Here’s Why You Should Totally Be Cross Training
We’re going to let you in on a secret, the key to the best (read: healthiest) life is balance. A balanced diet, work-life balance, and yes, a balanced workout routine. You would never eat just one food for the rest of your life, so why do we so often stick to one and only one workout? To hit maximum #FitnessGoalz you gotta start cross training, and here’s why.
Cross Training Prevents Hitting a Fitness “Plateau” & Gets You to Your Fitness Goal
Think back to the first time you ever tapped it back in the Dome. You probably crawled walked out drenched and your legs felt like jello. As you continue to ride your body gets stronger and more accustomed to the workout, so your 500th ride is not as hard as your first ride. This concept is called fitness plateaus and it is basically when your body gets too comfortable with a workout. That’s why you need to crank up your resistance, go up in weights, and even mix in other types of workouts to keep your body on its toes. This will push your body and help you burn more calories and build more lean muscles (who doesn’t want that?!)
Cross Training Prevents Injury
When you do the exact same workout over and over, you are working the same muscles and putting pressure on the same joints. Over time this can actually lead to an increased risk of injury. By keeping variety in your workout routine, you are adjusting the strain to ensure you do not over exude the same muscles and joints. By switching up your routine you give your body time to rest without having to take an off day (i.e. you can enter into total beast mode).
Active Recovery
Different exercises also offer different benefits. If you did a workout that really pushes your muscles, like THE22, riding or taking a low intensity workout like yoga can prevent lactic build up and make you less sore. This concept has been shown to actually speed up recovery by increasing blood flow and the delivery of nutrients to stressed or damaged muscle tissue, so you’ll actually be able to walk after you crush your workout.
So, I think we can all agree that cross training is a total must, but it can be hard to find multiple workouts that you love. PSA: We’ve got you covered! Here’s a few of our fave ways to get moving and keep our bodies guessing.
High Intensity
THE22— our new HIIT program in our Fort Worth Studio is designed to strengthen and surprise the body with fresh, functional exercises, all in less than 45 minutes, optimizing your time for the maximum fat burning sesh. High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) provides opportunity for one to reach their maximum heart rate threshold for a short amount of time, which pushes the body into Excess Post-workout Oxygen Consumption (aka EPOC, “After Burn”), giving one a metabolic boost up to 36 hours after finishing the workout. YUP, that means the rate at which you burn calories is higher even at rest after one session in THE22. Try it for FREE and see what the hypes all about.
Low Intensity
Indoor Cycling— The best part of cycling is the personal challenge. You can have the ride of your life one day or use a spin class as an active recovery workout. Aside from the physical benefits, the RIDE is the ultimate workout for the mind and spirit. We don’t call it Sweat Therapy for nothin’!
Sculpt—Tone and tighten your muscles in a sculpt class. This will target direct muscle groups you didn’t even know you had.
Yoga—Increase your flexibility and help relieve pressure on your joints
Take a walk—Your rest day should never be stationary rest. The weather is FINALLY gorgeous in DFW. Walk along the Katy Trail or the Trinity River and soak up some Vitamin D.
Basically, we’re all out here to look, feel and BE our best. Whether you’re tapping it back in the Dome, training on The Turf in THE22 or toning it up in SCULPT, there’s never been a better way to reach that #BALANCE of mind, body and spirit.