Dopamine is the brain’s natural motivation messenger. It helps you feel focused, energized, and engaged. During winter, dopamine can be harder to access, which is why simple daily habits play such an important role. You do not need a full workout plan or a dramatic lifestyle overhaul — you just need small, intentional practices that help you feel grounded and capable. These gentle shifts can build real momentum, even on the darkest days.

Below are five habits I encourage people to weave into their fall and winter seasons. They are realistic, approachable, and supportive. Think of them as tools you can reach for whenever you need a little boost.

FIVE DOPAMINE-FRIENDLY WINTER HABITS

1. Move Daily

• Short bursts of activity count. A quick walk, stretch session, or gym visit stimulates dopamine release and supports mental clarity.
• Add movement to routines you already have, like doing a few exercises while your coffee brews.
• Use short movement breaks during the day — two to five minutes is enough to shift your mood.
• On low-energy days, begin with two minutes. Often, the hardest part is starting.

2. Celebrate Small Wins

• Completing realistic tasks sparks a healthy release of dopamine. Simple accomplishments such as making the bed or completing a weekly movement plan help maintain momentum during darker months.
• Keep a simple list of daily wins on your phone. It can include anything that makes you feel proud or steady.
• Pair habits together, like stretching after making your bed or taking ten slow breaths before opening your laptop.
• Speak your progress out loud. Acknowledging your efforts builds confidence and motivation.

3. Strength Train in Bite-Sized Sessions

• Lifting weights or performing resistance exercises can help regulate hormones such as dopamine and reduce cortisol levels. Foundational exercises such as squats, planks, glute bridges, and push-ups can be performed at home or at the gym to build both physical and mental strength, while also boosting self-esteem and improving motivation.
• Aim for two or three short sessions each week:
 • Lower Body: Squats, glute bridges, and lunges for about ten minutes.
 • Core and Upper Body: Planks, push-ups, or band pulls for about ten minutes.
 • Full Body Reset: Light circuits that combine core, legs, and upper body for about fifteen minutes.
• Shorter sessions are easier to stick with and still provide all the mental and physical benefits you need through winter.

4. Pause for Mindfulness

• A few quiet minutes can reset stress responses. Meditation, intentional breathing, or a silent walk helps regulate dopamine patterns and reduce tension.
• Try one or two minutes of box breathing.
• Go for a quiet walk without headphones and let your mind settle.
• Use micro breaks between tasks to take a few slow breaths.
• Create a gentle evening routine with stretching or reading to help your body wind down.

5. Keep Sleep Consistent

• Seven hours or more supports the activity of dopamine receptors. A regular bedtime and wake time protects energy, attention, and mood regulation.

Winter may feel long, but it does not have to feel defeating. When you support your body with small, intentional habits, you create a foundation of resilience that carries you through the season. Movement, mindfulness, and consistent rest are powerful tools that help you stay steady and connected to yourself. Each small action is a reminder that you are strong, capable, and worthy of feeling good, no matter what the weather is doing outside.

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Read This Story in Our 2025 Holiday Gift Guide Edition

IMPACT Magazine’s 2025 Holiday Gift Guide Edition is packed with our most inspiring gift ideas yet! It’s curated for the health-minded, fitness-driven, wellness-focused and food-loving people in your life. From standout essentials to unexpected finds, everything you need to complete your list is right here. Plus, don’t miss our ‘Best of Holiday Recipes’ collection!

Despite support for sampling, it is not uncommon for youth to specialize in a single sport from an early age where apparent benefits of early specialization are promoted. It is now acknowledged, however, that early specialization potentially increases injury rates, likelihood of burnout, and eventual disengagement from sport and physical activity. One particular concern focuses on the increasing incidence of overuse injuries related to participation in a single sport or a single position in a sport. Specialization subjects children to high volumes of repetitive training that promote the monotonous development of a narrow range of movement patterns, and provides insufficient opportunities for rest, recovery, and adaptation. Such an approach to physical development can lead to repetitive submaximal loading of the musculoskeletal system, which may result in overuse injury. For example, research indicates that when a high volume of baseball pitching is completed in the absence of developmentally appropriate preparatory physical conditioning, the risk of overuse injury in the shoulder or elbow is likely to increase in young athletes.

Beyond the importance of sampling with qualified instruction to reduce the risks of overuse injury, sampling is also central to the development of athleticism. Fundamental movement skills and requisite levels of muscular strength serve as the building blocks for global, more complex movements at a later stage of development. Therefore, for all children, possessing competence in a breadth of movement skills is more important than acquiring a depth of mastery in a very narrow range of skills.

For example, early maturing children who are taller and stronger than peers may be encouraged to play the centre position on a high school basketball team. However, even if they succeed, they risk developing only a finite number of movement competencies that are specific to that position if they engage only in sport- and position-specific practice sessions and competitive basketball matches from an early age. In addition, they will typically be at a heightened risk of developing muscular imbalances and asynchronous movement discrepancies, which, in the absence of targeted training programs to address neuromuscular deficiencies, will fail to prepare them for the demands of sport practice and competition. In such cases, though they may develop proficiency in basketball-specific skills, their athleticism and ability to use transferable motor skills in different positions, different sport environments, and different physical activities will likely be reduced, both on the playground and in sport settings.

We also find a need for sampling when we take a global health perspective on helping young people develop a broad range of movement skills to promote a satisfactory level of physical literacy. This notion is supported by research showing that children who possess, or perceive themselves as possessing, competent fundamental movement skills are more likely to engage in sport and physical activity, both throughout childhood. In addition, motor skill competence has been shown to be inversely associated with overweight and obesity during childhood. Moreover, motor skill competence appears to decline over time thus highlighting the critical importance of early engagement in appropriate training for long-term athletic development.

Empirical data from research in 2011 have shown that specializing later and being exposed to lower volumes of deliberate practice early in life act as significant determinants of elite performance in adulthood. Specifically, the authors collected retrospective data about the careers of a sample of 243 Danish athletes from sports measured in centimetres, grams, or seconds (e.g., track and field, weightlifting, swimming). The data showed that elite athletes (those who achieved a top-10 finish in a world championship or medaled at the European level) accumulated fewer hours of practice in their main sport during childhood and adolescence than did near-elite athletes. In the study, age at the time of first competition was about 14.5 years for elite athletes and 12.4 years for non-elite athletes. Overall, the study indicates that athletes who accumulate more hours of specialized practice and focus on competitions at an earlier age may initially experience relative success yet be unable to maintain it as they grow older. The study also showed that elite athletes intensified their training toward the end of adolescence, which resulted in a higher accumulation of training hours around the time of early adulthood.

Research also shows that greater sport diversification in early years and later specialization leads to improved physical fitness performance and superior gross motor coordination in six- to 12-year-old boys. In a sample of 735 boys, individuals were categorized as either single-sport or multisport participants. Across all three age groups (six-eight, 8-10, and 10-12 years), boys involved in multiple sports spent more time on sport per week (on average, one or two additional hours). More specifically, the research reported two key findings for the 10- to 12-year-olds: those who participated in more hours of sport per week performed better than those who participated only periodically, and those who specialized in a single sport performed significantly worse in terms of gross motor coordination and standing broad jump tests. Combined, these findings suggest that youth benefit from greater exposure to a variety of sport and physical activities (tempered with appropriate rest and preparatory conditioning) and that early specialization can lead to reduced physical performance and a blunting of motor coordination.

Aside from the potential benefits for physical performance, research has also shown that later specialization leads to reduced injury risk in adolescent females. A 2015 study showed that in a sample of 546 female youth athletes (comprising middle and high school years), early specialization increased the relative risk of knee-related injury by a factor of 1.5. Diagnoses included patellar tendinopathy and Osgood-Schlatter disease, the latter of which showed a fourfold increase in relative risk in single-sport specialized athletes versus multiple-sport athletes. These data show that diversification appears to be beneficial not only for physical performance but also for reducing the relative risk of injury in youth. Consequently, it would seem prudent for any long-term athletic development model to accommodate a diversification approach that enables children to sample a range of activities and sports before specializing in a single sport or activity at a later stage of development.

Extract from Essentials of Youth Fitness, backed by the American College of Sports Medicine (2020). Edited and reprinted with permission of www.Canada.HumanKinetics.com.

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Read This Story in Our 2025 Fall Fitness Issue

IMPACT Magazine’s Fall Fitness Issue 2025 featuring the The Fitness Guy, Pete Estabrooks, telling all with his shockingly candid new memoir revealing a story you never expected, as well as former pro soccer player Simon Keith and Paralympian Erica Scarff. Find your ultimate guide to cross-training for runners, no jump cardio and superset workouts along with the best trail running shoes in our 2025 Trail Running Shoe Review, and so much more!

In recent years, more gyms have started using the phrase “trauma-informed.” You might see it in class descriptions or posted on a studio wall. But too often it’s treated as a buzzword or a marketing tool rather than a real commitment. While softer lighting or a grounding exercise before class can help, being truly trauma-informed goes much deeper. At its core, it’s about creating fitness environments where you feel safe, respected, and empowered to move your body, regardless of size, ability, or background.

Feeling Unsafe in a “Safe” Space

If you’ve ever left a workout feeling judged or excluded, that’s a sign the space wasn’t truly safe for you.

Some common experiences include:

• Pressure to focus on diet talk or weight loss when that’s not your goal.
• Hearing exercise framed as punishment instead of empowerment.
• Feeling out of place if your body doesn’t match the “ideal” fitness image.
• Having your pronouns ignored or being forced into gendered spaces.
• Experiencing sensory overload from loud music, crowded rooms, or harsh lighting.

A gym can market itself as trauma-informed, but if you leave feeling diminished instead of supported, something isn’t lining up.

Respect and Education 

When most people picture a trainer’s education, they think anatomy, movement science, and programming. But what’s often missing is the human side or understanding how complex people really are.

That’s where trauma-informed practice matters. It means your trainer recognizes that “push harder” or “no excuses” doesn’t work for everyone. For trauma survivors, those approaches can cause shutdown, not motivation.

A truly trauma-informed coach learns cultural humility, consent-based touch, inclusive language, and when to refer clients to other ways of support. If you’ve ever been told that toughness is the only path to results, you already know how harmful those messages can feel.

Real safety in fitness goes beyond mechanics. It’s about psychological safety and respect for the whole person.

Fitness Barriers

The fitness industry has long celebrated those who are lean, muscular, and conventionally attractive. This “face and body card” dictates who gets attention, hired, and respected.

If you’ve ever noticed only certain bodies in marketing images, or felt gyms were built for a specific “type” of person, that’s not an accident. For decades, the industry has reinforced the “face and body card” or idea that credibility comes from appearance, which leaves many exercisers feeling unwelcome.

Other barriers deepen that exclusion:

• Financial: High costs make fitness feel out of reach.
• Cultural: Not all communities view gyms as accessible or inclusive.
• Disability and neurodiversity: Lack of adaptive equipment or overwhelming environments make many spaces inaccessible.

These barriers send a clear message: fitness is for some, not all. That narrative must change.

Safety Belongs to All

When people think of safety, they often picture injury prevention. But safety also includes emotional, psychological and cultural well-being. Yet in many gyms, only thin, white, cisgender, able-bodied clients feel safe. 

For newcomers or immigrant families, structured fitness can feel financially or culturally out of reach. For neurodivergent people, bright lights, loud music, and crowded rooms can be overwhelming.

As the child of an immigrant and a neurodivergent individual, I know how survival can take priority over wellness. That’s why trauma-informed fitness must expand access and reflect the communities it serves.

So how do you tell the difference between a gym using “trauma-informed” as a label and one that truly practices it? Look for signs like:

• Inclusive language: No shame, diet talk, or punishment framing.
• Consent-first approaches: Trainers ask before offering touch or adjustments.
• Options for all bodies: Modifications, adaptive equipment, and encouragement to move at your own pace.
• Sensory-friendly practices: Lower music, softer lighting, or quiet spaces.
• Facilities that reflect community needs: Gender-neutral change rooms, diverse instructors, and welcoming imagery.

In a true trauma-informed space, you don’t have to “fit in.” The space adapts to you.

Inclusive Spaces

Healing from trauma isn’t something that happens alone. It requires community. Trauma-informed fitness is bigger than individual care. It’s a cultural shift.

Many who feel unwelcome in traditional gyms thrive in environments where inclusion is the norm. In these spaces, success isn’t measured by six-pack abs or the number on the scale. It’s showing up without fear, breathing deeply through a workout without anxiety, or rediscovering joy in movement.

When fitness spaces create belonging, they stop being intimidating and start becoming places of empowerment.

Fitness can’t replace therapy, but it can help you reconnect with your body with movement in ways that heals, rather than harms.

The industry is slowly shifting, but as participants, we play a role too. By noticing how gyms make us feel, and by supporting inclusive, safe spaces, we can help push fitness culture toward something more empowering, accessible, and human.

The future of fitness isn’t about looking the part. It’s about feeling safe enough to move, connect, and thrive. And that future belongs to all of us. 

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Read This Story in Our 2025 Fall Fitness Issue

IMPACT Magazine’s Fall Fitness Issue 2025 featuring the The Fitness Guy, Pete Estabrooks, telling all with his shockingly candid new memoir revealing a story you never expected, as well as former pro soccer player Simon Keith and Paralympian Erica Scarff. Find your ultimate guide to cross-training for runners, no jump cardio and superset workouts along with the best trail running shoes in our 2025 Trail Running Shoe Review, and so much more!

Still challenging, low-impact movements can also reduce the risk of injury while providing an effective workout to support long-term fitness.

Squat Heel Lift

30 secs x 6 rounds
Optional: Alternate with the other exercises provided

1. Stand with your legs hip-width apart and arms by your side.
2. Sit back into your heels and bend the knees while keeping the knees, chest and head forward.
3. Stand up and reach your arms overhead as you lift your heels off the ground.
4. Keep your core engaged and your back straight.
5. Lower the heels and sit back into a squat.

High intensity: Jump off the ground as you reach your arms overhead. Be sure to land into your heels.

Alternating Knee Lift

30 secs x 6 rounds
Optional: Alternate with the other exercises provided

1. Stand with your legs hip-width apart. Keep your core engaged and back straight with your arms by your side.
2. Lift one knee towards your chest as you slide your hands up and open your elbows out to the side.
3. Stop your elbows at shoulder height.
4. Lower the arms to your side and knee to standing.
5. Repeat with the other knee.

High intensity: Add a bounce as you bring the knee in towards your chest.

Alternating Hamstring Curl

30 secs x 6 rounds
Optional: Alternate with the other exercises provided

1. Stand with your legs wider than hip-width apart. Reach your arms in front of you at shoulder height.
2. Sit into your heels and bend your knees, keeping your core engaged and head and chest forward.
3. Rise to standing as you curl one leg back and pull the elbows behind you.
4. Lower the leg and repeat on the other side.

High intensity: Jump off the foot on the floor as you curl the other leg. •

Lateral-Step Cross Tap

30 secs x 6 rounds
Optional: Alternate with the other exercises provided

1. Stand with your legs slightly wider than hip-width apart. Keep your core engaged and the back straight.
2. Hold your arms out to the side at shoulder height.
3. Cross one leg behind the other, bend the knees and tap the hand to the front foot (ie: cross back with the left leg and tap the right hand to the right foot).
4. Stand up and repeat on the other side.

High intensity: Jump the leg to the side as the other leg crosses back.

Tap Backs

30 secs x 6 rounds
Optional: Alternate with the other exercises provided

• Stand with the legs shoulder-width apart and arms by your side.
• Keep the core engaged and the back straight.
• Step back with one leg as the arms reach overhead.
• Step together and lower the arms.
• Repeat the step back with the other leg.

High intensity: Once you tap back, push off with the ball of that foot and add a little hop off the ground.

Side Tap Pull Down

30 secs x 6 rounds
Optional: Alternate with the other exercises provided

• Stand with your legs shoulder width apart keeping the core engaged and back straight.
• Reach your arms overhead.
• Tap one leg to the side and pull the arm on the same side down and bend your elbow.
• Step back together and reach the arm up.
• Repeat on the other side with leg and arm.

High intensity: Once you tap the leg to the side, push off on the ball of the foot adding a bit of a jump. 

Photography: Jana Miko Photography

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Read This Story in Our 2025 Fall Fitness Issue

IMPACT Magazine’s Fall Fitness Issue 2025 featuring the The Fitness Guy, Pete Estabrooks, telling all with his shockingly candid new memoir revealing a story you never expected, as well as former pro soccer player Simon Keith and Paralympian Erica Scarff. Find your ultimate guide to cross-training for runners, no jump cardio and superset workouts along with the best trail running shoes in our 2025 Trail Running Shoe Review, and so much more!

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF CROSS-TRAINING?

Overall, cross-training makes you a well-rounded running machine by building strength and endurance and minimizing weak spots where injuries or imbalances can develop.

“The majority of running-related injuries are tied to overuse. Most overuse injuries can be prevented or at least prevented from returning,” explains Steve Stonehouse, certified Run Coach and Director of Education for Stride Fitness. “If you’re a beginning runner who hasn’t yet developed strength and flexibility, you can get big benefits from endurance cross-training,” explains Stonehouse.

“Your ankles, knees, and lower back aren’t used to the repetitive impact of running, so you can use cross-training to improve endurance without beating up your most vulnerable joints, muscles, and connective tissues.”

WHY RUNNERS NEED TO CROSS-TRAIN

#1 Helps Prevent Injury

Running involves repeating the same motion, usually in one direction, thousands of times. Naturally, this leads to imbalances in our kinetic chains. One muscle tightens, another weakens, and the next thing you know, your runner’s knee flares up.

Cross-training allows runners to address those imbalances. It can also help prevent injury by strengthening muscles and supporting ligaments and tendons. 

#2: Improves Running Economy and Accelerates Recovery

Stronger legs, hamstrings, quads, calves, and glutes, combined with proper running form, make runners more efficient. Full-body strength training will also help you maintain good running form in longer events like marathons and ultramarathons.

Light cross-training activities like cycling or the elliptical can improve muscle blood flow, thereby accelerating recovery time between runs—think of them as active recovery days.

#3: Allows You To Target Specific Deficiencies

Cross-training allows runners to train in specific fitness areas without adding unnecessary miles. For example, a runner who wants to work on cardiovascular fitness could do an elliptical session or go swimming.

#4: Prevents Burn-Out and Over-Training

Many runners will run miles and miles on end, day after day. However, doing the same thing over and over will work only those specific running muscles, which could lead to overuse injuries, overtraining syndrome, and mental burnout.

Cross-training—whether it’s yoga or even a round of golf with some friends—can not only give you a break from running but also provide a needed mental-state change that can promote recovery.

#5: Makes You Multi-Purpose

What good is being able to run 100 kilometres if you can’t even do a couple of pull-ups or push-ups?

In my experience, people with consistently happy and healthy running careers know the value of being multi-disciplined. Having some athletic range—whether it’s to play football, know your way around the gym, play with your kids, or go mountain biking with friends—is a life skill.

Best Cross-Training Activities 

There is no one-size-fits-all cross-training exercise for runners. Remember that every activity has its pros and cons, which can benefit or hinder your running performance.

Runners should choose a low-impact exercise that complements their running and preferably includes some strengthening work.

Cross-training activities can include strength training, swimming, aqua jogging, cycling, yoga and pilates, elliptical, walking/hiking and golf.

Strength training is one of the best forms of cross-training for runners as it targets explicitly the areas neglected or weakened by running and boosts those leg muscles in a way that regular running doesn’t (more akin to hill running, perhaps).

What type of strength training is most effective? Simply put, weightlifting. Focus on lifting heavier weights that target your legs, lower body, and core, and you’ll soon notice improvements in your running performance.

Activities to Avoid

Some activities can be harmful to runners because they involve quick lateral movements that increase the risk of injury. 

“Runners may want to think twice about exercises that require fast movements with a lot of change in direction, such as tennis, basketball, soccer, or downhill skiing,” explains Todd Buckingham, lead exercise physiologist at Mary Free Bed Hospital, Michigan. “Because a runner is used to moving in one plane of motion (forward), adding these activities to a runner’s repertoire too quickly could result in injury.”

Incorporating Cross-Training into your schedule

Generally, I like to recommend two strength-training sessions per week, plus another cross-training session – yoga or swimming being good options. When in the throes of a high-mileage training plan, we’d maybe dial this back to one or two cross-training sessions a week, to keep you strong and injury-free without pushing you too hard.

“More advanced runners can use cross-training to replace recovery runs,” explains Stonehouse. “This becomes their active recovery between crucial running workouts like speedwork, tempo runs, and long runs.”

The Dos Of Cross-Training

• “Do incorporate cross training regardless of whether you are a novice or experienced runner,” says Buckingham.
• Do keep your cross-training easy when it’s a recovery cross-training session or after a challenging running workout. 
• Do warm up and cool down before a cross-training session as you would before a run.
• Do choose the type of cross-training you enjoy that fits the purpose of what you need on that day, whether focusing on endurance, strength, flexibility, or something else, advises Stonehouse.

The Don’ts of Cross-Training

• Don’t do too many new types of cross-training too soon. Doing so could result in injury, says Buckingham.
• Don’t treat a cross-training workout as something you just have to ‘get through.’ 
• Don’t skip your run to do a cross-training session. 
• Don’t let cross-training distract you from your running goal. “Sometimes we can add so many ‘other’ things that the additional volume is just too great,” warns Stonehouse. This can put you at risk for burnout.

This article has been edited for length and reprinted with permission from www.marathonhandbook.com

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Read This Story in Our 2025 Fall Fitness Issue

IMPACT Magazine’s Fall Fitness Issue 2025 featuring the The Fitness Guy, Pete Estabrooks, telling all with his shockingly candid new memoir revealing a story you never expected, as well as former pro soccer player Simon Keith and Paralympian Erica Scarff. Find your ultimate guide to cross-training for runners, no jump cardio and superset workouts along with the best trail running shoes in our 2025 Trail Running Shoe Review, and so much more!

What Exactly Is Grip Strength?

Grip strength is typically measured using a tool called a hand dynamometer. You squeeze it as hard as you can, and it records the amount of force you produce. Most people don’t have one lying around at home, but there are ways to gauge it informally. For example, can you easily lift and carry objects weighing around 11 kilograms (about 25 pounds)? That ability roughly corresponds to a grip strength of 18.5 kilograms for women and 28.5 kilograms for men—levels identified by researchers as necessary for managing daily physical tasks, especially as we age.

Why Grip Strength Matters

So why should we care about grip strength? Because it’s more than just a measure of hand power—it’s a window into your overall strength and health. Studies show that grip strength correlates strongly with upper-body and even total-body strength. It’s practical, quick to test, and surprisingly telling.

Anatomy explains why: your grip depends heavily on your forearm muscles, which are supported by the upper arms, shoulders, chest, and back. Strengthen those larger muscle groups, and your grip almost always improves. In other words, a strong grip reflects a strong body.

Grip strength has also been linked to functional ability— your capacity to perform everyday movements. A 2018 study found that people with lower grip strength reported greater difficulty with basic tasks like climbing stairs or rising from a chair. While grip strength alone can’t fully represent lower-body strength, it’s a solid part of the overall picture of physical capability.

Grip Strength and Longevity

Here’s where things get even more interesting: grip strength can predict your risk of death from any cause—what researchers call “all-cause mortality.”

A 2021 review of nearly two dozen studies found that people with low grip strength had roughly twice the mortality risk compared to those with the strongest grips. It makes sense when you connect the dots. Low grip strength often signals low muscle mass, and inadequate muscle mass increases your risk for conditions like osteoporosis, arthritis, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and mobility issues.

No, you don’t need to look like a bodybuilder. But maintaining enough muscle to move freely—climbing stairs, lifting groceries, or getting up from the floor—is essential to aging well and staying independent.

What’s a “Good” Grip Strength?

There’s no single number that defines a “good” grip since it varies by age and sex. The best measure is functionality: your grip should be strong enough that everyday tasks feel easy. If carrying groceries, opening jars, or pushing yourself up from a chair feels challenging, it’s worth building more strength.

How to Improve Your Grip Strength

Here’s the good news: you don’t need fancy equipment or complicated routines. The key is to focus on free-weight, multi-joint movements that work multiple muscle groups—and by extension, your grip. Below are sample exercises for a three-day strength routine that boosts overall strength and grip power.

Day 1

• Romanian Deadlift – 2–3 sets of 5–6 reps
  A powerhouse move for your posterior chain — glutes, hamstrings, and back — while challenging your grip as you hold heavy weights.
• Suitcase Carry – 2–3 sets of 30–50 metres
  Carry one dumbbell at your side like a suitcase. This builds forearm and upper back strength and tests your core stability.

Day 2

• Wide-Grip Lat Pulldown – 2–3 sets of 6–10 reps
  Strengthens your lats, shoulders, and biceps while demanding a firm grip through every pull.
• Hammer Curl – 2–3 sets of 12–15 reps
  A biceps exercise with a neutral grip that places extra emphasis on the forearms — perfect for grip gains.

Day 3

• Single-Arm Dumbbell Row – 2–3 sets of 6–10 reps
  Works the back, core, and arm flexors. The single-arm motion and hammer grip keep your forearms fully engaged.
• Underhand Triceps Press down – 2–3 sets of 12–15 reps
  Using an underhand grip shifts some work to the forearm extensors, improving balance and grip endurance.

Keep It Simple — and Stay Consistent

Improving grip strength doesn’t require reinventing your workouts. Stick to big, compound lifts and gradually increase the weights you use. Consistency is key—the more you challenge your muscles over time, the stronger they’ll get.

Grip strength may not be glamorous, but it’s one of the simplest and most powerful indicators of how well your body is aging and performing. Think of it as a small muscle group with a big message: strength equals independence.

So next time you pick up a grocery bag or shake someone’s hand, take note. That grip says more about your health than you might think.  

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Read This Story in Our 2025 Fall Fitness Issue

IMPACT Magazine’s Fall Fitness Issue 2025 featuring the The Fitness Guy, Pete Estabrooks, telling all with his shockingly candid new memoir revealing a story you never expected, as well as former pro soccer player Simon Keith and Paralympian Erica Scarff. Find your ultimate guide to cross-training for runners, no jump cardio and superset workouts along with the best trail running shoes in our 2025 Trail Running Shoe Review, and so much more!

What is Aerobic Base Training?
Aerobic base training is specific training meant to increase your aerobic threshold, or your ability to perform steady-state work for a long period of time. Base training workouts are simple: go at a pace just below your aerobic threshold—the upper limit of Zone 2— and hold it. 

Your aerobic threshold is the exercise intensity at which blood lactate begins to increase substantially. Below your aerobic threshold, in Zone 1 and 2, the exercise intensity is quite low, and that’s why you can maintain these “easy” efforts for a long period of time. 

Research has shown that almost all elite endurance athletes use aerobic base training as a part of their weekly routine, including sprint-distance triathletes, marathon runners, and Tour de France cyclists. The reason is simple. Endurance events are typically longer than a few minutes, sometimes longer than a few hours, and sometimes longer than a week (in the case of cycling’s Grand Tours). These events place physiological demands on the body for very long periods of time, testing the body’s ability to endure rather than its explosive energy output. 

Training to increase your aerobic threshold, therefore, will allow you to sustain activity for longer periods of time so that you perform better on race day. Only in one-off events lasting less than a minute could you completely forgo aerobic endurance training—think powerlifters or javelin throwers, neither of which are endurance athletes!

Aerobic Threshold and Anaerobic Threshold
In basic terms, aerobic refers to ‘with oxygen’ while anaerobic refers to ‘without oxygen.’ During an anaerobic effort, such as a 10-second sprint, your body is not using oxygen to fuel its main energy source. Conversely, during aerobic efforts like endurance events, your body is running on oxygen.

In fact, there are three different energy systems in the human body—the phosphagen system, glycolytic system, and oxidative system—that fuel muscle contraction. The phosphagen system (the ATP-PCr system) is used for short and explosive bursts of energy lasting less than one minute; the glycolytic system powers high-intensity efforts lasting one to five minutes; and the oxidative system powers longer efforts lasting anywhere from a few minutes to multiple hours. These systems use different amounts of oxygen to fuel exercise, with the least amount of oxygen used for sprints and the most amount of oxygen used for long-duration endurance exercise. 

Aerobic training utilizes your oxidative system and targets your aerobic threshold, which is the exercise intensity at which blood lactate starts to rise above resting levels (typically around
2 mmol/L, or millimole per litre). Blood lactate is directly associated with muscle fatigue and the degradation of endurance performance, which is why it is so important that endurance athletes train their bodies to clear blood lactate. 

As soon as your exercise intensity increases above aerobic threshold, your body can’t clear blood lactate as quickly, leading to quicker and earlier muscle fatigue. Thus, by raising your aerobic threshold, you will be able to go further and faster with less blood lactate buildup, less fatigue, and longer time to exhaustion.

Anaerobic training, on the other hand, targets your anaerobic threshold, which is when blood lactate begins to build up very quickly. Your muscles will quickly fatigue in this state, and even the most highly trained athletes can only hold an anaerobic effort for a few minutes. Endurance athletes use their anaerobic systems during sprints and other high-intensity efforts, but it’s their ability to recover using their aerobic capacity that is more often the determinant of performance.

How to Build an Aerobic Base
As we begin to look at training your aerobic base, we get to the term “Zone 2 training,” which is most often associated with aerobic threshold training because of the matching intensities between power output, heart rate, and blood lactate concentration. In other words, maintaining your power output in Zone 2 will likely put your heart rate in Zone 2 and keep your blood lactate concentration below your aerobic threshold. 

According to Dr. Iñigo San Millán, Ph.D., Director of the Exercise Physiology and Human Performance Lab at the University Of Colorado School Of Medicine, the purpose of Zone 2 endurance training is to improve lactate clearance “by increasing the number of mitochondria to clear lactate mainly in slow twitch muscle fibres as well as by increasing the number of MCT-1 and mLDH [lactate-specific transporters which transport lactate away from muscle fibres].” 

The key point is that lactate is cleared mainly by slow-twitch fibre muscles, and not fast-twitch fibres. So, training at a high intensity will not exactly improve your aerobic threshold or your body’s ability to clear lactate because high-intensity exercise targets fast-twitch muscle fibres. Instead, you need to train your slow-twitch muscle fibres at low intensities (i.e., Zone 2) to improve your aerobic threshold.

The Components of a Good Aerobic Base Training Plan
When constructing an aerobic base training plan, it’s important to maintain a balanced and repeatable schedule that will simultaneously increase your fitness while also giving you the necessary time to recover in between each session. Part of this balance is not to completely forgo high-intensity work—one or two HIIT (high-intensity interval training) sessions per week will help increase your aerobic and anaerobic thresholds, and you can tailor your workouts to target one or the other. Longer tempo intervals will increase your aerobic threshold, and short 40/20s will increase your anaerobic threshold.

Here are the key components that I look for in a base training plan: 

• Weekly volume increases of 5 – 10 per cent
• One or two HIIT sessions
• One or two long endurance sessions (>2 hours)

One rest day

• Rest week every fourth week (decrease weekly volume by ~50 per cent)

These components emphasize the principles of progressive overload and structured rest above all, which will help you increase your fitness without being at great risk of injury or burnout. As opposed to the “build” or race season, the base season is more focused on consistent training and aerobic endurance rides than it is on race-specific HIIT sessions.

This article has been edited for length and reprinted with permission from TrainingPeaks – www.trainingpeaks.com.  

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Read This Story in Our 2025 Fall Fitness Issue

IMPACT Magazine’s Fall Fitness Issue 2025 featuring the The Fitness Guy, Pete Estabrooks, telling all with his shockingly candid new memoir revealing a story you never expected, as well as former pro soccer player Simon Keith and Paralympian Erica Scarff. Find your ultimate guide to cross-training for runners, no jump cardio and superset workouts along with the best trail running shoes in our 2025 Trail Running Shoe Review, and so much more!

Superset A:

Pull then Push – alternate sets between movements 1 and 2

1 – Bent-Over Dumbbell Row

3 sets, 8-12 reps

Stand in a strong hip hinge with a flat back and dumbbells hanging under shoulders. Pull elbows toward your hips, pause, then lower with control. Keep ribs down and neck long.

A – Start in a hinge, arms straight, spine neutral
B – Top of the row with elbows close and shoulder blades squeezed

2 – Lying Dumbbell Chest Fly

3 sets, 10-15 reps
Lie on your back, feet planted. Press dumbbells over chest with a soft elbow bend. Open arms wide until you feel a stretch across the chest, then bring bells together over mid chest.

A – Start with bells over chest, slight elbow bend
B – Wide open stretch, wrists over elbows, then back to the top

Superset B:

Upper- and Lower-Tri Set – alternate sets between movements 3 and 4

3 – Single-Arm Dumbbell Row

3 sets, 8-12 reps
Brace one hand on a bench or thigh. Keep a long spine and pull the bell toward your hip. Pause, then lower. Switch sides.

A – Long spine, bell hanging straight
B – Elbow past ribs, shoulder blade pulled back

4 – Push Up to Renegade Row

3 sets, 6-10 push ups, 6-10 rows each side
In a strong plank with hands on dumbbells, perform one push up. At the top, row the right bell, set it down, row the left bell. Keep hips level.

A – Plank start, straight line head to heels
B – Top of the row, elbow high, hips square

Photography: Barry Calhoun Photography

Clothing Courtesy: Nike

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Read This Story in Our 2025 Fall Fitness Issue

IMPACT Magazine’s Fall Fitness Issue 2025 featuring the The Fitness Guy, Pete Estabrooks, telling all with his shockingly candid new memoir revealing a story you never expected, as well as former pro soccer player Simon Keith and Paralympian Erica Scarff. Find your ultimate guide to cross-training for runners, no jump cardio and superset workouts along with the best trail running shoes in our 2025 Trail Running Shoe Review, and so much more!

This is good news for anyone with existing injuries or joint pain, because resistance bands may allow you to continue working out and performing exercises that you’re unable to do with traditional weights like dumbbells.

In addition, the constant tension from bands adds an element of required stabilization from your body to maintain form during many exercises. This added challenge often engages your core for balance and control. The need to keep them from snapping back into place means greater stimulation and strength through the muscle’s full range of motion, and the pull of the bands reduces your ability to cheat by using momentum.

Here are five exercises to keep you in shape while on the go!

Squats with Bench
12-20 reps

I love working squats with a bench or chair. It helps with squat technique by having a platform to aim for. Adding a band gives us the resistance to challenge the glutes, quadriceps and hamstrings.

1. Sit on a bench and place the band securely under each foot and hold ends of the band at each shoulder.
2. Now stand up, keeping band secured under feet and shoulders.
3. Repeat sitting and standing for 12-20 reps.

Seated Rows
24 reps per side

Rows are highly effective for targeting and building strength in the back and biceps.

1. Sit upright on a bench with your right leg straight and your left leg bent, foot flat on the ground.
2. Loop the band securely around your right foot and hold the ends of the band in each hand.
3. Squeeze your shoulder blades together as you pull your hand toward the side of your waist.
4. Pause, then extend your arms to return to the start. Repeat 24 times, then switch sides.

Overhead Triceps Extensions
12-24 reps

We all know that great looking arms depend on triceps being strong. The latest research favours overhead triceps extensions as one of the best exercises to target these muscles.

1. Place your foot on one end of the resistance band to secure in place.
2. With both hands grab the other end of the resistance band and extend band overhead.
3. Keep both arms close to your ears as you bend your elbows behind your head.
4. Slowly extend band up over head and squeeze triceps and pause.
5. Repeat.

Resistance Band Pull-Aparts
12-20 reps

The band pull-apart is an excellent exercise for strengthening the shoulders and upper back, which helps improve and maintain better posture. Pull-aparts are particularly effective for strengthening the muscles of the upper back including the trapezius, rhomboids, and rear deltoids, while also improving shoulder stability and scapular (shoulder blade) control. This exercise can be done either seated or standing.

1. Grab your band in the centre with hands about 12”-16” apart at shoulder height.
2. Keep shoulders in neutral position as you pull the bands apart squeezing shoulder blades.
3. Pause once hands are fully extended at your side.
4. Repeat.

Ab Tucks with Bands
12-20 reps

Ab tucks, also known as knee tucks, are an effective exercise for strengthening the abdominal muscles, improving core stability, and enhancing flexibility in the hips and lower back.

1. Sit on a bench or floor and centre band with both hands under both feet.
2. Keeping knees bent, lift both feet off the floor into boat pose.
3. Extend both legs together, pause and return to start position.
4. Repeat.

Photography: Fred Luchetti

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Read This Story in Our 2025 Summer Outdoor Travel Issue
IMPACT Magazine Summer Outdoor Travel Issue 2025 featuring Shanda Hill, a Canadian Ultra Triathlete who is redefining the sport. Run on some epic trails in our own backyard or join a run club. Eat your way for Mental Clarity, fueling while travelling, seasonal eating and some kitchen must haves. Become strong and fit in only 20 minutes a day, and enjoy some tasty drinks guilt free and so much more.

While I can’t help you get more sleep or eat better, I can share one of my favourite go-to workouts that keeps me active during even the busiest weeks. This 4×4 workout (four exercises in four-minute rounds) takes just 24 minutes and boosts both strength and endurance, giving you more energy to tackle your day.

Your kids are a priority, but don’t forget to prioritize your health so you can be at your best self for them.

How it Works
Perform each exercise for 4 minutes, resting for 2 minutes between.

Single Leg Step-Up
4 minutes (switch legs every 10 reps), rest 2 minutes

Place one foot on top of a box or bench. Keep the weight centred on your midfoot and allow your chest and knee to tilt forward. Using the leg on the box, drive your body up and forward, maintaining midfoot pressure. Control the movement as you return to the starting position. Hold a dumbbell in the opposite hand.

Copenhagen Side Dip
4 minutes (switch legs every 10 reps), rest 2 minutes

Start in a side-plank position with your top leg placed on a bench. Lower your bottom hip toward the ground, then press down into the bench with your top leg to lift your hip back to the starting position.

Dumbbell Swing Press
4 minutes, rest 2 minutes

Unlock and bend your hips and knees while swinging both dumbbells behind you. Swing the dumbbells up to shoulder height, then press them overhead, maintaining a neutral spine throughout the movement.

Eccentric Inverted Row
4 minutes (slow on the way down), rest 2 minutes

Walk your feet forward and lean back, keeping your body in a straight line. Pull your chest toward the handles, squeezing your shoulder blades together throughout. Lower yourself as slowly as possible to the starting position.

Photography: Kirsten Buyer Photography

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Read This Story in Our 2025 Summer Outdoor Travel Issue
IMPACT Magazine Summer Outdoor Travel Issue 2025 featuring Shanda Hill, a Canadian Ultra Triathlete who is redefining the sport. Run on some epic trails in our own backyard or join a run club. Eat your way for Mental Clarity, fueling while travelling, seasonal eating and some kitchen must haves. Become strong and fit in only 20 minutes a day, and enjoy some tasty drinks guilt free and so much more.