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Get Fit With a Program For Success
By Daniel
Taverne
How many times have you flipped through
the channels on your TV and run across some energetic young man or woman
hollering at you, “Come on! You can do it! Keep it up!. And 2 and 3, and 1…”
I know I run across them all the time. Watching the performance of people
such as these makes the exercises they are doing look quite easy. However,
when I try to mimic what I see on the television, I usually end up with my
legs tied up in a knot, my shoulder dislocated, and whip-lash! It’s no
wonder that I get discouraged while attempting to keep up, and since many
people feel the same way I do about the subject, I feel compelled to share
the knowledge I used to implement my own ‘easy’ military type master fitness
training’ regimen with anyone who wants to listen.
When I was in the Army, I attended a master fitness trainer workshop. This
workshop taught us the fundamentals of exercise, the knowledge of which can
be used to help you create your own work out. Note: Always consult your
doctor prior to beginning any exercise regimen.
An important principle to consider when
exercising is the F.I.T.T. principle. Each letter in “FITT” stands for an
element of the principle.
F. Frequency: How often the exercise is performed. If performed more often,
you can expect better results.
I. Intensity refers to the amount of energy or effort put into an exercise.
The theory is that if you put forth more effort, you can expect better
results.
T. Time: refers to how long each exercise is performed. Here, it is believed
in this principal that the number of repetitions performed, nor the number
of miles walked, jogged or ran matter. What matters is how much time is
devoted to each of them. For Instance, if one person runs 2 miles in 30
minutes, he is getting a better work out than the guy who runs it in 15
minutes even though the intensity of his run is higher. In addition, the
longer a person runs, the more fuel is taken from fat storage supplies
within the body.
T. Type: refers to the type of exercise performed, and the individual
exercises engaged in. When deciding what exercises to perform, it is not
recommended that you concentrate on just one area of your body. In fact, the
types of activities you engage in should provide your body with a balanced
effect.
Knowing this FITT principle can help guide you on a path of ‘bodily
improvement’, since you know how to adjust your work out to meet your
changing needs.
Before beginning exercises, you should warm-up first, then stretch. This
should take at least 15 minutes. This warm up can consist of jogging in
place, jumping jacks, a few push-ups, and anything that raises your heart
rate and respirations slightly, and warms your muscles. This warm-up
prepares your body for a workout, and makes stretching safer.
The kinds of stretches you want to perform are called static stretches. With
static stretches, you will want to hold the stretch at the point just before
you feel pain, In which case, you should only feel a moderate bit of pulling
on the muscles and tendons you are stretching, then hold the stretch for 10
to 15 seconds. A second type of stretch, but one that you should not perform
are called ballistic stretches. These stretches are bouncy in nature, and
can cause injury.
After your body is warmed up and stretched, you are ready to workout. I am
using the word workout as a global term covering aerobic exercise, as well
as anaerobic exercises. In the army, we worked out 5 days every week, then
rested on the weekends. We devoted Monday, Wednesday, and Friday to Aerobic
conditioning, and Tuesday’s and Thursday’s to anaerobic exercises.
Aerobic exercises work the largest of muscle groups, require large amounts
of oxygen, and are performed so as to increase stamina, burn fat, and
condition the heart muscle. When aerobic exercise is performed, the
exerciser should try to reach and maintain a percentage of their target
heart rate for at least 20 minutes. 3 days per week to accomplish those
goals. A rule for finding your target heart rate is to subtract your age
from 220. Then, a percentage of the resulting number should be used. For
example, my target heart rate is 220-39 or 181. Based on my current health,
I’ll shoot for 70 percent of that number or 127 bpm (beats per minute). Most
people will be attempting to reach 70%, 80%, or 90% of their target heart
rate depending on their own current conditioning. People who are in better
shape can go for the higher percentages.
Some of the more well known aerobic exercises are aerobics, running,
swimming, and wind sprints.
Anaerobic exercises refer to, weight lifting, push-ups, sit-ups, pull-ups,
and the like. These exercises employ smaller muscle groups, and require less
oxygen than aerobic exercises since the muscles will fatigue before you get
out of breath.
Following your exercising, you should go through a cool down and stretch
phase where if you were running, or walking vigorously you allow your heart
to gradually slow down to a near normal rhythm. This can be accomplished by
first slowing to a brisk walk then slowing even further to a slow walk while
working your shoulders up and down repetitively. Eventually when you stop,
you can do some deep breathing by inhaling deeply through your nose then
exhaling through your mouth. Do this breathing while gently stretching the
muscles you just exercised.
Create a plan for success by first realizing that you should not jump into a
difficult training regimen all at once! Doing so can cause undue soreness
which can be discouraging. Fortunately, this can be alleviated somewhat if
the program’s difficulty point begins at a level that you can handle fairly
easily.
The next thing you should realize is that the changes you want to see will
not occur over night. If you are out of shape, I’m sure it took some time
for you to get that way, and I can assure you it will take some time to
reach your goals. Rest assured though, you do have it within you to be
successful. The day you decide (with resolve) to start a program, and not
give up, is the day you change your life.
Article Source: http://www.Articles-Submit.com
Author's Blog:
www.dtaverne.blogspot.com Author's Discussion Forum:
dan38.proboards41.com/
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