How to train like a superhero
Avengers assemble.
It’s time to suit up and make your childhood dreams come alive. Run, jump, climb and fight your way to transforming your body into the beautiful, muscular specimen it is.
First, you need to get into the right mindset. Superheroes let go of fear, but they also take calculated risks. Not every superhero is born with the instinct, athleticism and control they need to get the job done.
Training is important. Start with a goal: jump over a fence, climb a steep incline, take a long leap, run fast, swing from vines, and so on.
What’s up next is just baby-steps. After a warm up that hopefully includes low intensity versions of your goal, try your exercise in small amounts. Record your progress every week or every workout. Train with a buddy or personal trainer to help watch your form or to help measure your progress.
Build in a series of exercises that allow you to develop in other areas: low repetitions and heavy weight for building muscle, plyometric (explosive) movement to add power, high reps or long duration exercises to build stamina, agility and coordination exercises to keep you quick and mentally sharp, and also flexibility/stretching exercises to prepare you for future workouts and release tension caused by stress.
Here are a few fun exercises to try: box jumps (from the ground, squat mid-way to low down and quickly jump to a platform directly in front of you), tire jogs (get a hold of a big tractor tire and slowly let it roll forward as you walk or jog on top), ladder or ring leaps (set up agility ladders or rings in various formations and work though a pattern of leaps), monkey bars (head to a nearby park and swing away.
Try forward and back, skip bars, sideways and more), ninja shuffle (squat low and shuffle quickly in various directions; you could add obstacles that you make you crawl, leap, roll, jump), barbell carries (load up a barbell and cradle it to your chest as you lightly jog back and forth), and rock climbing (head to various local rock climbing walls and test your total body strength and fear of heights).
Fitness 101 at Fanshawe offers Boot Camp, Super Circuit and Insanity classes that will help test your physical limits.
Try a class for free when you show the front desk staff this article.
Karen Nixon-Carroll is the Program Manager at Fitness 101, Fanshawe College Professor, YMCA fitness course trainer & examiner, Fanshawe FHP grad and holds many fitness certifications for personal training, group fitness and wellness. Email her at karen.carroll@fanshawec.ca.
It’s time to suit up and make your childhood dreams come alive. Run, jump, climb and fight your way to transforming your body into the beautiful, muscular specimen it is.
First, you need to get into the right mindset. Superheroes let go of fear, but they also take calculated risks. Not every superhero is born with the instinct, athleticism and control they need to get the job done.
Training is important. Start with a goal: jump over a fence, climb a steep incline, take a long leap, run fast, swing from vines, and so on.
What’s up next is just baby-steps. After a warm up that hopefully includes low intensity versions of your goal, try your exercise in small amounts. Record your progress every week or every workout. Train with a buddy or personal trainer to help watch your form or to help measure your progress.
Build in a series of exercises that allow you to develop in other areas: low repetitions and heavy weight for building muscle, plyometric (explosive) movement to add power, high reps or long duration exercises to build stamina, agility and coordination exercises to keep you quick and mentally sharp, and also flexibility/stretching exercises to prepare you for future workouts and release tension caused by stress.
Here are a few fun exercises to try: box jumps (from the ground, squat mid-way to low down and quickly jump to a platform directly in front of you), tire jogs (get a hold of a big tractor tire and slowly let it roll forward as you walk or jog on top), ladder or ring leaps (set up agility ladders or rings in various formations and work though a pattern of leaps), monkey bars (head to a nearby park and swing away.
Try forward and back, skip bars, sideways and more), ninja shuffle (squat low and shuffle quickly in various directions; you could add obstacles that you make you crawl, leap, roll, jump), barbell carries (load up a barbell and cradle it to your chest as you lightly jog back and forth), and rock climbing (head to various local rock climbing walls and test your total body strength and fear of heights).
Fitness 101 at Fanshawe offers Boot Camp, Super Circuit and Insanity classes that will help test your physical limits.
Try a class for free when you show the front desk staff this article.
Karen Nixon-Carroll is the Program Manager at Fitness 101, Fanshawe College Professor, YMCA fitness course trainer & examiner, Fanshawe FHP grad and holds many fitness certifications for personal training, group fitness and wellness. Email her at karen.carroll@fanshawec.ca.
