Quick Weight Loss Tips

A Workout Schedule

How often, how long and how hard you exercise, and what kinds of exercises you do should be determined by what you are trying to accomplish. Your goals, your present fitness level, age, health, skills, interest and convenience are among the factors you should consider. For example, an athlete training for high-level competition would follow a different program than a person whose goals are good health and the ability to meet work and recreational needs. 

Your exercise program should include something from each of the four basic fitness components described previously. Each workout should begin with a warmup and end with a cooldown. As a general rule, space your workouts throughout the week and avoid consecutive days of hard exercise. 

Here are the amounts of activity necessary for the average healthy person to maintain a minimum level of overall fitness. Included are some of the popular exercises for each category.  

1.    WARMUP - 5-10 minutes of exercise such as walking, slow jogging, knee lifts, arm
       circles or trunk rotations. Low intensity movements that simulate movements to be used
       in the activity can also be included in the warmup. 

2.    MUSCULAR STRENGTH - a minimum of two 20-minute sessions per week that
       include exercises for all the major muscle groups. Lifting weights is the most effective
       way to increase strength. 

3.    MUSCULAR ENDURANCE - at least three 30-minute sessions each week that include
       exercises such as calisthenics, pushups, situps, pullups, and weight training for all the
       major muscle groups. 

4.    CARDIORESPIRATORY ENDURANCE - at least three 20-minute bouts of
       continuous aerobic (activity requiring oxygen) rhythmic exercise each week. Popular
       aerobic conditioning activities include brisk walking, jogging, swimming, cycling, rope-
       jumping, rowing, cross-country skiing, and some continuous action games like
       racquetball and handball. 

5.    FLEXIBILITY - 10-12 minutes of daily stretching exercises performed slowly, without
       a bouncing motion. This can be included after a warmup or during a cooldown.

6.    COOL DOWN - a minimum of 5-10 minutes of slow walking, low-level exercise,
       combined with stretching.

7.    A MATTER OF PRINCIPLE -  The keys to selecting the right kinds of exercises for developing and  
       maintaining each of the basic components of fitness are found in these principles: 

8.    SPECIFICITY - pick the right kind of activities to affect each component. Strength
       training results in specific strength changes. Also, train for the specific activity you’re
       interested in. For example, optimal swimming performance is best achieved when the
       muscles involved in swimming are trained for the movements required. It does not
       necessarily follow that a good runner is a good swimmer. 

9.    OVERLOAD - work hard enough, at levels that are vigorous and long enough to
       overload your body above its resting level, to bring about improvement. 

10.    REGULARITY - you can’t hoard physical fitness. At least three balanced workouts a
         week are necessary to maintain a desirable level of fitness. 

11.    PROGRESSION - increase the intensity, frequency and/or duration of activity over
         periods of time in order to improve.

Some activities can be used to fulfill more than one of your basic exercise requirements. For example, in addition to increasing cardiorespiratory endurance, running builds muscular endurance in the legs, and swimming develops the arm, shoulder and chest muscles. If you select  the proper activities, it is possible to fit parts of your muscular endurance workout into your cardiorespiratory workout and save time.