Content

• To step
• Part 1 of 4: Determining your fitness level
• Part 2 of 4: Create a cardio program
• Part 3 of 4: Training for strength
• Part 4 of 4: Stretching and adding flexibility exercises
• Warnings

If you want to get stronger or faster, lose weight, or simply improve your quality of life, consider creating a personalized fitness program to meet your goals. There are many different programs and most include a mix of aerobic, resistance and flexibility exercises. Determine your fitness level and create a program that suits you.

To step

Part 1 of 4: Determining your fitness level

1. Start with the basics. You've decided to get fit - that's a great first step. But don't just start without thinking about it. Start with the simple things: is there anything stopping you from getting fit? Do you have health problems? Do you need to see a doctor first?
   • You probably don't need to see a doctor if you are under 50 and in good health, but it is always recommended before starting a new exercise regimen.
   • If you are over 50 and have health problems - such as high blood pressure, heart problems, dizziness, or arthritis - talk to your doctor first.
   • Remember that balance and strength decrease with age. This can limit your ability to exercise or make it more likely that you will sustain injuries that are more difficult to recover. But by exercising gently and under supervision, you can improve these things through training.
   • If in doubt, see a doctor. Your doctor can advise you which activities to avoid.
2. Test your current fitness level. Basic fitness is a mix of four things: cardiovascular endurance, muscle strength, muscle endurance and flexibility. How are you doing? Test yourself to see where you are fit and where you can improve. You need a watch, a tape measure, a ruler, tape and a scale.
   • Walk briskly for 1.5 km to test your heart health. Before you start, take your heart rate in beats per minute and record the time. Then record your heart rate again and write down how long it lasted.
   • To measure your heart rate, place your index and middle fingers on the side of your neck. Count the strokes for 10 seconds and multiply by six.
   • To test muscle strength, count how many push-ups you can do until you can no longer do push-ups with the correct technique. If you are a woman you can do modified push-ups (bend your knees) or classic push-ups. Men have to do the classic push-ups from the plank position. Write down the number.
   • For flexibility, stick a ruler to the ground with some tape at the 40 cm point. Sit next to the ruler with your feet roughly flush with the tape. Reach as far forward as you can and hold the position long enough to see how far you can get. Do this exercise three times and write down how far your longest attempt was.
   • Now body composition: waist and Body Mass Index. First measure the circumference of your waist at the height of your navel - where your waist is narrowest - and write this down. To get your BMI (a rough indicator of body fat percentage), use an online calculator or divide your weight in kilos by the square of your height in meters.
3. Make a plan and set goals for yourself. Give yourself an extra boost by planning your program in detail. You can either do this yourself or with outside help. A structured program lets you set goals and stay on track.
   • Try writing your plan on paper, for example. Ask specific questions: What are my goals? What do I want to achieve with this fitness program? How am I going to do it? Is it attainable?
   • Be specific in your answers. For example, do you want to be able to run for 30 minutes continuously four times a week? Or do you want to lose 2.5 kilos in a month? Just saying "I want to get fit" doesn't give you a concrete, measurable goal to work towards. The more specific you can be, the easier it will be for you to know when you achieved your goals.
   • Paste your program somewhere you see it every day, such as in your office or on the bathroom mirror.
   • If you want you can also take a personal trainer. Personal trainers are fitness experts who will ensure that you use the correct technique during training, that you do exercises that are appropriate for your fitness level, that help you set goals and motivate you to achieve them.

Part 2 of 4: Create a cardio program

1. Choose exercises that you can do and that you enjoy. Cardio is an essential element of fitness plans. When you do cardio, you work on large muscle groups in your body, your heart rate goes up, and you breathe faster and deeper. Cardio training makes your heart stronger, improves endurance and burns calories. It also improves your mood and helps you sleep better.
   • Cardio is also known as aerobic exercise. The idea is to get your heart rate and breathing rate up.
   • Walking, running, rowing, swimming, cycling and dancing are all cardio workouts. This includes most team sports, martial arts and even golf.
   • Choose exercises that you enjoy, but also make sure you are physically able to do them. For example, running is hard on the knees and feet, so if you have bad knees you may need to do a less strenuous exercise like brisk walking, cycling or swimming.
   • Also remember that you will exercise often, so you may need to have different workouts and alternate them. For example, you can cycle, swim and play golf on different days of a week. Or you can play football, run and inline skate.
2. Start slow. Slowly build up the routine until you have more stamina. It is recommended that you do at least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity or 75 minutes of vigorous activity per week. However, you don't have to do all of this in two, three or four sessions. Instead, you spread it out over the week.
   • Aerobic exercise must pass the "talk test", which means you should be able to talk and have a conversation while you exercise. If not, your heart rate is too high.
   • Ideally, you should be active for at least 30 minutes a day. If that doesn't work, try breaking your workout down into smaller parts. For example, start walking for 10 minutes a few times a week. As your body gets used to this, take the walk longer to 15 minutes, then to 20 minutes, then to 30 minutes.
   • You shouldn't feel the need to do high-intensity exercise in the beginning. Go at your own speed. Otherwise you could get injured.
3. Use a three-pronged approach. Cardio is not a lot of effort all the time. To get the most out of each session, incorporate three elements into your routine: warm up, conditioning, and cool down. Start the workout slowly, maintain the level and then reduce.
   • Before each session, warm up for about five to ten minutes to get your heart going and increase blood flow to your muscles.
   • This can be done through a version of your training at low intensity. If you cycle, for example, you go very quietly for a few hundred meters. When you swim, you do two or three lanes at half speed.
   • Go for around 30 minutes of conditioning after your warm up. Conditioning is about reaching a "sweet spot" - a level that you can maintain, but at which your breathing and heart rate are higher than normal.
   • Finish with another five to ten minutes of cool down. Slowly come to a stop and lower your heart rate. You can also stretch your major muscle groups, such as your hamstrings, calf muscles, chest, shoulders, quadriceps, and back.
4. Work towards an ideal duration and frequency. Review your progress after a few weeks and make adjustments. Chances are you can train longer and harder, and have gained aerobic capacity and stamina. Increase the duration or speed by 10% every week to build your stamina. Try to work towards recommended guidelines: again, at least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity or 75 minutes of vigorous activity per week. Ideally, you should aim for at least 30 minutes of cardio activity per day.
   • Adding five minutes to your workout per week is a modest and achievable goal. This means that at the end of a month you will train 20 minutes longer.
   • If your goal is weight loss, you may need to increase your exertion or do more strenuous exercise. Instead of exercising for 30 minutes three or four times a week, go for 45 minutes five or six times a week.
   • Some cardio workouts are better than others if weight loss is your goal. Aerobic dance (like Zumba) and cross-country skiing, for example, burn about 700 and 600 calories per hour, compared to brisk walking (150) or golf (350).
   • That said, you have to listen to your body. Take a break and let your body recover when you are exhausted. Stop exercise and see a doctor if you feel pain, dizziness, or breathlessness.

Part 3 of 4: Training for strength

1. Learn good technique. Strength training, also called weight training or resistance training, is a different type of exercise. Strength training builds muscle and stamina. It will make you stronger, strengthen your bones, increase your stamina and boost your mind and mood.The key to a good strength program is to work on large muscle groups such as the legs, arms and core.
   • In strength training, you use weights to create resistance and make your muscles work harder. You can do this with machines, free weights, training bands or even just your own body weight.
   • The resistance puts a strain on your muscles and joints, so it's important to learn good technique and always use it. Otherwise, you run the risk of sprains, strains, fractures, or overuse injuries. In general, you should maintain good posture to protect your spine.
   • Start with a weight that you can easily lift 12-15 times (on a machine or free weights) and move the joint through the full range of motion. Exhale as you lift the weight and inhale as you lower it.
   • Talk to people at your gym. A sports trainer or fitness expert will be able to guide you through each exercise to make sure you are doing it right.
2. Choose exercises for large muscle groups. A good strength program will work on all major muscle groups. Choose exercises that isolate them or work on several groups at the same time. Adjust your program to your own needs, but also to your physical limits. Consider your strength, balance and age.
   • Good exercises for your upper body include push-ups. You can strengthen your arms and shoulders with dumbbell rows and overhead presses. Bench presses train your chest muscles.
   • Exercises that train different muscle groups at the same time are very useful. For example, squats train your quadriceps and glutes at the same time. Lunges are another great example of this type of exercise.
3. Split the program into rotations, sets, and reps. Your training program should be a cycle. Plan to focus on specific muscle groups and do some specific exercises each day. You don't have to train the whole body every time.
   • For example, your rotation might look like this: bench presses, rear flyes, push-ups, and planks one day for your back, bicpes and triceps curls the next day to train your arms, and squats, lunges, bridges, calf raises , balance exercises and do curls for your legs on the third day.
   • During each rotation day you split the exercises into sets and repetitions. A "rep" is a full movement of the exercise. A "set" is a series of consecutive repetitions.
   • How many reps and sets should you do? The answers differ. The Meio Clinic recommends a set of 12 reps for each exercise. Another rule of thumb is that a light weight with many reps builds endurance and muscle tone, while a heavy weight and fewer reps - but many sets (five or more) - builds strength.
   • How long should you train? The answer is not that long. Most people see results after about eight weeks with two or three 20 to 30 minute sessions per week, targeting all groups. Avoid staying on the same level by making changes to your routine every eight weeks or so.
   • Remember to give your body time to rest and recover: always plan at least 48-72 hours between sessions for each muscle group.
4. Use the three-pronged approach. As with cardio, you use a three-pronged approach to your resistance training: aerobic warm-up, post-weight stretching, and cool-down. These help keep the blood flowing, make the joints more flexible, and stretch and relax the muscles when you're done.
   • Before starting the weights, such as walking or jogging, do moderate-intensity cardio for a few minutes. "Warm" muscles are less prone to injury than "cold".
   • Do not stretch before resistance training.
   • After your workout, take some time to cool down and stretch (one or two minutes for each muscle group).
5. Do the major muscle groups first. Experts recommend starting your workout with large or multiple muscle groups. That way you can do these heavier exercises with more energy. You can isolate smaller or individual muscles afterward.
   • Prioritize exercises that use multiple muscle groups at the same time. Also, do exercises that use multiple joints before doing exercises that use only one joint.
   • You can train your legs and back first, for example. For example, squats use your legs but also your glutes and core muscles and should be done early in the training.
   • Do exercises with some joints and muscles later. Biceps curls or shoulder shrugs can be done later in the training session.

Part 4 of 4: Stretching and adding flexibility exercises

1. Focus on important muscles and joints. Flexibility is sometimes forgotten in training programs. However, you should include basic stretching exercises in your program. Stretching makes you more flexible, increases the range of motion of joints, increases blood flow to the muscles and can prevent injuries. It can also prevent posture and joint alignment problems.
   • Stretch important joints and muscle groups that you use every day, during your workout or in daily activities. The legs, arms, back, chest, shoulders and hips are common.
2. Warm up in advance. Don't stretch with cold muscles. You can injure yourself. Instead, do a few minutes of cardio warm-up to get the blood flowing before stretching.
   • For example, walk, cycle or jog at a low intensity for 5 to 10 minutes. You can also stretch after your workout, if you've already warmed up.
   • It is better not to stretch for strength training or intensive activity such as running or other athletic components. Some studies show that stretching for the activity can actually reduce your performance.
3. Hold the stretch. As you stretch, gently pull the muscle and joint in a smooth motion and hold for about 30 seconds. You may need to hold it for 60 seconds in problem areas - that is, areas that are inflexible or stiff.
   • Also try some yoga poses. In the Simple Balasana (or Child) Position, kneel on the floor with your knees slightly apart. Then lean your hips forward, touch the floor with your forehead and hold your stomach against your thighs for 20 to 30 seconds. Stretch out your poor one in front of you. This pose gently stretches your lower back and upper body. Older adults should be careful with this stretch as it can harm the spine.
   • Do not hold your breath as you stretch, but exhale during the movement. Also not Veer. You don't have to bounce to reach further. This springy stretching can tighten the muscle or, worse, cause an injury.
   • Be aware of your spine and don't stretch it too far in an unusual direction. The same goes for other joints - keep them soft and don't lock them up.
   • You should not feel pain when stretching. A little tension or discomfort is normal, but if it hurts you have stretched too far.

Warnings

• Don't give too much of yourself. Doing so can cause serious injury, muscle or joint pain, or a tired feeling that makes you want to give up. Instead, you take small steps and work a little harder each day to improve.
• Combining training with extreme diets can be dangerous. Make sure you eat healthy and enough.