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Health & Fitness

How to Design a Successful Fitness Program

How happy are you with your current fitness level? The answer to this question depends on how good your program is. The good news is that designing a quality program can be quick and easy.

How happy are you with your current fitness level? The answer to this question depends on how good your program is. The good news is that designing a quality program can be quick and easy when you follow these five simple steps.

Step 1: Create a Warm-Up Focused on Core Balance

A properly sequenced warm-up should be at the foundation of your program. It should help you to restore your posture, balance, and muscle tone. This is more than just getting your muscles warm. You want to take your body through the right ranges of motion for your particular needs. This should include using key muscle groups that are going to help you during the workout, not stretching. Think of the hips, abs, back, ankles, knees, and shoulders. Also think of a variety of ranges of motion, such as front to back, side-to-side, and twisting. This warm-up will form the foundation for the rest of the workout. The warm-up should be about 15 minutes.

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Step 2: Create a Fun Cardio Program

The word “cardio” has somehow become synonymous with “stationary bike,” “elliptical trainer,” and “stair climber.” For more success, you should be doing exercises that create more of a range of motion demand than simply fluttering your legs in the same monotonous pattern. Mix it up a bit. Do jumping jacks, lunges, or inchworms in a 40-20 pattern. Do 40 seconds of moderate to vigorous activity and then follow it with a 20 second rest. You will be sweating before you know it. Any exercise can have cardiovascular benefits if you do it at the right intensity in this 40-20 pattern. Your entire cardio program should be between 10 and 30 minutes.

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Step 3: Create a Resistance Program

Lifting weights is not the only way to get a resistance workout for your muscles. In fact, doing simple body weight training is usually better. A while back I heard of a study that was performed where they took gymnasts who never lift weights, and they put them in the weight room to see how much weight they could lift. Well, the researchers were shocked when some of these men were able to lift more than 400 pounds in the bench press, without ever doing that exercise before! Then they reversed the study: they took weight lifters into the gymnastics arena. You can guess how they did. They weren’t able to use the strength gained in the weight room when they went to do body weight training. You do not need weights to do resistance work, although they can form part of your program. Good resistance exercises are pushups, pull-ups, dips, full sit-ups, lunges, and squats. This part of your program should take about 15 to 30 minutes.

Step 4: Add Variety

We spend a lot of time indoors. It’s here that we breathe recycled air and bathe in the rays of artificial light. Mix it up a bit by going outside. Enjoy the fresh air and sunshine. Take off your shoes and feel the grass. Let your body just move without being so tied to a rep/set scheme. Movement is supposed to be fun, and going outside helps you reconnect with that joy of natural movement. Do full-body movements to engage your entire body. This is more fun and more effective.

Step 5: Get a Partner

Having a positive workout partner can greatly enhance your results. I find that this can be one of the biggest factors in a successful fitness program. Make sure that your partner is motivated and committed. This person also should never miss a workout, and hold you accountable so that you don’t miss either. Ideally, the two of you should create a win-win relationship, where both of you are better off because of the team you’ve created.

A successful workout program should incorporate all of these suggestions. For more ideas, feel free to e-mail me at chris@mycorebalance.com. I love helping people create effective and sustainable workout programs.

Keep moving,

Chris

The opinions expressed here are the blogger's and not necessarily those of the local editor's or anyone affiliated with Patch.

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