Fearless Fitness Weekly Update 10/24: Make yourself a fearless FISH!

1.) Caroline Jordan Fitness Schedule and Special Events October 24-30

Monday 10/25: 12:05pm Cycle Express San Francisco Bay Club, 5:30pm Competition Core and 6pm Chisel’d EQUINOX

*** MONDAY 10/25 SPECIAL EVENT: FREE PUBLIC PILATES MASTER CLASS from 7-8:15 p.m.  at EQUINOX . Equinox is hosting an All Levels Complimentary and PUBLIC Master Class with talented Pilates Master trainer Carrie Macy. Join us for “Pilates Basics Refined – Core Strength Integration”. From 7-730pm the class will cover Basics and from 730-815pm work on Advanced Progressions. The class offers a dynamic, integrative, approach to the art of Pilates. All levels  are welcome to discover the positive impact that Pilates can have on the body and mind. Leap from classical to contemporary approaches to the method and find your center.   I’ll be there and would love to see you! COME . Equinox Pine Street. 301 Pine Street SF, CA 94014

Tuesday 10/26: 12:30pm Cycling EQUINOX, 5pm Ball, 5:30pm BOSU, 6 pm Spin Circuit, and 7pm Sports Stretch Club One Citigroup

Wednesday 10/27: 5:30pm Competition Core and 6pm Chisel’d EQUINOX

Thursday 10/28: 12:30pm Cycling EQUINOX , Run Club 6pm lululemon athletica Grant Ave . Never been to run club and not sure if its for you? COME! The group is fun, colorful, ALL levels, and welcoming. Meet a new fitness friend and enjoy all the free post-run food at the end.

Friday 10/22: 12pm Abs and 12:30pm Cycling EQUINOX . Friday is COSTUME day at Equinox! Come and see us all dressed up! 🙂

Saturday 10/23: 10 am Chisel’d and 11am Cycling EQUINOX

Find more information on specific club locations by clicking on the links included above.

FALL OUTDOOR TRAINING DISCOUNT! Receive $10 dollars off your personal training session for all outdoor workouts. For interest in individual, group, or corporate Personal Training Sessions – Contact Me for details.

For other wonderful community fitness events, check out the lululemon athletica Grant Avenue community online SCHEDULE.

2.) Fearless Fitness Tip Of the Week: SWIMMING!

“I DONT swim.” is the typical response I get when I ask my clients if they are into swimming for fitness. Most people feel discomfort, frustration, or confusion about swimming. Unsatisfying experiences with swim instruction, coaching,  fear of failure or the unfamiliar are to blame. I totally understand ALL of those reasons, but strongly believe swimming deserves a second chance.  Learning the sport could not only save your life..but also your fitness!

I was intimidated of swimming for the longest time – I didnt know the strokes, own a “speedo” swimsuit, and lacked the courage to jump in the pool. When a college running injury pushed me to find other ways to move my body, I was forced into the deep end. I hated it at first. I was slow, unskillful, sloppy, and angry about my injury. Frustrated, I just kept SWIMMING. All the practice slowly improved my performance and stroke after stroke the resentment washed away. I found myself becoming more skillful, fast, efficient…. and surprisingly starting to love it.

Since then, swimming has become a “moving meditation”. It always feels good, is mentally engaging, and physically pleasurable. I don’t know what I’d do without the pool – it brings me so much happiness. Swimming for the sheer pleasure of it will be the reason I swim for the rest of my life.

Not quite sure you’re ready for a swim cap and goggles? Here are a few reasons you might want to jump in to this fitness trend:

Swimming has long been herald as THE “ideal exercise” and it would be hard to find a better contender for the title. It makes your heart and lungs work more efficiently, enhances muscle strength and endurance, improves flexibility, and helps reduce stress. Yet swimming is easier on the joints than anything else that gets your heart rate up. Unless you count cross-country skiing, swimming uses more muscles than ALL other exercises. And it’s the only one that can legitimately make you feel weightless and free.

Burntout from the battle scars of other aerobic sports? Swimming is about as injury free as it gets in fitness. You wont face the bone-jarring shocks of land sports or the joint injuries that plague many joggers and cyclists. The water is kinder to your muscles. It’s massaging effect and the steady, even resistance it provides eliminates much of the postworkout muscle soreness so common in land sports.

Joints feeling stiff? One of the most important reasons for an adult to swim is to increase flexibility, because this sport promotes joint mobility better than ANY other aerobic exercise. And while swimming’s no fountain of cardiovascular youth, a 1988 study by cardiologists and exercise physiologists at the University of Texas Health and Science Center in Dallas showed that inactive adults improved their heart function significantly within just three months of beginning a swim-training program. Their hearts beat more slowly and powerfully and circulated blood more effectively. Regular swimmers have also been shown to have lower blood pressures, slower pulse rates, and much greater exercise tolerance than other people their age. On top of all this, the aerobic benefits of swimming one mile are equal to those of running FOUR miles.

Overheating is also nearly impossible in swimming. Water conducts heat from the body twenty times better than air does, so you can train at much higher intensities without the dehydration and potential heat exhaustion common “ashore”.

And swimming is an EQUAL OPPORTUNITY SPORT. Even if your weight, a physical handicap, or an injury would normally keep you out of action on land, you can probably swim. In fact many land athletes use swimming to regain strength and fitness after an injury, far sooner than they could by returning to their main sport.

Trust me, Swimming can be more fun than anything else you can do with your clothes on. It feels AMAZING and, no matter how hard the workout, you’re left so refreshed, so energized, that for the rest of the day no challenge seems too great.

3. Fearless Fitness Challenge of the Week: Be a FEARLESS fish!

You may never be a candidate for the swim team but it’s never too late to learn to love swimming. Here are a few tips that will help set you up for swimming success:
  • BELIEVE you can do it. Most people have it set in their minds that they lack the coordination or ability to swim …. or that swimming “just ISN’T for them.” That is the BIGGEST obstacle to overcome when you want to learn something. Its easy to get frustrated quickly and give up. Learning to swim will take time and you must take it at your own pace. Praise yourself for each achievement, no matter how small, and ALWAYS stay positive. If you believe you can learn to swim – you will!
  • Check out  when your local pool has swimming classes or times when the pool is usually quiet. It is probably also worth investing in a few private lessons to help you get your feet wet in the water. If you dont have a coach handy, you can always ask the lifegaurd to watch your stroke and give you tips (The lifegaurds taught me A LOT at UC Davis!)
  • Go with a friend and have a great time in the pool. You’ll want to go back if you make it a fun experience. You’ll be more motivated and consistent with your  workouts if you have a friend join you for your swims.
  • Don’t give up. Invest in PRACTICING swimming…. it will come, just keep MOVING!
  • STAY confident and enjoy LEARNING something new – swimming takes time but it’s worth jumping into!

The best part about swimming for fitness? You’ll always be able to do it. Learn now and you’ll be rockin’ that swim suit well into your 90’s 😉

This week I challenge you to take your fitness into the POOL. Become a “fearless fish” and use water workouts to improve your fitness! Cant wait to hear all about your  underwater adventures in class this week. As always, please feel free to email me with any questions…. or if you need a pool buddy to join you for a swim! Have a beautiful week and I’ll see you for a workout soon!

Caroline

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *