“I have a gym membership.” “I ordered that diet program that has been changing everyone’s bodies.” “I reached my steps for today.” “I ordered a Seltzer with a lime instead of a drink.”

All of these are great. You are taking a step towards a better, healthier you. But, this is only one step taken of a whole staircase. Have you continued to follow through with that step? Fitness and wellness is not something that you can take one step towards and forget about all the other steps you have to take in order to create that picture you have in your head. You have to be dedicated to wanting to change your life, not just the thought of changing your life. That goes for your workouts, your diet and your self care (meaning the steps you make in order to take care of injuries and stresses you may have with your body). I know it is hard work, but remember you’re on a staircase not just a couple of steps!!!

4 Pillar Fitness was created in order to keep your vision clear and your head in the game. Each pillar represents a different facet of fitness:

Strength can have many different meanings. Strength in regards to your physical training is being able to get over that next hurdle and push yourself harder to achieve greater results. People say it all the time, “I do not want to get to strong because I do not want to look big and bulky.” Progressions in strength, or in this case being able to lift more, is only going to help your physical results you are trying to achieve. It all comes down to the reps and sets you are able to achieve with the weight you are using. 3 Sets of 10 with the same weight...guess what? Time to go up, even just 5 pounds. Those last 3 to 4 reps should be a controlled struggle that you can achieve with good form. You want to push your body. If you do not push, then you’re not going to reach your goal. Strength can also have a meaning when it comes to deciphering right and wrong. “Do I eat that piece of cake?”. “Sure another drink.” There are many elements that make this Pillar thrive in our every day life. Some of which are integrity, respect & willpower. All of which make yourself a better...stronger...you.

Endurance is that drive, that push, that makes you keep striving to go further, to get more. Even if the road looks like it is never ending...you are going to get there!! When it comes to endurance in fitness there are plenty of times I say to myself, “Alright, I’m good, I did enough,” when I know the truth. That little person inside my head is telling me I have so much more in me and I gave up before I should have. You have to get through these obstacles and push your body. You will be surprised what your body is capable of. Don’t give in when you know you are stopping just because you have reached that number or feel like you were good enough. Make sure your body KNOWS that you are good enough and you gave it everything you got and pushed every last piece of effort you could have, every step of the way. That’s endurance...being able to mentally and physically achieve more than what you expected. Don’t just use that for your fitness goals that is a platform you can use for your every day life as well. I call this exact method The #MachineLife

Conditioning is one of the more interesting Pillars. Some people LOVE this pillar while others never want to step foot on a treadmill or go for a run outside. Yet conditioning is an essential part of your fitness journey. There are some ways to achieve aspects of it without actually having to use a machine or go for a run for miles. Conditioning can be achieved in a fitness routine by using a method of super sets in order to keep your heart rate up at an exceeded level while you are lifting. At the same time, the more compound motions you can include in your routine the more you will push your body and heart rate. Now put it all together and include super sets and compound moves all in the same workout. Heart rate increases, calories are burning and you are training a different way in order to keep your body shocked and moving in the right direction. Not saying this is a way to train every day of the week, but to include a couple days of the week with this type of training method you will be helping your fitness journey significantly!! In my opinion, conditioning is not something that you have to do for an exceeded amount of time. The results you are looking for can be achieved in just about 30 minutes of straight conditioning.

Mobility is the most important Pillar of the 4. Keeping our bodies mobile and stress free is one of the most difficult battles every one of us face. Most of the reasoning behind the lack of mobility in humans is due to the state of living we put ourselves through. We are always rushing, moving from one activity to the next, packing as much as we can into every day, planning every next move like we do not have a choice. You have a choice!!! It is up to you to take it and that is the first step of letting your body becoming more mobile. Giving yourself that extra 15 minuets after your workout to stretch. Take one day of the week and instead of lifting weights or doing cardio, put your efforts into a mobile recovery routine. This is going to allow your body to increase its flexibility, range of motion and endurance for your muscles. Providing a larger and more pliable platform for your body to pump more blood and oxygen to your muscles because they are now expanded and more susceptible due to the recovery routine you have now allowed time for. When you train your body, ex: lifting weights, cardio, calisthenics, HIIT....all of these routines create little tiny tears in your muscles that load up with Lactic Acid creating that post soreness your body feels after a workout routine. It is absolutely key to allow these tears to heal before you work them out again and re-tear the muscle. That period of being sore is the time your body is healing these tears and making your body stronger. If you do not allow this time for healing then you are stunting your progress dramatically. You can train mobility by itself with a stretching or Myofascial Release program, Yoga, Massage or even Martial Arts. You can also include mobility based exercises throughout your workout routine to help improve your joint mobility and flexibility on top of adding in the extra day by itself. This adds a type of excitement to your routine and lets you get creative with your movements. Not allowing your body to get complacent throughout your routine and consistently adding in different maneuvers will allow your body to be more mobile.