Making Workouts Count

Getting Fitness Right is a challenge. It is about combining attitude, direction and intent into application. In popular sports jargon, that mean execution and that translates into work done well.

Making workouts count is depends on defining goals, assessing current fitness levels, and designing a coherent program. Individual sessions fit into a larger scheme. This can help to motivate you through the inevitable resistance and reluctance that pops up at minute 12:40 on the treadmill (scientifically calculated by inquiring minds).

Getting Fitness Right implies a practical fidelity to a regular workout schedule. There is every reason to enjoy the progression from warm-up through main workout modules, and then to cool-down and rest. Rest plays an important role in recovery, an essential aspect of any fitness regimen.

Getting fitness right is also about resolving to develop and maintain good nutritional habits. Integrated into a fitness plan, a program of superior nutrition can have a sizable tangible effect on your athletic results and overall health.

_{What Makes a Workout?}

A workout is an exercise session. Following its course from start to finish makes it a complete session. This is the template: a blocked period of time devoted to purposeful exercise, one that includes a warm-up, 'body' and cool-down.

Using the language of academia, the structured workout session is the core curriculum. Electives are those variables that reflect personal preferences and customization towards a specific fitness or athletic performance goal. These can be specific sets of exercises, choices of machines used, or chosen intensityor length of effort.

You can also see a workout as an opportunity to build muscles, gain speed, and improve athletic capacity and performance. A workout is figurative clay to mold into different shapes; the trick is to choose the shape that fits best with your fitness life and ambitions.

Take a workout that is one piece of a string of exercise sessions. Evaluate it. Approach it with purpose and intent, and make it sing. Sound ambitious? With the right combination of diligence and dedication, you can turn this into reality.

Build the Right Workout

For reasons that seem to relate to self-programming and inertia, many people follow the same patterns each time they go to gym or track. This is about getting locked in to a regimen which becomes automated and stale. This is the path of least resistance.

Remind yourself that you are in charge of your fitness life and program. Remember that there is no Higher Fitness Authority that controls your decisions in this very practical, earthly realm. You set your program and establish a plan to achieve your goals, whether they are geared to superior athletic performance or just feeling better or losing weight.

Different workouts emphasize and promote specific aspects of fitness. One can be geared to speed work. Another will have exercises that focus on strength (note: strength training is not just weight training). Yet another, the template for most people, focuses on cardiovascular benefits. While these are critical to building an overall fitness profile, widening your scope past 'cardio' will promote a truly integrated fitness policy.

A tennis player might focus on speed and core strength to promote quickness but also stroke consistency and power. Pro players exploit varied regimens to achieve tour-level fitness. With some effort, you may find yourself gliding to the ball like Roger Federer.

All sorts of athletes can benefit from developing a strong, versatile physique. A long-distance runner needs to be fast at the finish, and a sprinter needs strength to burst out of the blocks and power his way up the track.

There is no contradiction between speed and strength; there is symbiosis. Weight and resistance training are literally key components of a speed development program because of their muscle-building benefits. Shorten the time between sets and the transition between machines, 'aerobicizing' your session. Monitor your body and pay attention to twinges, fatigue or true jolts of pain.

Did we say 'muscle memory'? Repetition of specific techniques and motions makes you a more coordinated, confident athlete. Establish a correlation between your purpose and workout structure. For instance, raising the weight on a particular exercise correlates with fewer repetitions per set. That helps build muscle tone.

If you are working on stamina and want to do more sets, establish a moderate weight. Managing reps and sets is important; it also opens up session horizons.

Quick Workouts

What might a quick workout look like?

Two minutes of running in place
30 seconds of rest
Three minutes of aerobic moves
50 situps
Several mini-sets of sprinting in place
Stretching

In ten minutes you can obtain real value and get a nice little energy spike. The sequence described is just one of many you might try. On a busy day where you don't have time for the gym or game, you can mix in two or three sessions like this.

Use your imagination, design your own speedy session, and adjust as indicated.

Full Workouts

A full workout is the real deal. This is where you apply yourself to a sequence including a solid warm-up, a range of intense or sustained exercises, and a cool-down.

Most people emphasize, even exaggerate, the cardio portion of a full workout. It certainly is an instrumental component. The raising and lowering of heart rate should be part of a full workout, but it need not be the only focus.

Here are some of the focuses you can apply to your full workouts:

1) Straight cardio: Do a warmup, followed by some light stretching (or save the stretch for later). If you are in the gym, select treadmill, bike or elliptical and do your work. Do two machines for variety or to expand the workout;

2) Speed/Interval Training: Include the warmup and then follow with a briefer, more intense period of work that emphasizes quickly raising and lowering heart rate while 'working' specific muscles. If you run the treadmill, move up to near-sprint speed and back down. Implement the same principals on alternate machines. If you are at a track or swimming, utilize similar guidelines. And fold in a nice cool-down, with stretching.

NOTE: The warmup is more important here. To avoid muscle strains, make sure that those most directly stressed in interval work are properly loose. You can use a combination of light jogging and stretches before you go full-tilt. Just be sure not to stretch cold muscles.

3) Strength Training: You can approach strength training a number of ways. There is weight lifting, with its convenience (most gyms are stocked with various apparatus), and there is resistance training. This involves pulling against a destablizing force, and may require elastic bands and other related devices. Don't panic!

Don't underestimate the value of nutrition in getting the most out of your workouts. A properly nourished body, one strengthened with a steady supply of nutrients, puts you in the right frame of mind for working out.

The Sprint

Sprinting is a great activity, full of benefits. And it is fun. Check to see that you are healthy enough before starting regular sprinting, then get ready for a worthwhile and rewarding new pastime.

In theory, sprinting is pure anaerobic exertion, given the inherent muscle contraction and expansion, and building those 'fast-twitch' muscles. Sprinting is not just for sprinters - athletes like basketball and tennis players can gain greatly from adopting a consistent sprint regimen.

To make the most of a sprinting session, make sure your muscles are feeling good. Head to a track or other relatively soft surface to reduce wear and tear. Do some light jogging as well as specialized preparations - running on the balls of your feet, skipping, and moving your legs and arms in exaggerations of the sprint technique.

When you feel warmed up, begin a series of sprints. Make sure that the first two or three are relatively easy to avoid straining muscles.
Sprint all-out three or four times. You can vary the specific distance run. Work on your technique, utilizing arms and legs fully (the upper body is part of the game).
Rest between sets. You will know when you have done enough. Stop before exhausted. Wait 48 hours or more, and repeat.

Walking: An Oldie But Goodie

Regular walking is an overlooked component in establishing your fitness foundation. The oldest kinetic human activity is naturally good for us while avoiding stressing joints and muscles.

A solid, crisp-paced 35-40 minute daily walk maintains an aerobic baseline, helps circulation and boots energy and mood.

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