We all know that including exercise into our lifestyle is extremely important! It keeps us healthy, in shape, agile, improves quality of life, helps prevent certain illnesses and diseases, among many other things.
Something we may not consider when exercising or designing a fitness program are all the elements we need to include in it.
Here are 5 elements you need to incorporate into your fitness program:
- Cardio
- Strength
- Balance
- Flexibility
- Posture
The important thing to know about each one of these is that not one of them improves on their own. Over time and as we age our ability to gain and maintain them decrease as well. We loose both our cardio and physical strength, balance, flexibility and posture. Without including exercises to improve or maintain them it is inevitable that over time these things will continue to decline.
So what can we do to prevent this?
Let’s discuss each one of these elements to see why it is important and how we can add them into our fitness program.
Cardio is important for cardiovascular strength and conditioning. We need to keep our heart strong because it is what keeps everything else in the body functioning. Without the heart life is not present. That is what makes it super important to keep this part of the body as strong as possible. Building cardiovascular strength will improve your overall endurance and stamina.
How do you incorporate cardio into your fitness program?
Cardio should be incorporated into your fitness routine at least 3x a week for at least 30 minutes per workout. It can be as simple as taking a walk, jog, run or jumping on some cardio equipment such as a treadmill, bike, or elliptical. Keep it moving for at least 30 minutes elevating the heart to something above normal daily activity.
Other ways you can get your cardio in are by playing sports such as tennis, soccer, volleyball, basketball, etc.
Group fitness classes are another great way to get your cardio in. They should be classes with some intensity to get the heart rate up such as zumba, kickboxing, HIIT, boot camp, step, etc. What is great about some of the group fitness classes such as HIIT or boot camp is that they incorporate both cardio and strength in one workout and may even include balance, flexibility and posture. That makes those types of classes great overall workouts because it can include all 5 elements in one.
Strength is important because we do not increase muscle size or strength if we do not train them to do so. Having weak muscles can cause imbalances and injuries along with many other issues that can make it hard to endure everyday tasks.
As we age our muscle development naturally decreases, making it harder not only to gain muscle, but maintain the muscle we already have.
Strength is needed in many aspects of our daily living such as carrying groceries, lifting laundry baskets, getting up and down from our seats or out of our bed, yard work, house work and so much more. In order to maintain your quality of life now and as you age incorporating strength training into your fitness routine is crucial.
How do you incorporate strength into your fitness program?
When it comes to improving muscle development and strength gains there are several methods and ways to approach it.
Some of the most common approaches are with weight machines, free weights, or using your own bodyweight. Strength exercises should be incorporated at least 3x a week and should hit all the major muscle groups of the body.
The problem is that many people don’t know what to do or where to start. Here are a few suggestions:
All gyms will have what is called a circuit of machines in a specific area for upper body, lower body and core. Typically, there will be at least one machine per major muscle group of the body. If you move around the circuit you will hit all those major muscle groups and build a fairly strong foundation. This is a great method to do on your own. There are usually pictures on each machine to show you how to use it and will get you into the proper position for the exercise, isolating the muscle that you are working on.
Taking group fitness classes for strength is another great method to building muscle. What is great about classes are that you don’t have to plan or know what to do. Just show up and the instructor will lead you through a sequence of exercises. You have a visual representation to follow and an experienced professional to guide you. Look for classes that use things like dumbbells, kettlebells, weighted bars or balls.
Another way to build muscle and strength is with a personal trainer. It is always a good idea to work with a trainer to learn exercises, proper form, technique and execution. This will help to prevent injury and muscle imbalances. A trainer will work with your specific needs and goals and educate you along the way. With a trainer you will also get exercise variation and modifications or progressions for your specific fitness level.
Balance, flexibility and posture are all things that just don’t improve on their own and decrease very rapidly as we age.
How do you incorporate balance, flexibility and posture into your fitness program?
All of these can be incorporated into your fitness routine either on your own, through classes or with a personal trainer.
If you are working to do these on your own it will take a little research and execution. There are many things you can do for each of these to make improvements and they need to be done several times a week. This can be done through different cardio and strength exercises, stretches and poses.
Once again group fitness classes are a great approach. Most or all classes will include some form of these. Any class you take should work towards improvements in these areas. If you are looking for classes that specifically focus on balance, flexibility and posture look for yoga and pilates.
Working with a personal trainer on these specific areas is another way that you can improve them. A personal trainer will either give you specific exercises for these elements or work them into your cardio and strength workouts.
Understanding why we need to incorporate these elements into our fitness program is the first step. Now it is up to you to ensure that each one of these elements makes it into your program.
As a Group Fitness Instructor and Personal Trainer I value what they have to offer and highly recommend working with either or both. This will ensure your fitness program includes all 5 of these elements with proper form, technique and execution.
My programs include all 5 of these elements.
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