yoga

• Matrix Shooters - laying on your back, clap all fingers except pointer and thumb....the shooter...and bring shoulders up off bench and to one side.  Opposite side leg hovers over the ground while same side leg slowly...SLOWLY...lowers to the ground then back up.  Very brief break between sides. 
• Single leg standing sequence - Warrior 3 to Dancer to L Anterior Leg rais (keep chore engaged, tall through spine and hips square...don't let your hip dip!)
• Shoulder press - with hands on the ground shoulder width apart step feet up on bench.  Start to rock weigh over hands (this will feel a little like the beginning of a handstand), press into the space between the thumb and forefinger to protect wrist.  Bend at the elbow bringing head toward ground between hands.  Your head may not come down very far, a little bend can go a long way.  

If you use this or put together your own, tell me about it on my Fit by Nature SLO Facebook page!

I get really excited and pumped about planning.  It's clearly the Type A in me.  I was a teacher for 10 years and there was something so invigorating about having well planned out learning objectives.  So I've been programming 6 weeks of twice a week workouts that have the focus of education, functional movement and progressive build.  You won't end the 6 weeks the same as you started, you'll be better!  Sign up here.  

First week will include some simple assessments to mark your baseline then some fundamental and functional movements.  Here's a little sample of what you might see at the first workout.  

SFT Pushups
SFT squats
Transverse leap onto (or not) a BOSU

*SFT=Sagittal, Frontal, Transverse  (the body's 3 planes of movement)

45sec/15sec + Tabata x3
Stage coach lunges with rope
Uneven weighted walking slolom 
Dynamic Bridge with a curl and a 15lb bar
Push up to side plank
Side step with an alternating rotation at each end
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Medicine ball slams with a pop back
Reverse curl with a 15lb bar 
Jump Rope
Body weight Rows
Squat with a bicep curl
Mountain Climbers

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This week's Circuit Saturday will focus on full body movements.  Dynamic motion that utilized both upper and lower body strength along with the core.  And don't worry, I won't make you keep up with this speed, it kind of gives me the giggles to watch myself going that fast.  Hope to see you at workout!!  

I'm super excite to get back into Circuit Saturdays.  I had some great adventures but I'm back and ready to do some coaching!  

This Saturday is SFT day.  What is SFT you ask?  I'd love to answer that for you!  Our bodies naturally move in three planes of movement: Sagittal, Frontal and Transverse planes.  When you train your body in all three planes you help your body move easier as you go about your everyday life.  Training the three planes keeps the workout functional. 

Hope to see you there.  RSVP on my Facebook Event or my Meetup Event. 

Felsman Loop and Bishop Peak have become my outlet, my go to, my place, my connection.  Don't worry, I share.  I have been to the top of Bishop Peak probably close to 200 times.  For about 6 months, I went to the top 2-3 times a week.  Some times I add on Felsman Loop before I go to the top, but Felsman offers a whole other set of assets.  There are several benches and even a sturdy picnic table, all of which lend themselves really well to a running circuit workout.  There's even a couple steep inclines for hill repeats (yay, hill repeats!!).  

I have taken a number of clients out on these trails for both personal training sessions and small groups and it's often their favorite session of all the locations and workouts we do.  Being out on the trail is one step closer than a park in actually being in nature.  Even though town is right there, it offers a little nature pocket.  Yes it can be hot, no there's not a lot of shade from the sun, but being out there under the oak and out on the grassy hillside with wind and bugs blowing through your hair, it feels really good.  It's hard to deny.  

I love going to the top of Bishop, because I love rock hopping DOWN the hill (I'm a downhiller).  But I also love Felsman Loop because of the ability to get some solid trail running in but also to build some strength by using my body weight and a bench or table.  Trails are now pretty populated by dedication benches, this idea can be adapted and that's the beauty.  Anyway, here's what I did today up on my favorite mountain.  

A shout out the Gymnazo, I wear this shirt with pride.  I never knew I could learn so much in 10 weeks as an intern there!  

 Bozeman has a little piece of my heart.  If you've ever visited you know why.  It's a place I called home for a few years and it's where I fell in love with trail running.  I competed in my first trail race there,  The Ridge Run.  There's quite a hoopla about this race now, it's even hard to get a spot, but back in '98 it was still a home town, small race.  I just had reconstructive knee surgery the year before and this rugged race what my knee's test.  I came in 2nd in my age group.  My knee passed it's test and has held up to my many trail adventures since then.  
 
In addition to being one of the most breathtaking places and being the birth place of my love of trail running, our best friends live there so we get to visit often!  This trip I brought my two young kids while my husband stayed home (lucky guy!).  So I didn't get out as much as I usually do, but I still managed to enjoy so much of what Bozeman has to offer.  I geocached with the kids, did yoga in the community gardens while the kids played by the creek, got a park workout in with my best workout buddy, enjoyed the Gallatin River (and yoga riverside!) and got out on a couple of runs that allowed me to drink up the amazing natural beauty.  Thank you Bozeman.  

There are countless studies that link being outdoors, in nature, around living landscape, in fresh air, in natural light with better health and well being.  Here is a easy to read list from Harvard Health Publication and here is a study on biophilia which concludes that there is substantial evidence that being in nature offers positive effects on health and well being.  When being in nature is coupled with exercise (releasing endorphins, happy hormones) that contributes to both physical fitness and mental wellness, the results are powerful.  It's why I have created Fit by Nature SLO.  I feel compelled and excited to share this connection to our natural world using fitness.  

Here's a few pictures of my time in Bozeman.  If you ever get a chance,  go!  And spend at least a week exploring the town, the trails and the fantastic scenery!  

This blog will certainly include what I do and learn as a personal trainer and a coach but it'll incorporate more than that.  Life has plenty of moving parts and balance can sometimes seem impossible.  Is balance in life really achievable?  Are we setting ourselves up for failure to think that we can have it all and keep it in balance?   I've been working on having empathy and compassion for myself, acknowledging the imbalance but not using it to bring me down.  So when a friend said that balance was a moving target, it made sense to me.  Because it almost always feel that way.  

Stay tunned for what's next....