Fitness

Where mind meets body: Train your coordination

Strength and conditioning are powerful, right? But there’s another layer of fitness that often gets overlooked and that is coordination and mind-body agility.

Coordination is the ability of our brains and bodies to communicate efficiently — to react, adapt and move quickly and smoothly through life. Functional Coordination comes into play when we have to sprint through a train station to catch a train, or when we must carry our groceries through an icy parking lot.

The thing is, life isn’t linear or predictable — and neither is real movement.

Mind-body agility prepares us for:

• Catching ourself if we trip
• Changing directions quickly
• Moving confidently on uneven surfaces
• Staying balanced as we age

The good news, like strength, coordination is highly trainable, and the benefits go far beyond the gym.

Here are seven ways we benefit from working coordination:

• Improved reaction time. Every coordinated movement requires fast communication between our eyes, inner ear, brain, and muscles. Our brain learns to process this information faster and send clearer signals to the muscles.
• Enhanced cognitive function: Learning a new movement pattern or performing complex sequences forces our brain to create new neural pathways.
• Improved body awareness and control.
• Enhanced focus and presence. You have to be “in the moment,” which sharpens mental clarity and can even work as meditation for some people.
• Reduced injury risk. Better communication means better joint control, balance, and stability.
• Increase confidence: When we trust our bodies to react correctly, catch ourselves during a slip or handle an unexpected movement, we walk through the world with greater physical confidence.

Think of it as upgrading your body’s internal Wi-Fi 📡.

The best part of all: Coordination training isn’t just functional — IT’S FUN.

When movement flows, workouts feel more engaging and less repetitive. Our workouts become something we experience, not just complete.

Now here’s your challenge

Start training your mind-body agility right now! Try slipping one of these simple practices into your day:

1. The brushing balance: While brushing your teeth, stand on one foot for 30 seconds, then switch to the other. To increase the challenge, try closing your eyes!
2. Change the pattern. If you always start your step tapping with your right leg, try changing to your left one next time.
3. Add a light cognitive challenge: During dinner tonight, practice exchanging fork and knife between hands (you’ll probably benefit from eating slower too 😅)

Call to action

If you want to move past the basics and introduce specific exercises designed to bulletproof your body and sharpen your mind, reply to this email!

The team at Kinetics NJ specializes in building personalized plans through Personal Training or high-accountability Small Group Training sessions that focus on the functional movement. Let us help you integrate coordination and agility into your routine to ensure you live a fit, happy, and full life.

What’s Coming Up At Kinetics

ADULT PROGRAMMING

• JAN. 26 – MAR. 15: FITNESS CHALLENGE: 50 DAYS KINETICS STRONG

• FEB. 7 – MAR. 14: VINYASA FLOW SERIES, *theme, LOVE YOUR SPINE, Saturdays 11:15-12:30PM

• FEB 8, 1:00-5:00 PM: Historical Exhibit, The Black Kentucky Derby 1875-1921. RSVP required, text 973-433-6169

• .FEB 14, 3:00-5:00 PM Couples Vegan Cooking Class: Couples Who Cook. RSVP required, text 732-314-3086

KIDS PROGRAMMING

• JAN 2 – FEB 20, 1:00-3:00 PM: Cooking With The Vegan Spot: Vegan Cooking with Spanish Language Practice for Kids (ages 6-11)

• JAN 24 – FEB 28, 9:00-10:00 AM: Aerial Fit for Kids.

TO GET MORE INFORMATION ABOUT ANY UPCOMING PROGRAM, DO TEXT US AT 732-314-3086. WE LOOK FORWARD TO HEARING FROM YOU!

“I tried to skip my workout… the universe said “lol no”

If you have ever had this thought, keep reading. 🤪

If staying consistent with workouts sometimes feels harder than choosing what to watch on Netflix (which, unfortunately cannot be counted as a sport) THIS SHORT PIECE IS FOR YOU!

First things first, you’re not alone.
The secret that fitness influencers usually fail to share is this:
Consistency partially involves tricking your brain into doing things it doesn’t feel like doing.
And lucky for many of us, our brains are surprisingly easy to trick.

Let me explain…to STRIVE CONSISTENCY we must,

1. Make your workouts realistic and sometimes stupidly small.
I am talking so small our brains can’t object.
So NO, if you are not there,
Not “45-minute HIIT.”
Not “5-mile run.”
More like:
– 10 squats
– One stretch
– Stand up dramatically and call it “core activation”
BOOM. You’re consistent.

2. As often as possible, piggyback your workout with something you already do every day.
This is called “habit stacking,” but I prefer “sneaking exercise into your routine like a toddler sneaks cookies.
Examples:
– After coffee → 1 minute of movement
– After brushing your teeth → 10-second plank
– After scrolling Instagram → put the phone down and walk away (cardio!)
Soon your routine will bully you into exercising. Perfect.

3. Redefine what counts.
Spoiler: everything counts.
Did you walk fast because you were late? Cardio.
Carried groceries in one trip? Strength training.
Squatted to pick up something you dropped? Functional fitness, baby.

The point is: consistency comes from doing something, not everything.

Today’s challenge (you’re gonna love this)

Do 30 seconds of movement right NOW.

If you blink aggressively, technically that’s reps.
If you do an actual squat, you’re an overachiever.
Either way—you win.

Consistency isn’t about being perfect.
It’s about showing up a little more often than you disappear.
And if you can do that?
You’re already crushing it.

You’ve got this (and so do your muscles, even if they’re still asleep).

If you need more help with being consistent or anything else fitness related, hit reply and drop me a message. I’m here for you. Remember you can do a consultation and fitness assessment with me for FREE! I look forward to hearing from you.