Strength Before Endurance

As mentioned in the previous post, strength is an important part of your overall physical health, performance and fitness. Many exercisers (especially females) focus on endurance exercise. Endurance exercise provides many benefits, but my philosophy emphasizes strength before or in conjunction with endurance exercise. If you have been inactive for a while, mobility and strength training can correct common muscle imbalances, joint instability, inability to absorb ground-reaction forces, and joint pain. A current client offers this testimonial after training for only eight weeks:

"Dan, the most amazing thing happened on my 45 minute walk this morning! I was inspired to JOG and did 10 minutes of jogging intervals. I never would have considered it prior to my (Outdoor Group Training Sessions at) Cool Creek and pushing myself. My knee (which has given me lots of problems in the past) is complaining, but my spirits and self-esteem are high. Never thought I would actually start jogging at my age!"