Before you start, it’s a good idea to remember the benefits of working out so that these can serve as your motivation when you feel tired.
The FITT Principle
One of the basic principles in fitness training is the FITT Principle, which uses the FITT acronym to help people remember the variable in exercising. This helps avoid plateaus where the body starts getting used to the training and stops showing improvements.
Frequency: How often you exercise
Intensity: How hard you exercise
Time: How long you exercise
Type: The type of exercise you’re doing (e.g., cycling, running)
When your body adjusts to the current FITT levels, you can then start tweaking one or more at a time. For instance, after consistently taking 20-minute walks three times a week and your body no longer shows any improvement, you can change the intensity of your walks like adding short bursts of jogging or speed walking. You can also change the duration of your walks from 20 minutes to 30 or 45 minutes.
With consistency in your training, you can change any of these variables every four to six weeks. This will help you get continuous results without overworking or underworking your body.
The Overload Principle
Keep track of your routines and the benefits you get from them. If you want to improve your endurance, strength and fitness, you have to increase your intensity, frequency and duration of your workout. This is so you don’t focus on one aspect too much and forget about the rest. It’s important to try different activities that develop your body in accordance with your goals.
For example, if you have been doing bicep curls using dumbbells, you can try switching to a barbell the next time. Similarly, you can consider riding the bike tomorrow if you have been walking on the treadmill previously.
Of course, your workout routines should coincide with the goals you have set for yourself. It would be a waste of time and energy to include in your routines exercises that do not help with your goal. If you simply want to lose weight and get fit, the focus of your workout should be on cardio, body strength and a healthy diet.
Types of exercise
There are three main components of exercise that you need to remember to get that strong and fit body: cardio, strength training and flexibility.
This exercise includes any rhythmic and continuous activity like aerobics, walking, running and cycling. Cardio routines increase endurance, burn calories and strengthen the heart and lungs, which all contribute to weight loss.
This refers to lifting weights like barbells, dumbbells and resistance bands to have stronger bones, muscles and connective tissues. Strength training improves metabolism and helps reduce body fat.