This has been an exciting month! I launched my online personal training business a little over a month ago and I have enjoyed so much success with my new clients. Their enthusiasm for fitness and health has really touched my life. Each day one of them inspires me to go a little further with my own workout and strive harder to live a healthy lifestyle. I want to thank all of them for the many ways they touch my heart.
I also want to thank the ladies on the Fitness Getting Started message board at Weight Watchers. Each day I post a thread to answer questions about exercise and the ladies there have the kindest words and well wishes.
Exercise
For most people the hardest part of exercising is just getting started. Hectic schedules and lack of time certainly contribute to the excuses. But for many people, lack of basic workout knowledge intimidates them and prevents them from even getting started.It’s easy to understand why some feel overwhelmed about beginning a new fitness routine. Virtually every day the media is bombarding the public with the latest “diet research” often times contradicting what may have been reported just weeks earlier. And infomercials swear that 20 minutes of this or 15 minutes of that is all that is required to look like a Hollywood star. With so much
information (and misinformation), it can be hard to decipher what fitness regimen will really deliver results.
But truthfully, it’s not difficult at all to determine what workout will provide health benefits. An easy way to get started is utilizing the F.I.T.T. principle. This acronym stands for Frequency, Intensity, Time and Type.
Frequency: As you might expect, this refers to how often you will exercise. After any form of exercise is performed your body completes a process of rebuilding and repairing. So, determining the frequency of exercise is important in order to find a balance that provides just enough stress for the body to adapt and also allows enough rest time for healing.
Intensity: Defined as the amount of effort or work that must be invested in a specific workout. This too requires a good balance to ensure that the intensity is hard enough to overload the body but not so difficult that it results in overtraining, injury or burnout.
Time: Again, this is rather self-explanatory. Time is simply how long each individual session should last. This will vary based on the intensity and type.
Type: What type of exercise will you be doing? Will an exercise session be primarily cardiovascular, resistance training or a combination of both? And, what specific exercises will you perform?Now you know the F.I.T.T. principle so planning a workout program and getting started should be a breeze. The ACSM (American College of Sport Medicine) has F.I.T.T. guidelines both for cardiovascular work and strength training. For cardiovascular benefits, they recommend exercising for a frequency of 3-5 times per week, at intensity equal to 60-85 percent of your maximum heart rate for a time of 20-60 minutes. For strength training they recommend working out a minimum of two times per week at an intensity that is equal to 70-85 percent of your one rep maximum (maximum weight you can use for one rep) for 8-10 reps and 1-3 sets.
Planning a new fitness routine by breaking it into the four F.I.T.T. principle pieces allows you to quickly create a workout plan that will truly provide you with results. For beginner exercisers choosing the Type of exercise may be the best place to start mapping out your routine. After all, if you have the perfect frequency, intensity and time but hate the actual exercise then you’ll never do it. So, start with something you like. This may be walking, biking, swimming or something else. Next determine the Frequency. Consider how much time each week you truly will devote to this workout. Be realistic. There’s no purpose in setting expectations so high that you likely will fail. Remember, the ACSM guidelines are 3-5 times per week, so a good start would be three days. If you are very limited in your schedule then determining your Time would be the appropriate next step. Otherwise, choose your Intensity level, which will help determine how long your workout session should be. For example, a higher intensity will typically provide more benefit (such as burning more calories in a shorter amount of time). So, choosing to jog may require only 30 minutes of commitment versus walking which may require 45-60 minutes.
Here’s a quick example of both a cardiovascular and resistance workout program that utilizes the F.I.T.T. principle. Walk (Type) at 4 MPH (Intensity) for 45 minutes (Time) four times per week (Frequency). Perform exercises with dumbbells (Type) at 70% of your maximum 1 rep strength (Intensity) for 8-12 reps (Time) 3 times per week (Frequency). That’s all there is to it. Now get out there and get FITT!
Unsure how to implement the FITT principle into your current training program? Don’t have a training program? Use one of my Cardio/Strength Calendars or join my Online Personal Training Service for as little as $24.95 a month.
Courtesy of the American Council on Exercise (ACE)
Phit-N-Phat Treat: Treadmill Body Blast!
Are you short on time and need to combine your strength and cardio training sessions? Besides the custom fat blasting strength training workouts I design, I have a growing Cardio Directory just full of Steady State, Interval, and High Intensity Interval Training workouts that inspire you to new heights on your favorite gym machines. Even if you don’t have access to a machine, I have cardio workouts GUARANTEED to leave you begging for more. This is the short version of a full body treadmill blast. My clients enjoy a thirty and fifty minute version of this killer routine.
|
Min. |
Speed MPH |
Incline |
Body Blast! |
| 0 |
3.5 or your moderately-high walk pace. |
2% |
|
| 1 |
3.5 |
3% |
|
| 2 |
3.5 |
4% |
|
| 3 |
3.5 |
5% |
|
| 4 |
1.0 |
2% |
Carefully step off treadmill. Use a 4-6lb. Medicine Ball and perform 1 min. of Wide Leg Squats with Overhead Ball Raise. |
| 5 |
5.0/4.0 fast walk or jog |
0% |
|
| 6 |
3.5 |
2% |
|
| 7 |
3.5 |
5% |
|
| 8 |
3.5 |
6% |
|
| 9 |
1.0 |
2% |
Carefully step off treadmill. Use a 4-6lb. Medicine Ball and perform 1 min. of Alternating Lunges with side twist |
| 10 |
5.0/4.0 fast walk or jog |
0% |
|
| 11 |
3.5 |
2% |
|
| 12 |
3.5 |
6% |
|
| 13 |
3.5 |
7% |
|
| 14 |
1.0 |
2% |
Carefully step off treadmill. Perform 10 Walk-out push-ups. |
| 15 |
|
|
Hold Plank position until the end of the minute. (Walk-outs take a little more than 60 seconds in the beginning.) |
| 16 |
5.0/4.0 fast walk or jog0% |
|
|
| 17 |
3.5 |
2% |
|
| 18 |
3.5 |
8% |
|
| 19 |
3.5 |
9% |
|
| 20 |
1.0 |
2% |
Bearcrawl one pass, Spiderwalk one pass |
Phat Tip: Perform a cool down walk three to five minutes and then use the Stretch Routine from my October Newsletter!
Featured Recipe
Corinne’s Protein Bowl
Servings – 8Ingredients2 packs of Boneless Skinless Chicken Tenderloins
1 can of Diced Tomatoes with garlic and onion seasoning
1 can of Black Beans
1 can of Pinto Beans
1 can of Chic Peas
1 can of Yellow Corn
Add Cumin, Salt, Red Pepper, and Cinnamon to taste Pour all ingredients into a crock pot and cook on low for six to eight hours. Serve with ½ sweet potato, over brown rice, or over a bed of spinach leaves.
Phat Tip: I pre-portion my entire pot into Gladware sandwich containers. For the next two to three days I have appropriate portioned meals that are healthy, delicious, and easy to throw into my little cooler.
Phit-N-Phat Blog
Wow! If you have not read my blog you are missing out on tons of good information. Over the past two months and 9,000 visitors, my blog has exploded with content, links, exercise routines, tips, and challenges. You can even subscribe to receive my blog delivered directly to your inbox. Each day I post my own exercise routine and my daily food journal along with any helpful hints or tips I think you could use to enhance your life and workouts. Check it out and leave a comment or two! Better yet, link to my blog from your own websites and forward it to your friends and family.
Discussion
I know most of you know my story about how I began my journey to lose over 100 lbs. The birth of my son made me realize that I did not want to be the type of mother who was so unfit that I could not enjoy his active years. I wanted to be healthy and happy, to run and play with him, and to be a better wife to my wonderful and supportive husband. Luckily for me, I have a husband who supports my healthy endeavors and a four year old who thinks that dessert equals fruit.
On the message boards I post to, women too often say, “My family won’t eat my diet food,” or, “My kids don’t like fruits and veggies.” They want to know how you eat differently than everybody else. My answer is always the same: Why do you NOT want them to eat the same? Losing weight is not about going on a restrictive diet; it is adopting a healthy lifestyle that incorporates life sustaining foods and an active lifestyle to keep you healthy for many years. Again, who doesn’t want that for their family?
As great as that answer is, it doesn’t help the family that is in the fast food rut, TV from the time homework stops until it is time to go to bed, computer and video games on the weekends, and a pantry laced with cakes, cookies, sodas, popsicles, ice cream, and sugar cereals. It’s hard to explain to a five year old why suddenly Lucky Charms for breakfast is now oatmeal and orange slices with turkey bacon, McDonald’s for lunch is now a turkey and cheese rollup with carrot sticks and blueberries, and dinner is whole wheat pasta with spinach marinara and garlic shrimp. Not to mention we will now find activities to do because we only get one to two hours of TV a day.
Easier said than done, right? I admit, my son eats McDonalds, has a Starbucks cookie each time we go for Mommy’s coffee, and watches two hours of TV a day. No more than two hours a day, I will say, but he does squeeze in every ounce of Thomas the Tank Engine he can. McDonalds is a treat and he only gets it when we go there for three hours of play land experience. Starbucks, well, Mommy has cut back and tries to go when he’s not around. If he can’t have his cookie then I shouldn’t have my latte.
So, what are some tips and strategies to help you integrate a healthier lifestyle for the entire family? The following suggestions were taken from ACE, American Council on Exercise, for parents to improve the whole family’s eating habits.
- The first step is to stop battling with your kids about food. Offer reasonable alternatives as you gradually reduce those high-fat, high-sugar foods. Be sure to include some of their favorite foods in daily meals.
- Stock the kitchen with a majority of healthy items, keeping in mind that kids want some of their favorite foods, which may be sweet and/or salty.
- A good way to get kids involved and committed to healthy eating is to involve them with the food shopping and preparation. Children who feel competent to select and prepare food will make more intelligent food choices.
- Make physical activity a family affair. Go for walks, fly kites, rollerblade around the neighborhood, play miniature golf or other sports. Anything that gets you moving together will no doubt be good for you, too. For more information on raising a healthy child click on this link to learn strategies to teach your child how to be a healthy kid. http://www.ymca.net/downloads/hkd_parent_guide.pdf