reaching Your Goals
To reach your goals you must follow a consistent,
well designed program that provides balanced
development to all parts of the body and includes
both aerobic and strength exercise. Only then will
you meet your goals safely and efficiently.
The workout routines found in this manual are
professionally designed and written to target
specific fitness goals. Should you not find one
specific program to your liking, you can design your
own, based on sound information and the principles
found in this manual.
Designing Your Own program
You may want to design your own personal
program specifically geared to your goals and life-
style. Designing a program is easy, as long as you
follow these guidelines.
Understand fitness and its components:
Improperly designed programs can be dangerous.
Take some time to review this manual as well as
other fitness guides.
Know your current fitness level:
Before you
start any fitness program you should consult a
physician who will help you determine your current
abilities.
Identify your goals:
Goals are critical to
choosing and designing an exercise program that
fits and enhances your lifestyle, but so is strategy.
It’s important not to rush the process and try to
accomplish too much too soon. That will lead to
setbacks and discouragement. Instead, set a series
of smaller achievable goals.
Select complementary exercises
: Be sure to
pair exercises that address compound joint
movements and single joint movements. In addi-
tion, select exercises that address complementary
muscle groups.
put first things first:
During each session, first
work those muscle groups that need the most
training.
remember your cardiovascular component:
Any fitness program must contain a cardiovascular
fitness component to be complete. So complement
your resistance training with aerobic exercise such
as walking, running, or bicycling.
Training variables:
When designing your own
program there are several variables that, when
mixed properly, will equal the right fitness formula
for you. In order to find the best formula, you must
experiment with several combinations of variables.
The variables are as follows:
•
Training Frequency:
The number of times you
train per week. We recommend daily activity but
not daily training of the same muscle group.
•
Training Intensity:
The amount of resistance
used during your repetition.
•
Training Volume:
The number of repetitions and
sets performed.
•
Rest intervals:
The time you rest between sets
and the time you rest between workouts.
Once you’ve established a base of fitness, follow
these basic principles:
•
Isolate muscle groups:
Focus work on specific
muscle groups.
•
Progressive Loading:
The gradual systematic
increase of repetitions, resistance and exercise
period.
DEFINING YOUr GOALS
