Jan11Year in Review: Our Best Posts of 2020
2020 has been one heck of a year. From the pandemic, murder hornets, alien monoliths in the desert, and many other crazy things, 2020 has definitely been a wild ride.
The fitness industry in particular has taken a big hit, and many gym goers have shifted to at-home training, or have changed how they workout at the gym. Facilities and clubs everywhere have completely changed how they operate.
Fortunately for us at H4, we’ve been able to keep going strong. Our model of small group training allows for a more spacious environment, and even though there might be multiple people within our gym area, we are able to keep clients spaciously apart. 2020 was also a good year for our blog, and we wrote many posts to help people live healthier lives.
Below is our top pick for our best posts of 2020.
Why You Should Hire a Trainer (and How to Find a Good One)
This post outlined the benefits of hiring a fitness pro, and how to find one that will support your goals.
Having a trainer and taking care of your health & fitness is like the best life insurance policy. While we can’t account for everything that will happen in life, staying healthy will ward off many illnesses and injuries.
A good trainer can help you take charge of your health and fitness, but there are good and not-so-good trainers alike. We go over how spot the differences, and the benefits of our small group training model (which has the benefits of individualized training feel combined with the affordability and motivational push of small group coaching).
Different Ways to Measure Progress
Progress in fitness is never linear, but many people still see it that way. They become disillusioned into thinking that lifting bigger weights or dropping more weight is the only way to progress, but there is more than one way to get better.
Increased mobility, pain-free movement, better nutrition, improved sleep quality, elevated mood, stronger mindset; these are only a short list of ways that you can improve, but are harder to measure. Don’t constantly chase numbers in the weight room or on the scale, because those numbers fluctuate all the time.
Try to notice other positive changes that a healthy lifestyle has on you!
Stop Pressing Pause on Your Health & Fitness
Commitment is a big issue when it comes to fitness. Whether it’s due to life circumstances, or lack or commitment, many people that start a fitness routine eventually stop.
This constant “pressing pause” mentality doesn’t get you anywhere, and does more harm than good. Instead, follow the tips we give in the post:
- doing something is always better than nothing (example: working out 2-3 times a week for 20 minutes is better than not doing anything).
- learn that small steps do more towards your goals than only being able to take big steps.
When you do eventually have more time to commit to your fitness, it’ll be that much easier to get back on track than if you had done nothing.
Use This Simple Nutrition Hack Instead of Counting Calories
Counting calories works, but not for everyone. For many, it becomes a tedious endeavor, and is usually not sustainable for long periods of time.
In the post above, we give an alternative to counting calories, one that uses your hand for measuring food portions. The reasons why it works is because the hand is portable, proportionate, and the method is easy to implement.
Try These 10 Variations of This Underrated Conditioning Exercise
This one was fun to create. The jumping jack is a simple yet deceptively effective conditioning exercise, and there are tons of different variations out there.
From the regular jumping jack, to low impact variations, and more complex movements that will challenge even the most conditioned trainees, creativity is really the key here. At H4, we often use variations of the jumping jack in our conditioning portion of the workout when training clients. Its a great full-body movement and most people can do them.
Stay Supple: Injury Prevention and Mobility Tips
This one is from coach Tom, our go-to guy when it comes to mobility, injury prevention and prehab.
He gave us some good nuggets of wisdom in this post, with key points talking about proper warm-ups and movement preps, avoiding excessive fatigue, foam rolling, and some basic common sense. Read the article for the whole scoop.
Need Help Sticking to New Year Fitness Goals? Follow These 6 Tips
What kind of New Year related post would be complete without a post about New Year goals? This one was written on the tail end of 2020; within it, we talk about sticking to New Year goals, as many people make resolutions but have a hard time sticking to them.
The 6 tips we get into are ones that are more habit-based, rather than some kind of magic pill. The good news is that they are easy to implement, and can help you achieve those New Year’s resolutions (or rather, intentions) that you made.
With 2020 behind us, we look back at the many trials we faced. Not only as a business, but as individuals. We pushed through, experienced a new normal, and are stronger from it. Now with 2021 ahead of us, we are in a even greater position to grow and become better.
What ways have you grown from 2020? Don’t look at it as a bad year, but a year that tested you and gave you new experiences. Now you are even stronger and better equipped to handle 2021; let’s make it the best year yet!