The Reality of Fitness

Making sense of the puzzle that is the health and fitness industry can be a daunting and seemingly insurmountable task. The multitude of exercise equipment, weight loss programs and fitness classes often prevents those new to exercise from embarking on an exercise program.
The reality of fitness is that the most effective exercise is often the simplest and the road to success begins with a desire to improve and a realistic goal to achieve.

The most important activity a person can do when beginning an exercise program is to set personal, achievable objectives. Goals will give your exercise purpose and direction. The most effective method of reinforcing your aims si to write them down and place them in a prominent position. Write them in your diary, on the fridge door, stuck to the remote control or on the dashboard of your car. Constant reinforcement will remind you why you are getting up at the crack of dawn to get hot and sweaty and there is no better feeling then achieving personally set goals. Objectives can take any form you desire, remember they are your personal aims, make several at a time and review them regularly. It is great to aim high, but make some smaller intermediate goals and reward yourself each time an objective is achieved.

One of the most common reasons for beginning an exercise program is to ‘lose weight’ and even though the intentions are admirable, the aim of weight loss is misguided and often results in unfulfilled goals. Continual referral to scales to determine the success of and exercise program will only result in failure. It is important that any goals you set do not use body weight to indicate success. In the past, weight loss programs have involved the significant reduction in calorie or food intake as the main method of reducing bodyweight. A significant decrease in calorie intake forces the body to rely on another energy source, and instead of utilizing fat, the body breaks down protein form muscle tissue. This starvation technique results in dramatic initial weight loss that is not sustainable and detrimental to overall health. Efficient fat loss methods adopt a different approach involving the generation of lean muscle tissue which results in an increase in metabolic rate and therefore increased utilization of fat stores as energy. Scales are useless in monitoring of health and fitness because often body weight may not change despite the decrease of fat mass. A Fitness Professional can assist you in the best methods of attaining positive results.
FAT LOSS NOT WEIGHT LOSS

Diet? A word that in recent years that has lost its true meaning. Your diet is the food that you consume, however it has come to be closely related to starvation. Balanced diet is the key to long lasting health. Eliminating any part of the food intake period will result to a decrease in health; even cutting fat from your diet will be detrimental to your well being. Any ‘diet’ that seems too good to be true probably is, don’t be fooled – it could cost you your health. Always seek the opinion of a Health Professional before starting a new diet plan.

When considering where you will exercise, it is important to remember the ‘training’ is not merely participating in an aerobic class or riding an exercise bike. Training can take many different forms and will be determined by your objectives and fitness level. Any type of exercise that extends your fitness limits and aids in improving your health can be considered to be training.

Gymnasiums are a good situation to aid in the development of health and fitness, providing a consistent exercise environment. However if you are willing to brave the outdoors, fitness is limited only by your sense of adventure. All activities performed in a gymnasium such as walking on treadmills, steppers, climbers, hikers and riding exercise bikes are based around activities performed outdoors. In some cases it can be seen that the best long term results can be gained from training outdoors in real like situations. (It is important to take into consideration that in real life you will rarely encounter a situation where you will need to perform a ‘grapevine’ aerobic move or run on a consistently smooth surface in an air-conditioned environment). This type of training allows people to adapt to their exercise to almost any situation, using the terrain and natural objects available to improve their fitness without the need for expensive equipment or facilities. Gaining this type of experience will also allow you to exercise when you are unable to attend a gymnasium, a simple skill many ‘gym junkies’ don’t have.

Knowing how the body adapts to exercise will aid you in training effectively. It is important to realise the human body will develop a fitness level based on the tasks that it is required to perform. If you have been asking your body to perform with minimal exertion, the physical adaptations will reflect the exertion levels. To improve your fitness, your body must be progressively placed under increased levels of physical exercise. PROGRESSION is the key, climbing the fitness mountain can only be accomplished in small steps, taking great leaps places you at risk of falling off your fitness mountain.
Three areas that can be progressively increased are:
• DURATION – the length of time that you exercise for.
• INTENSITY – how hard you exercise.
• FREQUENCY – how often you exercise in a specific period

These three areas apply to all types of training and exercise. They should be gradually and individually applied, not all three at once. The final area of training that is often neglected but is of extreme importance is that of RECOVERY. Times of rest allow the body to adapt to the training that has been performed. Recovery periods are actually where you get fitter and experience muscle growth and repair.

The benefits of exercise are limitless; the avoidance of exercise can be disastrous. The reality of fitness is that it is possibly the most significant determining factor in your quality of life. Your long term health is determined by the amount and type of exercise that you perform. Although fitness is important don’t forget to make it fun, if you enjoy what you do, you will do it more often. Exercise with a friend or find a training group or club, most will be more then happy to help you achieve your goals.
Please remember before you undertake any type of fitness program, consult your physician.

Andrew Adams.