When someone reaches a point where they know they must make some lifestyle changes they often struggle with what is a complete fitness program. Some people start just with one or two components but often they are not enough to get them the results that are desired. A fitness program does have four different parts if you want serious results such as weight loss, improved health or slowing down the aging process.
The four parts of a complete lifestyle fitness program are:
1) Healthy ‘clean’ eating
2) Proper strengthening exercise
3) Cardio interval training
4) Mindset and attitude
Healthy eating sits at the top of our list as you need quality nutrition (un-processed foods) to support your energy levels and get your fat storing/fat burning hormones back into good balance if fat loss is one of the goals expected from your fitness program.
Next on the list comes strengthening exercise and yes, it is above cardio activity. Many people think that cardio type activity (long duration, low intensity) as the primary form of exercise is going to get you into good physical shape or help you lose weight but that is a very old misleading myth. To boost the metabolism muscles need to be worked directly under a load and taken through their ranges of movement.
Your fitness program needs strength training
The health of the metabolism (the body’s engine) is determined on the condition of the muscular system and there is simply not enough muscle building and maintaining activity in our modern world which is why two thirds of us are overweight to one degree or another. So, your fitness program is centered around a proper strength training program 2-3 times each week.
The main benefit with strength training is that it will maintain your muscle tissue while you are losing body fat. Cardio type exercise cannot do that and if fact can cause you to loss to lose precious muscle which is bad news on any fitness program. Your exercise must boost metabolism not decrease it as it is the rate your body burns fuel (calories).
Next comes interval training and that means short bursts of high intensity activity with intervals of very slow recovery time. One of two of these sessions each week will boost your fitness program results into the stratosphere.
Lastly your mindset and your attitude, and you are probably already aware of their importance. We all run on auto-pilot each day (for better or worse) and it is this programming of our subconscious mind that controls our behaviors. To get our mind working for us and on our side we need to keep feeding good positive stuff into it. The more you practice doing this and forcing out ‘bad’ and negative stuff the more you can reprogram your mind just like a computer.
Your fitness program needs good mental attitude
Achieving our health and fitness goals means eating healthy food and getting your workouts done which sometimes needs higher positive mental programming so you are not being sabotaged by a lack of discipline. This can means eating rubbish foods and missing workouts together with a negative, “It’s too hard” attitude.
Your fitness program when complete will fast track your success to a stronger, leaner healthier body that has you feeling and looking great. When it does all come together it will give you an awesome feeling that you are living your very best life.
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