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Design
Your Own Program
You may want to design your own personal program
specifically geared to your goals and lifestyle.
Designing
a program is easy, as long as you follow
the below guidelines.
Understand
fitness
and its components:
Improperly
designed programs
can be dangerous.
Take some time to review this manual as well as
other fitness guides.
Know
your
current
fitness
level:
Before
you start
any fitness
program
you should
consult
a physician
who will help you determine
your current
abilities.
Idenfifyyour
goals: Goals are critical to
choosing and designing
an exercise program that
fits and enhances your lifestyle, but so is strategy.
It's important
not to rush the process and try to
accomplish too much too soon. That will lead to
setbacks and discouragement.
Instead, set a series of
smaller achievable goals.
Sdect
complementary
exercises:
Be sure to pair
exercises
that
address
compound
joint
movements
and single joint
movements.
In addition,
select
exercises
that
address
complimentary
muscle
groups.
Put first things
first: During
each session,
first work
muscle
groups
that need the most training.
Remember
your cardiovascular
component:
Any fitness program
must contain a cardiovascular
fitness component
to be complete. So complement
your resistance training with aerobic exercise such as
walking, running, or bicycling.
Training
variables:
When designing your own
program there are several variables that, when mixed
properly, will equal the right fitness formula for
you. In order to find out the best formula, you must
experiment
with several combinations
of variables.
The
variables
are as follows:
• Training
Frequency:
The
number
of times
you train
per week. We recommend
daily activity
but not daily training
of the same
muscle
group.
• Training
Intensity:
The
amount
of resistance
used
during
your repetition.
• Training
Volume:
The
number
of repetitions
and sets performed.
• Rest
intervals:
The time you rest between
sets
and the time you rest between
workouts.
Once you've established
a base of fitness, follow
these basic principles:
• Isolate
muscle
groups:
Focus work on specific
muscle groups.
• Progressive
Loading:
The gradual systematic
increase of repetitions,
resistance and exercise
period.
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