Alyssa Nakos - One Strong Mother; Fitness and Nutrition

Effective strength training requires repeating the same exercises over and over and making them a little harder each time. 💪🏻

Hiii!!!!

It’s been a minute, huh?

The last 8 months or so have been, let’s say, bumpy.

While I really do give myself a lot of grace and credit just for getting through it and maintaining things business- and motherhood-wise, basically all self-care has gone out the window.

It’s funny, working in the fitness industry, there seems to be an assumption that I spend my days working out.

While I may be moving round all day, I’m not actually doing much exercising at all. I spend most of my day setting up and cleaning up equipment, coaching clients and counting 😂

The truth is that lately my body has been feeling worse than I’ve probably ever felt.

My right hip hurts at the end of the day. My left knee has been locking up. I’m having trouble with the grip of my right hand.

I get winded easier than ever and I feel swollen and uncomfortable.

I just don’t feel like myself.

This week, I’m getting back to it.

I started training again (and I’m testing a program I’m rolling out soon, so stay tuned for that).

I’ve prepped my meals.

I’m letting go of worry about keeping the house clean and making sure I’m in bed on time.

I’m refocusing on taking better care of myself.

Today I’m sore (the first 2 weeks back are always rough), but so ready to feel like myself again.

I’m going to share the process here with you, in case you’re in a place where you feel ready to refocus on your health too. ❤️

Want to know exactly what to expect from the Introduction to Strength Training class?

Here’s exactly what we’ll cover.

Send me a message if you have any questions!

You can sign up here: https://onestrongmotherpt.as.me/introtostrength

Hope to see you in class!

I am so excited to teach a new 10-week class: Introduction to Strength Training!

This class is for you if:

✅ you know you should start strength training, but don’t know where to start

✅ day-to-day activities have gotten challenging (or maybe even painful) and you want to get stronger, but worry about getting hurt

✅ you joined a gym, but feel overwhelmed when you walk in and end up on the cardio equipment the whole time

✅ you follow along with random YouTube videos or go to group fitness classes, but wonder if you’re actually making progress

I’ve been a personal trainer and strength coach for over a decade and I’ve helped hundreds of clients learn how to strength train safely and effectively.

I’m going to share everything you need to know from how to navigate equipment, to what makes a well-rounded, effective strength training program, to how to do a bunch of exercises correctly to set you up to train for life.

When the class is over, you’ll get a 12-week strength training program you can do at home or at the gym.

All for less than the cost of 1 private training session with me! 🤯

Class is held over Zoom, but don’t worry if you can’t make it live. My team and I will send out the recording of each class 48-hrs afterwards.

You can sign up here: https://onestrongmotherpt.as.me/introtostrength

If you have questions, message me!

I hope to see you in class!!

We’d love to work with you!

One of the most impactful things you can do to get the most out of your workout is to focus on feeling the right muscles during an exercise, also called creating mind-muscle connection.

If you tend to just go through the motions when you workout or mimic an exercise without understanding the muscles you’re intending to use, you’re likely not getting the full benefit.

When I coach, I always tell my clients where I want them to feel an exercise as I demonstrate.

I also ask my client where they feel an exercise to ensure we’re hitting the muscle group we’re aiming for and to encourage clients to move intentionally.

Let’s keep it real.

My daily routines look VERY different now compared to my pre-kid life.

And when my kids are older, I’m sure things will change again.

Don’t beat yourself up trying to execute some diet or training plan that just doesn’t make sense for your life.

Small adjustments to what you’re already doing really add up over time and are likely way more sustainable.

I decided early on in my career that I wouldn’t ask clients for progress pictures.

Frankly, it’s never sat right with me to see side-by-side pictures of people in bathing suits or underwear for the sake of comparison.

(The one’s that are only neck down bother me even more 😬)

When someone is brave enough to come to me and ask for help, asking them to strip down or wear tight fitting clothing and take a picture is not how I want to start our coaching relationship.

Also, I think ‘before and after’ pictures reinforces the idea that there’s a finish line to a fitness journey. There’s not. Even if some body composition goal is met, hopefully that person will continue to move and care for their body, even after the picture (and their body will continue to change).

Finally, I discuss with each of my clients how they want to measure their progress and what metrics matter to them.

I don’t make the assumption that a picture is going to be a measurement of what matters to them.

For some clients, taking progress pictures makes sense. For others, it doesn’t.

Ultimately, I do have clients who choose to use progress pictures to measure their body changes, and that’s totally fine with me.

If they take pictures and they’re proud of how their body has changed and they want to share, then great!

However, it has to be entirely my client’s choice and definitely won’t be something I ask anyone to do.

Every one of my clients gets to decide what they want to work towards and how they measure success.

Then we get to work.

When I started training over 10 years ago, there was so little information out there about things like pelvic floor physical therapy, breathing mechanics, and how the core system works.

Now there is so much more information available, but I think this information needs to be integrated into strength training in general, not just in the context of pregnancy and postpartum fitness.

Everyone has a pelvic floor. Everyone can benefit from understanding principles like managing intraabdominal pressure and how your breathing patterns and positioning are the foundation of your core system function.