Reaching back to slide your arm into a zip-up hoodie, fixing a bun or ponytail in your hair, or simply lying on your side while sleeping in your bed shouldn’t be too challenging. However, for those of us who have endured an injury to one or both of the shoulders, a seemingly simple everyday life …
Category: Strength and Conditioning Napa
Jul 25
Using Exercise to Adapt to Changes in an Aging Body
After a three-hour competitive pickleball session with a few of my pickleball peers, we sat on the bleachers outside Vineyard Park in Yountville. Covered in a fine coat of sweat and sunscreen, we admired the picturesque landscape to the east. Miles of trellised grape vines paved a vibrant green blanket of grape leaves and native …
Jul 02
Regaining Confidence after a Knee Injury
Our knees are one of the most critically important components of our bodies, allowing us to perform a vast number of human functions throughout the experiences we participate in while we exist on Earth. Along with the ability to eat, breathe, see, and hear, humans are granted an ability that we depend on more than …
Jun 26
Progressing toward challenging exercises safely and appropriately
“So, when do I get to use the dumbbells?” said Blaze, as she passed by me in between her sets of completing a round of step-up exercises. Caught off guard slightly by this question as I was attempting to avoid electrocution during some maintenance work in the gym as I was doing my best impression …
May 24
Keeping Fit in a Foreign Land
A few months of telling clients, fellow coaches, and friends that I’d be leaving the continent for three weeks to embark on a much-desired trip to a faraway land have finally come to fruition. Being fortunate enough to be able to travel and take a hiatus from my normal daily work life has been a …
May 16
More Like a Gift, Less Like a Chore: Sustainable Cycles of Exercise
Eating healthier, getting more sleep, being more productive, and reducing stress in all aspects of life, including family, professional, and recreational sectors, are essential components that support our most cherished goals and responsibilities. Health-related goals, such as maintaining a reasonable body weight and regulating metabolic parameters, including optimal insulin and cholesterol levels, help support people’s …
May 03
Good Posture and Keeping the Shoulder Blades Down and Back
Standing upright doesn’t seem like a task we should have to consciously put effort toward. The ability to keep the body vertical with the head, torso, and legs perpendicular to the ground can be commonly overlooked. That is, until the muscles, bones, and joints bracketing the supporting structures meant to keep the body in the …
Apr 25
Becoming Comfortable Getting Up From the Ground
Before the time chairs were invented and humans needed to get up and down from the ground, in the time when dinosaurs roamed the Earth, I would assume that activities requiring a flat surface, sitting, and sleeping mainly happened on the ground. I’m sure cavemen and cavewomen probably had the sense to use rocks to …
Apr 19
Managing Arthritis and Osteoporosis- Strong Muscles Lead to Strong Bones
“My joints make some exciting noises when I get out of bed in the morning,” commented one of our personal training clients, Natalia. “See? Watch this,” Natalia added as if demonstrating a magic trick. Natalia bent down to pick her exercise mat off the ground, and a few grinding and popping sounds could be heard …
Apr 11
Finding Time to Exercise when Time is at a Premium
Acquiring a membership to a local gym, attending small group fitness classes, or signing up for personal training has proven time and time again to aid in refining an individual’s health and fitness. Building muscular strength, redistributing fat mass to lean muscle, enhancing mood, staving off risk factors for metabolic disease, managing stress, and contributing …