You want to strive for a balanced fitness routine, one that incorporates aerobic conditioning, strength training and mobility work, as this will help you stay healthy and injury-free for the long term.
“If you are constantly focusing on resistance training and lifting all the time, sooner or later, you are going to get a muscular injury. If you are focusing only on flexibility, sooner or later you are going to get hurt because you aren’t strong enough to do certain movements,” said Femi Betiku, a physical therapist and Club Pilates instructor based in Westchester, N.Y. “If you don’t have cardiovascular endurance, sooner or later you’ll see other issues happening.”
Although balancing all of this may sound intimidating, it is achievable, whether it’s adding in a little strength training and stretching to a workout routine that primarily focuses on cardio, or trying to find classes that incorporate a mixture of all three.
The important part is to aim for a little of each. “It doesn’t have to be these marathon workouts,” Bryant said.
For Betiku, one of the reasons he became a Pilates instructor was because many of the exercises he uses as a physical therapist originally came from Pilates. He realized that incorporating these exercises into a regular workout routine can help ward off injuries, especially if you are just starting out.
“The reason Pilates is such a great exercise to start with is because it helps to promote good muscular strengthening, it helps to promote flexibility and mobility, and it helps to promote overall endurance,” Betiku said.
Read more from Dr. Femi Betiku, Club Pilates instructor, on the Washington Post.
