Author: Joy Page 3 of 5

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:

1. Cardio
2. Strength
3. Balance
4. Flexibility
5. 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.

Learn more about my services

Goal setting is a huge part of the health and fitness industry.

We set goals on a daily, weekly, monthly and yearly basis. But, how often do we achieve the goals we set?

More often then not goals are set and not achieved. Why is that?

One of the biggest reasons goals are set and not achieved are because we think too big, too quick.

When it comes to the health and fitness industry small goals and steps create the biggest results. Therefore, we need to set goals we know and are confident we can achieve.

For instance:

Let’s say you haven’t been exercising and your goal is to start. Set a goal of 1 exercise day a week for 2-4 weeks. This goal is very doable, whatever method of exercise you choose whether it be to take a walk, go to the gym, take a fitness class, hire a personal trainer, play a sport. One day a week is not going to overwhelm your mind or your body and you may even find you enjoy it. Your next goal can be to exercise 2x a week for the next 2-4 weeks after.

Had you set a goal to start to exercise and tried to fit in 3-4 days a week right away you may have found it hard to go from not exercising at all to trying to fit several days of it in a week. Feeling sore, overwhelmed, tired and not enjoying it, eventually quitting.

Which approach do you think will give you more success in achieving your goal?

A slower, gradual approach really can make all the difference in achieving the goals you set. You do not need an all or nothing approach. Breaking bad habits and forming good ones takes time for the mind and body to process.

Next time you set a goal, think of setting smaller goals that lead to that one larger goal you want to achieve. Get rid of the all or nothing approach and enjoy the process of reaching the goals you set little by little.

One of the most frequent questions I get asked is… Should I be doing cardio or strength workouts?

My answer is always both.

Not only is it important to get both cardio and strength in your workouts but also getting variation is important. There are several approaches to both cardio and strength workouts and each approach has its benefits.

Let’s discuss:

Whatever method of cardio you use treadmill, bike, elliptical, etc. there are several approaches you can take:

1. Steady state cardio –  the goal for steady state is to get the heart rate and intensity up and keep it up at that level for your entire workout. Use resistance or speed to get the heart rate up to an intensity level you can maintain for your entire cardio session.
2. Interval cardio – change your intensity level throughout your cardio session. Add resistance or speed for short bursts at a time – at least 30 seconds – to a level where you feel your heart rate and intensity increasing. Bring the resistance or speed back down for recovery time and repeat short bursts of increased intensity throughout your workout.
3. Combo of both – incorporate both steady state cardio and interval cardio into this cardio session. Hold a steady state for several minutes and then add some cardio intervals for several minutes. Allowing both a steady state as well as an increase and decrease in your intensity levels throughout your workout.

Same goes for strength, there are several approaches for different goals and results.

1. Lift heavy –  Lift heavy to encourage muscle mass and growth. Reps should be under 10 per set at a slow and controlled pace. Choose a weight that fatigues the muscle by the last rep in each set.
2. Lift light–moderate – lift light to moderate with more speed while still maintaining control and form throughout the movement. This will add a cardio element to your strength session. Reps should be between 10 and 20 per set. Or, you can use timed intervals instead of reps. Choose a weight that fatigues the muscle by the end of your reps or timed interval.
3. Combo of both– incorporate both heavy and light lifting to this workout. Heavy lifting will encourage muscle growth and adjustments while light to moderate lifting will add some cardio to help burn fat surrounding muscles. This approach will help build muscles while keeping  the body lean. Alternate sets between heavy lifting and light to moderate lifting. For your heavy sets you are going for under 10 reps at a slower more controlled pace per set with a weight that fatigues the muscle by the last rep. For the lighter set you are going for 10-20 reps with a faster pace per set with a weight that fatigues the muscle by the last rep. Or, you can use timed intervals instead of reps switching between heavy and light sets.

Besides separate strength and cardio workouts be sure to include combo workouts that include both strength and cardio in the same workout for that day. With your combo workouts create drills, intervals or circuits that mix in light-moderate and/or heavy lifting with bursts of cardio. Use designated reps or time per exercise for these workouts.

Why is it important to try and hit all of these approaches?

The biggest reason is for – variation. Having workouts with different approaches offer different benefits to your body both physically and emotionally.

Variation also offers change which prevents boredom. I think that it is important to keep yourself interested and by mixing up your workouts each week with different approaches prevents or minimizes the boredom that comes along with keeping the same routine more then once per week. If you always do the same cardio workout 2-3 times per week and the same strength circuit workout 2-3 time per week how can you be excited about it doing it.

The question now is… How do you put it all together to form your workout regimen?

First thing you need to do is decide how many days per week you can workout. The minimum days should be 3 but, 4-5 are better, especially with this approach. You want to hit as many variations of these workouts as you can per week.

Once you have decided on frequency of days you also need to decide on what your goal is: weight loss, getting lean, building muscle mass or strength. If you are going for weight loss or getting lean, choose more cardio driven workouts with strength such as lifting light and combo of heavy and light. If you are looking for building muscle mass or strength, lift heavy and combo of heavy and light. Same idea for cardio, if you are going for weight loss or lean, you want a cardio workout that burns the most calories and fat such as interval or combo of steady state and interval. For building muscle mass and strength go for steady state and combo of steady state and interval.

With both of these in mind you can then build your workout.

For instance:

Let’s say you have 5 days to workout and you want to get lean. Here is what a plan could look like:

• Day 1 – Strength day – lift light to moderate
• Day 2 – Cardio day – interval cardio
• Day 3 – Strength day – combo strength
• Day 4 – Cardio day – combo cardio
• Day 5 – Combo day – include strength and cardio in one workout

Let’s say you have 5 days to workout and you want to build muscle mass. Here is what a plan could look like:

• Day 1 – Strength day – lift heavy
• Day 2 – Cardio day – steady state cardio
• Day 3 – Strength day – combo strength
• Day 4 – Cardio day – combo cardio
• Day 5 – Combo day – include strength and cardio in one workout

If you have only 3 days a week to workout choose at least 3 different approaches. Mix in one of the strength approaches, one of the cardio approaches and a combo day of including both strength and cardio. You can always change up the approach each week to keep it challenging and interesting.

No matter what approach you take or how you workout the most important thing is that you mix in both cardio and strength each week for all the benefits both have to offer. It is the best way to build and improve muscle, strength, flexibility, range of motion and cardio endurance.