Valkyrie Fitness Training

01/07/2026

Yoga resumes tonight!
Go to www.valkyriefitnesstraining.com to buy your class packs and passes!

01/01/2026

Physical activity habits do not form in isolation. Research consistently shows that children with active parents are dramatically more likely to stay active themselves, with some studies estimating up to a 600 percent increase. The reason is not genetics alone. It is neurological and behavioral modeling.

Children learn movement by observation long before instruction. When they see parents walking, stretching, playing, or choosing movement naturally, their brains associate activity with safety, normalcy, and daily life. This builds motivation circuits without pressure. Movement becomes identity, not obligation.

Neuroscience explains that habit formation in early life relies heavily on mirror neurons. These brain cells fire when a child observes behavior in others and help encode it as familiar and desirable. When parents are sedentary, the brain encodes stillness as default. When parents move, the brain learns that movement is part of how life functions.

Active parents also reduce psychological barriers to exercise. Children raised in movement friendly environments show lower anxiety around physical effort and greater confidence using their bodies. This supports long term physical literacy and emotional resilience.

Importantly, intensity does not matter. Structured workouts are not required. Walking, playing outside, doing chores, or simple daily activity all count. Consistency and visibility are what shape the brain.

This understanding removes pressure from parenting. Motivation does not need to be forced. Modeling does the work quietly. Children follow what feels normal, not what is demanded.

Healthy habits are inherited through environment before intention. When movement is woven into everyday life, children absorb it naturally and carry it forward with confidence and ease.

Active parenting is not about perfection. It is about presence. When adults move, children learn that movement belongs in life.

12/28/2025

12/17/2025

Many lifters believe that short rest periods make a workout more intense, but research shows the opposite. Short rests don’t build more muscle—they simply build more fatigue. When you rush between sets, your muscles and nervous system don’t have enough time to recover. This forces you into the next set weaker instead of stronger, reducing the quality of each rep and lowering the mechanical tension your muscles actually need to grow.

Muscle growth is driven by how much high quality force your muscles can produce, not by how exhausted you feel. With rest periods that are too short, ATP stores remain depleted, neural drive is low, and stabilizing muscles aren’t ready to perform. This results in lighter weights, fewer effective reps, and less total volume—all major contributors to stalled progress. The burn may feel intense, but intensity is not the same as hypertrophy.

Allowing 90 seconds to 3 minutes between sets restores strength, improves form, and increases the number of productive reps you can perform. This leads to greater mechanical tension, deeper fiber recruitment, and far more growth over time. Long rest doesn’t mean you’re training easy—it means you’re training smart.

Muscles respond to tension, not rushed exhaustion. When you give your body the rest it needs, every set becomes a true opportunity for growth—not just a race to fatigue.

12/17/2025

Personal training clients! If weather conditions don’t allow for training sessions at Lakota tomorrow, we do have the option to do sessions via Zoom! As always, if you can get there, the fitness center will be accessible for members, 24/7/365

12/17/2025

Please get booked in for yoga tonight so I know you’re coming! Last yoga class until the new year! Yoga will be back again January 7th! Single classes and class packs are available online at valkyriefitnesstraining.com

12/14/2025

Due to the wind, please use the back door until further notice. Sorry for the inconvenience.

12/03/2025

Don’t wait until after the holidays to put your health first! Join in December and receive a FREE T shirt and RTIC tumbler! Stop in during business hours, or join online!

11/27/2025

Happy Thanksgiving from our family to yours!

11/20/2025

We are extremely saddened by the loss of one of our beloved members. Raymond was always in good spirits when he would come in, and was excited to show me pictures of his family. He would bring my daughter treats and would play peekaboo with her, and was just all around a wonderful person! He will be greatly missed here at the gym, and by so many others! Rest in peace.

View Raymond Paul Schuh's obituary, send flowers, find service dates, and sign the guestbook.