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Fitness Tips and Tricks

Most people do not realize that fitness is all about tips and tricks to decrease the amount of time spent in a gym, increase efficacy of each workout, and improve outcome in less time. In order to succeed with fitness goals, it is imperative that you have a plan.

Unfortunately, the vast majority of people that I know do not have a targeted plan to in their fitness quest. Think about your health in a similar way as you think about a job and you will reap much better results from your program.

For example, consider a typical day for me at the office:

6:45am – arrive at the office, check email, make a cup of coffee
7:00am – 12pm – see patients and clients, take notes on each session
12-1pm – Lunch + respond to emails
1-6pm – see patients and clients, catch up on paperwork, prepare for following day

Now, let’s take a look at how this same model could be used in a workout program:

Minutes 0-3 – warm up, elevate heart rate by about 10-15 beats per minute
Minutes 3-20 – Cardio or interval training
Minutes 20-40 – begin first rotation through a circuit, focusing on form and functional, whole body movements
Minutes 40-43 – rest after twenty minutes of nearly continuous movement, interrupted by short rest periods of 30-60 seconds as needed.
Minutes 43-60 – repeat circuit, record results, prepare for next workout by mentally rehearsing before leaving the gym.

Basically, we are doing the same thing in both scenarios. By choosing to arrive a couple of minutes early, warming up (checking email), beginning our workout routine with a specific goal in mind for both cardio and weight training (see patients and clients, take notes), taking a break (lunch time), repeating the process (patients and clients), and preparing for the following day we are at a huge advantage.

First of all, we are making the most of every moment in the gym. Secondly, we are visualizing success during a proud moment by mentally rehearsing the following routine. This is a key to fitness success – belief system. Belief system affects everything we do. In order to become fit, at some point, you will have to believe in yourself. Most people choose to believe in small steps. While this is a great way to offer yourself positive reinforcement, I encourage all of my clients to visualize complete success with long-term goals, and then begin to rationalize smaller ones from there. This is a much easier way of determining your overall progress in achieving something that is actually meaningful.