Build Strength for the Life You Want to Live.

​Strength Is More Than How Much You Can Lift

Weights are part of strength training. But the number on the dumbbell doesn’t tell the whole story.

Can you control the movement? Maintain your balance? Bend, reach and rotate comfortably? Move with coordination? Have enough stamina to keep going?

Your body doesn’t use strength, balance, mobility and coordination separately when you’re out living your life. They work together.

That’s why Sloan doesn’t train them as isolated goals.

He builds strength you can use.

Sometimes that means lifting heavier. Sometimes it means improving stability or range of motion. Sometimes it’s combining movements in a new way or strengthening an area that’s been doing less than its share.

The goal isn’t simply to become better at exercises.

It’s to become more capable because of them.

Train for What Matters to You

There’s no single definition of being “fit.”

For a busy professional, it might mean having enough strength and stamina that a long day doesn’t leave you physically spent.

For a parent, it might mean finally making their own health a priority while still having energy for everyone who depends on them.

For a golfer, it could mean better strength, balance and endurance through all 18 holes.

For someone who loves hiking or traveling, it might mean looking at a trip with hills, stairs or long days of exploring and thinking, “Yes, I can do that.”

And sometimes it’s much simpler. Carrying the groceries. Working in the yard. Getting up from the floor easily. Moving something around the house without immediately looking for someone younger to do it.

What matters isn’t whether your goal sounds impressive.

It matters that it’s important to you.

Sometimes Strength Gives You Possibilities You Never Planned For

One of Sloan’s clients was 55 when a friend of similar age and similar weight was injured on a hiking trail. She was able to carry her friend on her back and help get her off the trail.

She hadn’t been training for that moment.

But when the moment came, she had the strength to help.

Another client surprised herself one day by moving a washing machine. It wasn’t something she’d been training specifically to do. She simply realized she was capable of doing something she wouldn’t have thought possible before.

Those moments don’t happen on a fitness assessment.

They happen in life.

And sometimes becoming stronger doesn’t just make the things you already do easier. It opens the door to something you hadn’t considered doing at all.

Strength gives you options.

Your Body Works as a Whole

Strength matters. So do the things that allow you to use it well.

Balance

Balance isn’t only something to think about later in life. It matters when you hike uneven terrain, play sports, climb stairs, carry something awkward or simply react when you unexpectedly lose your footing.

Mobility & Flexibility

Being strong is more useful when your body can move through the range it needs. Sloan incorporates mobility and flexibility based on what your body and activities require.

Coordination

Your muscles have to work together. Coordination helps you move more efficiently, react to changing situations and use the strength you’ve built.

Stamina

Strength isn’t as useful if you’re exhausted before you’re finished doing what you came to do. Building stamina helps you keep going, whether that’s through a demanding day, a round of golf or a day spent exploring somewhere new.

These aren’t separate programs at Get Fit.

They’re pieces of a stronger, more capable body.

Getting Older Doesn’t Mean Giving Up on Strength

Your body changes as you age. Your training should, too.

A younger body generally recovers faster. As you get older, recovery may require more attention. Balance, mobility and flexibility may become increasingly important. And you don’t necessarily need to lift your heaviest weight every time you train in order to remain strong.

Sloan understands that from more than 30 years of training clients and from his own experience.

He’s had two hip replacements and shoulder surgery. He has learned firsthand how to rebuild, adjust and continue getting stronger as his own body has changed.

His philosophy isn’t to train a 65-year-old as though they’re 25.

And it isn’t to treat a 65-year-old as though they’re fragile.

It’s to train the person who’s standing in front of him.

The goal isn’t to turn back the clock. It’s to stay strong, capable and ready for the life you’re living now, and the life you still want to live.

Strength Can Support the Things You Love Doing

You don’t have to choose between “working out” and doing the activities you actually enjoy.

Good training should support them.

If you golf, strength, balance, rotation, mobility and stamina can help support the physical demands of your game.

If you hike, your legs need strength, but you also need balance, stability and endurance.

If you travel, being physically prepared can change which trips feel possible and how much you can enjoy once you’re there.

And if your life is simply busy, being stronger and better conditioned can make everyday demands take less out of you.

You train in the studio so you can do more outside of it.

Getting Stronger Shouldn’t Mean Hating the Process

Strength takes consistency. And consistency is a lot easier when you actually enjoy showing up.

Sloan keeps training varied. He challenges you, changes things up and keeps you engaged rather than running you through the same routine over and over.

There’s work involved. Of course there is.

But there can also be conversation, laughter, encouragement and the satisfaction of realizing that something that used to feel difficult suddenly doesn’t.

The journey matters, too.

You don’t have to postpone feeling good about fitness until you’ve reached some future goal. You can enjoy becoming stronger while you’re becoming stronger.

What Would You Like to Be Stronger For?

You don’t need a goal measured in pounds, inches or repetitions.

Maybe there’s something you’d like to do more easily. Something you’d like to keep doing for years. Something you’d like to return to. Or something you’ve been wondering whether you could still do.

Talk with Sloan about it.

Together, you can figure out what getting stronger could make possible for you.