It’s the New Year and you've decided it's time to trim down and tone up once and for all. So where do you start? In the first of a continuing series of articles, I’m going to explain some of the basic principles of fitness training and get you warmed up and ready to hit the year running… In future articles I will start building you fitness program and help you start hitting some of your long desired fitness goals. You can look forward to all types of health, nutrition and general training advice.

Remember: the goal of every Glow woman is to feel fantastic, and one of the simplest and most effective ways is through regular exercise and a healthy diet.

Before you start any new fitness program, your first step should be to visit a qualified health expert. This is important, particularly if you've been sedentary for a long time or are dealing with a chronic injury or illness. Make sure everything is working properly before starting your new life!

You can now take your next step which is deciding where you will workout. Your best bet is to join a gym where you can get one-on-one instruction from a personal trainer. If you prefer to workout at home, you can still perform a number of different body weight exercises. These are a great way to start out and include basic exercises such as push-up, squats and sit-ups.

The goal of any fitness program is to improve performance. The four principles below govern the overall basic factors for fitness training.

Overload
According to this principle, exercise must be done at a higher level than usual to bring about various training adaptations. Once the body has adapted to the higher level of exercise it will function more effectively and efficiently. The overload can be obtained by manipulating various combinations of exercise frequency, intensity, duration and type of exercise. Increasing intensity, duration and frequency can be helpful for walking, running, cycling or swimming, and increasing resistance and repetitions can improve strength training.

Specificity of Training
This principle refers to the training induced adaptations in metabolic and physiologic systems which are specific to the type of exercise. In layman’s terms, this means if you want to get better at running, it’s not going to happen by doing regular swimming, you would need to run regularly to improve.  Thus, it is important to train muscles involved in a specific type of exercise to realise greater performance benefits.

Individual Differences
Responses to a particular training program can vary from one individual to another. According to this principle, exercise programs should be individualised to meet the training requirements and physical capacity of each person.

Detraining
Regular exercise is necessary to maintain fitness. Beneficial effects of exercise are gradually lost or reversed after a few weeks off from training.

It is imperative that you develop all aspects of physical fitness: strength, speed, flexibility and endurance. Therefore, it is important to consider your training in terms of the FITT principle. 

FITT
There are some basic principles that govern the world of exercise, and knowing them can help you figure out the different components of your workout.

Frequency - how often you exercise
Intensity - how hard you exercise
Time - how long you exercise
Type - the type of exercise you're doing (i.e. walking, weights etc.)

When you workout at sufficient intensity, time and frequency, your body will improve and you will start to see changes.

Conclusion
The information above is just an introduction into the principles of fitness training.  Whilst the theory may not be the most exciting topic, it is important to understand these ideas so you training time is used effectively and directed towards you goals.

Where to from here?  Start moving your body!  In future articles I will cover the way to start your fitness program. If you are serious about becoming a “Glowing” woman you should start walking three times a week for a minimum of 20 mins. If you can make that commitment today you will have made your first steps (literally) towards achieving that dream body and mind.

See you next time!

Glow Health & Wellness’ Fitness Instructor is ex Military with over 16 years service. His name has been omitted to comply with Military confidentiality.

Dare to be Fabulous!™