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Exercise is an excellent way to lose weight and burn fat, improve fitness and boost energy levels. Exercise combined with a healthy diet is the key to reducing weight, reshaping the body and keeping weight off for good. Improved fitness levels and lower body fat will also help reduce the chances of obesity related illnesses such as heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes.

Before starting any exercise program consult with your physician!

Exercise the Right Way

An effective fitness program depends on the individual, and the goal of that individual. The frequency, level of intensity and duration of each session is of utmost importance. Obviously the program of an Olympic athlete will be significantly different from an individual looking to improve physical conditioning or lose a few pounds. Planning a fitness regimen should take into consideration current fitness level, current health and age, exercise history, interest and individual skills. Exercise should be part of a daily routine. To make exercise more enjoyable and an aid in motivation, try exercising with a friend.

Warm Up

5 -10 minutes of exercises such as walking, slow jogging, knee lifts, trunk rotations and low intensity movements that will be used in the activity is also a good form of a warm-up.

Stretching

The ability to move joints and use muscles through their full range of motion. Flexibility through stretching is important as it increases physical performance, decreases the risk of injury, increases blood supply and nutrients to the joints, increases neuromuscular coordination, reduces delayed onset muscle soreness, improves balance, decreases the risk of low back pain and reduces stress in muscles.

Muscular Strength

The ability of a muscle to exert force over a period of time is of utmost importance when exercising. A minimum of 2 weight resistance training sessions per week that include exercises for all the major muscle groups is recommended.

Muscular Endurance

The ability of a muscle, or muscle groups to sustain repeated contractions or to continue applying force to a fixed object over a period of time.

Cardiovascular Exercise

Cardiovascular workouts have numerous health benefits. In addition to burning calories and lowering your body fat, it will strengthen the heart and lungs. At least 3 -2o minute bouts of continuous aerobic exercise each week is recommended.*

Cool Down

During aerobic exercise blood flow is concentrated primarily in one part of the body. A cool down allows for blood flow to re-circulate the rest of the body. A minimum of 5-10 minutes of slow walking, low-level exercise, combined with stretching is recommended.

Effective Exercise Program Checklist

Weight Loss?

Before starting an exercise program ask yourself ‘What is my goal?” If the goal is weight loss, a thorough understanding of exercise will be necessary to save time and frustration.

Don’t spend time doing bicep curls, wrist curls or 3o minutes of abdominal training!

A Full Body Weight Resistance Workout is the most effective program in achieving your goal of weight loss!

This type of workout is the most effective, time efficient and is the least strenuous weight resistance program for clients that are overweight, elderly and de-conditioned.

It is important to note that proper nutrition, some form of cardiovascular activity and rest are essential elements to achieve the body you have always wanted.

Body Building?

Before starting and purchasing numerous supplements at the nutrition store ask yourself “Is it wise exercising & good nutrition that will change my physique or spending money on unregulated supplementation?

When exercising to build muscle mass it is important to first understand the following terms:

Aerobic: Low intensity exercise, Long Duration

Anaerobic: High intensity exercise, Short Duration - LESS IS MORE!

Exercise selection, duration of the program, and exercise technique/body alignment is key for an effective exercise bout.

A split routine is the most effective in your muscle building goal!...

A well constructed strength training exercise prescription must follow 3 basic principles 1) Specificity-training in a specific manner to produce a specific adaptation or training outcome, 2) overload-assigning a workload than the athlete is not accustomed to 3) Progression-if the training program is to continue to produce higher levels of performance the intensity of the training must progressively become greater. Combined with good nutrition, (balanced diet) cardiovascular exercise, working within your target heart rate (THR) zone for an extended period, you can achieve the physical conditioning that you have strived for. Save some of the time spent training the abdominals muscles and spend it performing cardio to achieve those ripped abs.

Athletic Competition?

To excel in any sport the athlete must be strong, fast and agile. Strength training is the only way to make muscles bigger and stronger. A strength training program is an extremely important component of the aerobic endurance athlete (eg. cycling, marathon) training program, but is usually avoided. The type of program for strength training will depend on the athlete and the sport involved. For the ultimate athletic performance, several types of training should be performed along with traditional strength and conditioning.

▪ Strength Training

Full Body Workout

Split Routine

Negative Training (emphasizing the lowering of the weights)

▪ Sports Specific Training

Functional Sport Specific Training (movements involved in the sport)

Agility Drills/Plyometrics

Balance Training

▪ Aerobic Training

Interval Training

Some exercises will be inappropriate for different individuals!*

Working within a target heart rate (THR) for some individuals is inappropriate, use RPE- based on how the subject feels (rating of perceived exertion)*

Before starting any form of an exercise program or diet consult with your physician!

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