Sami Craigo, Beach, ND (2026)

08/25/2026

Honestly, this is one of the things that gives me the biggest ick in the fitness industry EVERYWHERE.

No, maybe every trainer doesn’t need a degree or a million certifications. And I definitely don’t think there’s only one “right” way to coach

AND the minimum requirement to train someone should never be the goal.

When people enter this industry with the bare minimum knowledge, throw together a workout, count reps, tell someone to “push harder,” and call it coaching, it dilutes the entire profession.

It creates a race to the bottom where training gets reduced to $20 sessions, generic workouts, and glorified accountability.

And then people start believing that’s all coaching is worth.

It’s not.

People aren’t just walking bodies that need a workout.

They have histories. Injuries. Stress. Sleep issues. Different goals. Different movement strategies. Different beliefs about their bodies. Different barriers to being active.

And when someone is struggling, “just push harder” isn’t always the answer. Sometimes you need to understand why something is happening before you decide what to do about it.

That’s a huge part of why I continue to invest in my education.

Active Life Professional.
Health Mindset Coaching.
A master’s degree in kinesiology.
And a whole lot of continuing education that I’ll probably never stop pursuing.

I don’t want to be the coach who knows just enough to write a workout. At this point, you can get a decent enough workout program for free, real easily.

I want to be the coach who can look at the whole person, ask better questions, recognize when something is outside my scope, collaborate when needed, and create a plan that actually helps someone move forward.

You deserve more than the bare minimum and so does this profession. I’ll just be over here forever advocating for the pursuit of better, FOR you and FROM fitness professionals.

08/24/2026

Thinking about our student athletes spending a lot of time outside and all of us who physically exert ourselves in the heat, and wanted to share this, because or something like that, right?

Anyway, WHY DO PEOPLE CRAMP IN THE HEAT AND WHAT CAN WE DO ABOUT IT?

Physiology is rarely as simple as throw some LMNT into your water bottle and eat a banana.

Current evidence suggests that exercise/heat-associated muscle cramps may have more to do with ALTERED NEUROMUSCULAR CONTROL caused by muscle overload and fatigue than simply being dehydrated or “low” on the ol’ electrolytes.

UNDERSTANDING THE DIFFERENCE MATTERS. Ah, so many caps.

Here’s the deal: if the problem is fatigue and neuromuscular control, then the answer isn’t to
drink more electrolytes.

It’s probably more like:

→ managing training load
→ building capacity gradually
→ addressing fatigue
→ improving conditioning
→ understanding the demands being placed on the muscle
→ and looking at the whole system instead of chasing one symptom.

This is one of the reasons I love continuing my education in kinesiology and pursuing a higher level of coaching. The human body isn’t a collection of isolated problems to patch.

IT’S A SYSTEM.

We need to be asking why something is happening, not just what supplement, stretch, or exercise can make the symptom go away.

You guys deserve more than surface-level fitness advice. You deserve to understand your body + evidence-informed coaching.

On to the good stuff:

WHAT CAN WE DO ABOUT IT?

The most current recommendation (outside of managing the above factors) for immediate treatment of exercise/heat-induced muscle cramps (and we’re also not talking dysfunctional cramping patterns) is to get in some more fluids, preferably something like a Gatorade, and to do some very mild, prolonged stretching paired with ice massage of said cramping muscle.

Remember, too, that someone who experiences muscle cramps may have a hard time returning to that activity for the rest of the day. Cramping is pretty likely to reoccur with physical exertion right away.

08/23/2026

SAVE THIS POST

(and note these recommendations are not for small children, pregnant people, etc - these are general guidelines for typically healthy people and it is up to you to be responsible and when necessary, check with your provider ESPECIALLY if you are known to have electrolyte imbalances, heart issues, etc.… TLDR, use your noggin, you beautiful, smart people).

✅begin sessions well-hydrated (determined by light yellow urine)

✅consume 17-20 oz of water or sports drink (alternating is really helpful) 2-3 hours before exercise and then another 7-10 oz in the 10-20 min before exercise

✅fluids need to be readily available throughout the entire session/practice/game

✅during activity, consume the max amount of fluid that can be tolerated but it should NOT EXCEED fluid loss (you don’t need to hydration max, yo)

✅cool beverages at fridge temp is recommended

✅the addition of carbs and electrolytes to a fluid replacement solution is recommended for activities lasting longer than about 45-50 min (3-8% carb solution, or 14 grams of carbs per 8 oz of water, seems to be optimal)… this will ALSO LIKELY IMPROVE PERFORMANCE

✅adding a MODEST amount of sodium (0.3-0.7 gram per liter) is ok to stimulate thirst and increase fluid intake

also we can take a moment and just giggle at the fact that I had no time for Canva bu****it and just wanted to knock out some actually useful content as easily and quickly as possible. utility doesn’t have to be aesthetic 👌

08/22/2026

I’ve had coaches tell my kids that they only need water for their outside practice when it’s hot hot hot and I TOTALLY pushed back on that (not locally here in Beach, by the way). First of all, don’t project your weird diet bu****it on my kids, but second of all, SCIENCE.

Here’s the deal: Your body uses a process called sodium-glucose cotransport. Think of sugar as the VIP pass that unlocks your gut lining; when glucose and sodium cross into your system, they pull water along with them FASTER and we want that when the sweat’s flying.

Hydrating with a 3-8% carbohydrate drink, like Gatoraaaaade (please read that with your best Waterboy impression) actually helps your body absorb fluids faster than drinking water alone, all while keeping your energy levels topped off.

Your gut uses specific proteins (SGLT1) that actively transport sodium and glucose together across the intestinal lining. As sugar and sodium move into the tissue, water follows automatically via osmosis.

Plain water relies on passive absorption, which is slower. A mild carb solution acts like a high-speed pump, accelerating gastric emptying and fluid delivery to dehydrated muscles.

And listen, beyond hydration, carbohydrates are FUEL. They provide energy. They help keep blood glucose stable and replenish muscle glycogen (it’s getting cellular here, my friends, but stay with me), and this prevents the “bonk” or fatigue that happens during prolonged physical exertion.

According to sports nutrition research, the ideal carbohydrate concentration for rapid fluid absorption is 3% to 8% (Gatorade sits right at ~6%). Anything over 8% can slow down stomach emptying and cause GI distress.

08/22/2026

For a long time, fitness and healthcare have operated in separate lanes. One treats the diagnosis and one trains the body.

Somewhere in between, people are left trying to figure out why they still hurt, why they can’t do what they used to do, or why they keep running into the same limitations.

That gap is a big part of why I became an Active Life Professional - and why I’m pursuing my master’s degree in kinesiology. Doing this from rural North Dakota makes the mission even more important to me.

People in rural communities deserve access to the same high standard of evidence-informed, individualized training that exists in bigger cities.

Ranchers. Athletes. Business owners. Parents. People who use their bodies for their livelihood and people who simply want to keep doing the things they love.

You shouldn’t have to live in a major metro area to have someone look beyond the surface issue.

Listen: a painful knee isn’t just a knee. A cranky shoulder isn’t just a shoulder. Back pain isn’t just something you have to learn to live with forever.

The goal is to understand the person, the movement, the demands of their life, and the factors that may be contributing to the problem and then build a plan that actually makes sense for them.

That’s the difference I’m trying to create here as part of Active Life’s mission. It is not fitness versus healthcare, it’s bridge between them.

It’s not chasing symptoms or handing someone a generic workout. It’s about getting curious about the ROOT of the problem and NOT creating dependence on a coach.

It’s about empowering people with the knowledge, strength, capacity, and confidence to take ownership of their bodies. Not shaming, not talking about “timing” and “challenges” and “revenge bodies” and just “trying harder”.

That’s why I became an AL-P and why I’m continuing my education. It’s why I’m committed to bringing this level of coaching to a place like rural North Dakota. Where you live shouldn’t determine the quality of care you have access to.

08/21/2026

Joy is a mountain bike ride in the middle of the day with your spouse while all your kids are at school. Val Craigo

08/19/2026

My youngest starts kindergarten, my middle is now in junior high and switched the town that she goes to school in (it’s complicated, but to sum that up, we used to commute to another town across the MT/ND border via shared custody agreement and now things have shifted and we no longer have to do that… it’s a really big deal).

My days look COMPLETELY different all of a sudden.
AND next week, I start school again myself as I begin working toward my master’s degree.

It feels exciting. A little weird. A little terrifying. And a lot like an opportunity.

I get to ask myself: What do I want this next season of my life to look like?

If you’re in a transition too, you don’t need to overhaul your entire life. Just pick a thing.

A habit you’ve been putting off or a boundary you need to practice. A goal you actually care about. One thing that makes you feel more like yourself and/or the person you want to become.

The fresh start effect lets us use a transition as a cue to action (and it’s a real thing - HELL YEAH, neuroscience).

We divide our lives into chapters or periods, pushing old mistakes and flaws into a past time period. The was. When we get a chance to work with a clean slate, it makes us feel more in control and hopeful about our future actions.

We get a chance to view our current self as a new person who is separate from our past, released from our old bu****it.

SO, yes, we know we need to have a deeper why in pursuit of our goals, but there’s not a thing wrong with leveraging this fresh start effect as a catalyst to what’s next.

Sami Craigo

08/25/2026

08/24/2026

08/23/2026

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08/21/2026

08/19/2026

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