5 Questions to Plan Your Fitness Training Program

There's a problem with the planning of your fitness program. As in there isn't any. I was just discussing this with one of my friends in the fitness industry lately. We were commenting on the fact that most fitness goals are really pretty simple to accomplish. Not necessarily easy, but fairly simple. As long as you understand the parts and systems of the body and how they respond to stimulus, it's fairly simple to manipulate that into most fitness goals. I understand that I have an advanced degree in Exercise Physiology and both of us have quite a bit of experience in the business, but look at it like a vehicle's engine. I have a rudimentary understanding of auto mechanics. I can do some simple things, but you wouldn't want me trying to rebuild an engine. For a good mechanic, rebuilding the engine to my car would be a pretty straightforward task. Again, perhaps not easy or fast, but not particularly complicated.

The body is like a vehicle's engine. Certain things do certain tasks. Some parts wear out fast, while some never need to be replaced. If one part goes then sometimes you only have a short time before the stress of that causes other parts to become damaged. Just as we know that if we want our body to perform a certain way, a good mechanic knows how to tweak an engine to perform the way they want it to.

So, my question to you is what's your plan? How are you going to lose body fat, gain muscle, increase your vertical jump, win a state championship, or do whatever you are aiming for? Too often I pose that question to people and the response is: "I'm going to do some cardio, lift weights, and eat healthy". Not that those activities are necessarily bad things to be doing, but that's a pretty broad statement. When I press the issue a little bit things start to unravel quickly. Most people don't really know what they should be doing for "cardio", if at all. Many consider weight training to be either: bench presses and curls, every machine in the gym, or sit-ups and the adducter/abducter machines. Trust me, those options to not a complete strength training program make. The diet? "Eating healthy" usually consists of either eating nothing but salad or choosing the low fat options of Hostess pastry snacks.

I'm not trying to dissuade you from your goals here, but I am trying to make you think about them a bit. Try asking yourself these questions to get started on the right track:

1. What do I really want to accomplish? What specific goals am I looking for?

2. What are the qualities that people that have those goals have (low body fat, high endurance, high strength, etc)?

3. How do I rate in those categories right now?

4. What is the most efficient way to improve what I need to improve? If you don't know, then it's time to research or ask a professional.

5. How do I manipulate my lifestyle to accommodate the methods I need from the question above?

If you put some real effort into answering these questions I think you'll start to see a plan forming. I am also betting that it'll be a lot more solid than the one you had before and your chances of success will be much higher!