We know that when the season changes from Summer to Fall, the latest trends hit the market and we embrace the changes of our closets, home decor, and coffee.
But what if we didn’t just stop there?
What if we took a look at our fitness routine during this Fall season and said, “What the heck. I’m embracing the changes in other areas of my life. Let’s make it fun and spice it up with my fitness as well!”
Depending on your situation, this is a great time to add a focus to your fitness by incorporating an extra program that works for your situation. To give you an idea of what kind of extra program you could implement into your routine, we interviewed 4 of our own Street Parking team members who have gone through different extra programs recently. Here’s what they chose to follow and why.
Power 30 Extra Program Program
This interview was done with Seb, one of Street Parking’s coaches (@seb_felipe)
Q: What Street Parking Extra Program did you choose to put yourself through and what did that program consist of?
A: I chose the Power 30 Extra Program which focuses on the traditional power movements (deadlifts, squats, bench press, shoulder press, etc.) This specific program focuses on heavier loads and lower volume in order to gain overall strength.
You can either do the Power 30 session in exchange for one of the regular workouts or if you have some spare time you can do the Power 30 session before doing one of the regular workouts.
Q: Why did you decide to implement this program into your fitness routine?
A: I come from a strength and performance based background and know the importance of strength training. Oftentimes people believe that strength training or “power training” is only for pure strength and size, but the truth is that it also helps with endurance, injury prevention, and explosive movements as well. I want to maintain a good balance of all of those things, so I make it a priority to implement power training.
Q: With this program, where did you struggle, what did you love, and what were your results from doing it?
A: Struggled: In order to properly do this extra program, you need to have access to a barbell and a squat rack. I now have both but when I first started adding this program into my routine I didn’t have a squat rack so I had to improvise. It can definitely be done but it makes it more challenging.
Loved: Not only was it fun to see how much my body could (safely) and effectively handle, but there was this mental strength and feeling of victory that came with knowing my body was capable of increasing its raw strength.
Results: I experienced strength gain in my major muscle groups which transferred over and complimented the rest of my workouts.
Q: Why should someone incorporate this extra program into their Fall routine?
A: Depending on what your situation looks like, incorporating this extra program would be great for someone who has found some extra time to focus on building up this skill or for someone who would like to switch it up a bit and spend one day per week focusing on building up their strength vs. exerting all their energy into a high intensity workout.
5k Running Program
This interview was done with Sarah, Street Parking’s Marketing Consultant (@mrsduespaid)
Q: What Street Parking extra program did you choose to put yourself through and what did that program consist of?
A: I chose the 5k running program.
Within the Street Parking membership portal, you can download the entire 5k program and print it off. This is an 8 week program that’s broken up into 3 running days per week. It has specific instructions laid out for you as well as suggestions for what type of supplemental workout and recovery work would compliment the running program.
Q: Why did you decide to implement this program into your fitness routine?
A: I compete in a sport called the Tactical Games where you’re required to run 3-5 miles with about 30lbs of kit on and running long distances has never been one of my strengths, so I knew I needed to get better at it in order to not get left behind. Additionally, I was injured at the time of choosing this program and running was a movement that I could still do, so it was perfect timing to take it on and know that for at least 4 days per week there wasn’t any guesswork on how I was going to move my body.
Q: With this program, where did you struggle, what did you love, and what were your results from doing it?
A: Struggled: I did this running program by myself which motivation wise wasn’t super fun. Everyday I had to choose to get the work done based on discipline, not motivation. Also because I was injured at the time I had to take about 15-20 minutes to warm up prior to starting the running so I really had to allow myself to have patience.
Loved: Being injured sucks so this program gave me peace of mind knowing that for 2 months I had a plan I could execute. Additionally, literally for the first time ever, running began to suck less after only 2 weeks into the program. It was incredible to experience what it felt like to be able to go faster, for longer periods of time.
Results: My 400m split times went down to a consistent (1:38), I PR’d my 2 mile run, I PR’d my 3 mile run (by 3 mins and 20 secs), and I ran 4 miles straight for the first time. At my second Tactical Games competition I felt a significant difference in my running and didn’t have to walk or slow down my pace a single time.
Q: Why should someone incorporate this extra program into their Fall routine?
A: Depending on your current situation I’d say this program could be good to implement into the Fall season for a few different reasons: If you’re currently injured but can still run, if you have extra spare time and want to improve your running, and because (in my personal opinion) doing this program during the cooler months of the year is way less miserable than trying to do it in the heat of the summer).
Push Up Program
This interview was done with Rachael, Street Parking’s Head of Admin (@kungfupanda_hoops)
Q: What Street Parking extra program did you choose to put yourself through and what did that program consist of?
A: I chose to do the Push Up Stamina extra program.
The Push Up Stamina program is a 4-6 week program that consists of 3 weekly sessions. The sessions are a mixture of actual push up work followed by accessory type work.
Q: Why did you decide to implement this program into your fitness routine?
A: Upper body strength has always been my biggest struggle. I was the base in stunts during High School Cheerleading which you would think required upper body strength, but it mostly required leg strength. When I began my fitness journey I knew my upper body would be an area that I struggled with and would need to focus on and that’s why I chose to do the Level 2 program that worked on muscular endurance.
Q: With this program, where did you struggle, what did you love, and what were your results from doing it?
A: Struggled: Because Street Parking workouts hit the entire body, I had to be mindful and make sure I wasn’t doing the push up program on the same day that push ups were programmed into the workout. Additionally, I’ve never been someone who spends hours in the gym so I needed to be efficient with my time and figure out how to incorporate this extra program into my schedule that didn’t force me to be in the gym for too long during a single session.
Loved: Learning and working on new styles of push ups was really fun! I have never done slower, lower pushups, deficit push ups, or up and over push ups. It was so fun (though very challenging) to start working on these things. It taught me to give myself grace because this was my first time doing these movements, but also challenged me in new and exciting ways.
Results: I can now do ALL of my workouts with push ups from my toes! While some days it is still a struggle if there are large sets or high volume, I KNOW that I can do them. I’m to the point where I know that I can accomplish 90+ push ups from my toes in a single workout (not all at the same time of course lol).
Q: Why should someone incorporate this extra program into their Fall routine?
A: If you live in a place that gets cold quickly during the Fall season, this would be a great extra program to implement because it requires very little equipment and can be done from within your home. Additionally, even if you are busy and don’t have a ton of spare time (I personally work over 40 hours per week), it never felt overwhelming to add this program into my routine. Just make sure you have a plan for when you’ll do it during the week.
Endurance Program
This interview was done with Kim, Street Parking’s Operations Manager (@kim_mcintyre)
Q: What SP extra program did you choose to put yourself through and what did that program consist of?
A: I chose to do the Endurance extra program.
Q: Why did you decide to implement this program into your fitness routine?
A: Endurance is something I choose to intentionally work on for both mental and physical purposes. Mentally, it forces me to push myself to do something uncomfortable - and physically - endurance is not in my wheelhouse so I work on it weekly in order to improve consistently over time.
Q: With this program, where did you struggle, what did you love, and what were your results from doing it?
A: Struggled: When I first started this program I didn’t have a garage for my Assault bike and had to put it in a shaded area outside. In the Summer heat it was a challenge to not use the “it’s too hot to do this” excuse. Towards the Fall/Winter it was a matter of not allowing myself to use the “it’s too cold to do this outside” excuse. There were a lot of workarounds, clothing adjustments, etc. but it was really just a matter of finding solutions for the mental excuses and just getting it done and following through with the commitment.
Loved: Originally I set out to commit to this program for 10 weeks. I am now on week 68! What started out as a goal became a habit and is now a meaningful part of my weekend physically, mentally, and emotionally. Within the Street Parking community it’s also taken on a life of its own and countless members show up weekly to do the same endurance workouts with me virtually, post it on their social media accounts, and share their experience and goals.
Results: I learned a lot about myself mentally and physically and now have an increased self awareness for knowing how to push myself, understanding my pacing, and what my intensity capacity is. This not only translates into my endurance workouts but into the rest of my workouts throughout the week. Additionally, I’ve proven to myself that more hours in the gym is unnecessary and these endurance workouts have been a huge part of shifting my mindset about myself and what I’m capable of - in a shorter amount of time that still reaps beneficial results.
Q: Why should someone incorporate this extra program into their Fall routine?
A: Incorporating the endurance program into your Fall routine could be a perfect way to combat whatever weather changes are happening. If you get to experience a few months of a cooler climate, it’s a great opportunity to take your rowing, running, or biking outside and enjoy this season while getting fresh air and moving your body. If you live somewhere that gets cold very quickly, this could be a great choice because it doesn’t require a significant amount of warmup time. Instead of having to invest your mental capacity into your warmup, you can just jump on the bike and the beginning portion of the workout essentially is the warmup. Additionally, if you find yourself a bit more mentally exhausted from your daily life during this season, it can be helpful to gravitate towards less technical workouts that still keep you moving.
Options For Every Situation
Within the Street Parking membership, our members have access to 40+ different types of extra programs based on their specific needs and goals. As you can see, the 4 stories shared above are from 4 different people who had different goals and needs. There truly is something for everyone.
Which extra program are you going to commit to this Fall season? streetparking.com
