What I find fun and exciting about exercise is that it's something I can do on my own, or with a group of friends, at a gym, on the lake, at the beach, in the mountains, on my front porch, and in a room the size of an average bathroom. Exercise is personal! I believe that if you do not like a particular activity then you will not be consistent with it. Now it did take me more than a few months to actually enjoy lifting weights. However, once I began to see muscles in my arms, my back, and my legs I was hooked. What I loved the most about lifting weights was that the muscles were developing because I was doing the work. I would collect workout videos, magazine clippings, and save money to take classes at several gyms. I had a trainer and I would practice with my high school soccer team. I knew that if I did not make my workouts a personal matter then making fitness a lifestyle and getting in shape would be a dreadful affair I would not participate in.
Resistance training is essential to developing muscular strength and endurance, building lean muscle mass, reducing body fat, keeping your metabolism running properly and effectively, maintaining the health of your skeletal system, reducing the risk of heart disease and type II diabetes, and enabling you to feel healthy, fit and confident physically and mentally. Weight training shapes your body. Lean, sculpted, and strong muscles will replace excess body fat. Now who would not want that?
Resistance training is a science; however, I believe it is much easier than you think it is to maintain a consistence weight training program. All you need is a plan, along with unwavering commitment and motivation.
Trainer's Tips:
1. Make exercise PERSONAL: Do you enjoy taking classes? Do you like to work out on your own, with a trainer, or with a group of friends? Do you need a gym or can you work out at home? Do you like Boot Camp workouts? Are you more comfortable with machines?
Tailor your workouts according to what will keep you consistent and interested. If you do not enjoy a particular activity, you will not continue to exercise! It may take some time to figure out what will keep you committed, motivated, and consistent. Do your homework, research new and upcoming workouts at your local gym, and keep an open mind. Do not be afraid to try different things! It’s your health that will thank you.
2. Establish a short term goal: Why are you exercising? What are you working for? Knowing exactly why you want to and need to exercise will keep you moving forward and will keep you on track. Defining your goals is essential to maintaining consistency when work, school and family demand most of your energy and focus. Write down your goals, set a time line, take inventory of your progress, and keep track of your results. Adjust, adapt, and change your goals and the time line according to your progress.
3. Determine how many days you are able to work out in a week and for how long. Resistance training will produce results; however it will definitely take more than one day a week of weight training to reach your goals in a timely manner. There is Body Maintenance and then there is Body Change. Body Maintenance is exactly that - maintaining your current state of physical condition. One to three days a week of resistance training, 20-60 minutes, can enable you to maintain your current physical condition. This is best when you have reached your short term goals, are satisfied with your health and fitness, your body needs rest and recovery, or when your time is limited and your schedule is demanding. The Body Maintenance stage is affective when your priorities have to shift primarily to work, school and family and when your list of things to do is barely keeping your head above water. It is better to exercise only a few days a week than no days at all.
Body Change requires three to six days a week of resistance training, 30-70 minutes. When in the Body Change stage you are an athlete in training with a particular goal in mind, whether you are competing in a race or trying to look your best for a holiday party. Body Change is just that, working out with the intention of changing the structure of your body and reducing your body fat composition. The Body Change stage also requires a clean eating nutrition game plan and proper rest and recovery. I think of the Body Change stage as "Athlete in Training." When in season athletes practice. Athletes prepare their meals. Athletes time their meals. Athletes know when it is time to rest and recover. Athletes are committed and focused. And athletes also have an off season, which is similar to the Body Maintenance stage. Your exercise game plan will include each stage, and this will keep you fit, healthy and injury free.
Once you have made your exercise plan personal, established a short term goal, and determined how many days a week you will work out then you can begin planning your workouts. Of course, this is the most difficult part of the process. What do you do in the gym?
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