How do you create your own fitness program? Many people are starting to turn to creating their own fitness program because the gym is to expensive and having your own plan can be a lot more flexible. So how do you do it? What are the steps for a successful fitness program?
First, you need to identify your fitness goals. Are you wanting to lose weight? Do you want to build muscle and get toned? Do you want to run a 5k or a marathon? These are the questions you are going to have to ask yourself. It can be as simple as wanting to run 3 miles without taking a break. Whatever it is, make sure you write it down, and keep it in front of you. Finding out what your fitness goals are, is the beginning to creating the plan you will implement ti achieve those goals. You want to make sure that your goals are realistic, so you do not get frustrated and quit. Make sure your goals are challenging but reachable, it will help motivate you even more when you reach your goals.
How To Design Your Plan Of Attack
1. You want to choose an activity that is easy to access. For example, swimming should not be your main activity if you cannot access a lake or pool easily.
2. You want to choose an activity that you like to do. If you like running or going on a walk, then do that. If you like biking then do that. There is an exception to this rule though, some people hate the thought of working out but still want to lose weight. If you are one of those people, then suck it up and choose something or get more creative.
3. Have variety. Doing the same activity over and over again can get boring, so make sure you add variety to your workout program to help keep it fresh.
4. Evaluate your progress. Make sure to always evaluate your progress every 30 days. Make adjustments if needed.
Your fitness program should incorporate areas:
Warming up and Stretching – Make sure you warm up before stretching those muscles, that is very important.
Resistance Training – This is your strength training. This could be anything between weight lifting or body resistance training (push ups, pull ups, etc.).
Cardiorespiratory Training – This can be any activity that gets your heart rate up and your lung huffin and puffin. Jogging, walking, cycling, rowing, step aerobics, etc.
Cooling Down and Stretching – The cool down is super important, it will help your muscles to relax. Stretching is also very important.
You will decide how much time and what days you work out on, but make sure your at least workout for 30 minutes 3-5 times a week to start off, and then try to do some type of activity 5 or 6 times a week.
First Step: Weight Training – I know it sounds kind of funny and weird, but not running and doing some weight training or resistance training can actually improve your running times and strength. I am not saying that you should not run, by any means! But adding weight training or resistance training three times a week on top of your running workouts, will definitely help your running strength. You do not have to be running all the time.
I want to talk to you about Interval Training. Interval Training contains both high bursts of energy and recovery times. There are many different ways people use interval training, some people do long bursts of energy and short recovery times, some people do shorter bursts of energy and longer recovery times, both are affective. No matter which form of interval training you chose, the goal is always to get your heart rate up with high bursts of energy and then bring your heart rate down with the recovery time, do it over and over again for around 20-30 minutes.
Which brings us to our second way to burn fat quickly. Muscle training! I am not talking about getting huge and bulky, so if your a woman or a man afraid to bulk up? Do not worry. Resistance training is a very important key to burning fat, because building lean muscle is the fastest way to burn fat. You do not have to use heavy weight or even use weights at all. Resistance training involves chin-ups, push-ups, lunges and squats; all those exercises can be done without weights. If you do end up using weights, you do not have to pick heavy weights. Chose weights that you can control, many people try to whip out reps like they were in a race…but slow and steady wins this race. For example, going down with a bicep curl is just as important as going up with a curl. There are times for pumping out reps, but slow and controlled repetitions will help your body burn more fat during and even after the workout is finished.
