Y Talk: Don’t Forget the Small Muscles by Jay Cattron

Have you ever sat around and wondered how the way you live your life is kind of the way you work out or exercise? If you are like most people the answer to that question is no. How in the world can you compare working out to how you live your life, and why would you want to?

I have been teaching our 6am Y-Fit class lately, and that means spending time creating the workouts. In looking back, the workouts largely have been about training the body’s large muscle groups (heart, chest, legs, back, etc.). I decided to create a workout that only focused on the small muscles groups, the stabilizers, as a change of pace. I did some research, educated the class (and refreshed myself) on what “small” muscle groups these exercises targeted and why it is important to focus on them. The class went great. They might not have been as tired or sore as they have been after some previous workouts, but they appreciated the education and the routine change. They have since requested more “small muscle group” training days.

Don’t Miss the Fun Right in Front of You

When you work at the Y, you are asked to wear a lot of hats. That means a lot of responsibility, and a lot of programs and events that you coordinate and run. Fall is the busiest time for me personally, as the Physical department has a lot of large events and programs: Get Your Pink and Blue On Fitness Challenge, Oktoberfest booth at the U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center (just added the OktoberFEAST race this year), The Cosmic Open Handball Tournament, and oh yeah this little race call the CenturyLink Turkey Trot. I was wrapping up the OktoberFEAST race and joked with a Y staff member, “No time to slow down, on to the next event!”

At that point it hit me; I did not allow myself to enjoy the race (the big event). Our team worked really hard planning and getting set up. The race went off without a hitch. We worked hard to clean up the event. And all I had to say when this person asked how the event went was, “It went great, but no time to slow down. On to the next one.” I missed seeing all the families that made this a part of their weekend. I missed all the smiles on the kids’ faces as they tried to capture flags, or protect their own. I missed all the fun that was happening. I was so busy working to make sure the event was going well, that I never slowed down to see how much fun everyone was having.

The title—Don’t Forget the Small Muscles—can be used in life and in exercise.

Most of us don’t bother paying attention to the small things that happen day to day, hour to hour or minute to minute. We just focus on the big events or milestones. We don’t take time to reflect on the joy that is happening around us in that moment.

We don’t pay attention to working out the small muscle groups in our body, but just focus on the large ones. If you want to get leaner, stronger, bigger, don’t forget to work those smaller stabilizing muscles. They are just as important. In our lives we should just all slow down and pay attention to the small things that make us happy. And in our workout routine, don’t forget to train those small muscles!

-by Jay Cattron, Health & Wellness / Membership Director​