Mom, How F.I.T.T. Is Your Workout?
Moms don't have the time or desire to mess around with complicated workouts that don't get results. If you want real Mommy Muscle you need a plan that's based on principles not infomercials and advertising.
Some things you can just count on over time. These certainties are the fundamentals of life. Let's test it. I predict if you have a stroller age baby - they will cry today. Do you want to challenge my prediction?
I doubt it. Why am I so confident? Because my prediction is based on a fundamental principle of infant development. (One you undoubtedly know well.) A baby crying is a principle aspect of their life. It's a reliable and fundamental behavior that allows us to make informed decisions about a baby's condition and needed care.
I've noticed when it comes to fitness development; many people tend to ignore principles. Perhaps it's because we're constantly exposed to books, magazines, fast talkers and beautiful photography that pitch exotic opportunities to transform our lives. Maybe it's because fundamentals are boring and unsexy. After all we don't see them advertised. Besides, who wants to hear the way to get in better shape is to take a walk, when the T.V. is tempting us with a tan, toned model smiling at her beautiful boyfriend while taking her fat burning pill?
So what I'm about to offer you (absolutely free!) are the fundamentals of effective exercise. If you understand these principles you can create workouts that achieve predictable results. These principles are also the key to optimizing or re-energizing your current workouts.
Getting F.I.T.T.
F.I.T.T. is an acronym used to teach fitness professionals (the good ones at least). It stands for Frequency, Intensity, Time and Type. These principles form the foundation of any effective fitness program. Alone, they offer insight to uncover opportunities for you to get better results. However, these principles are really an integrated system. By applying one you affect the others. I'll give a brief summary now and then detail each of the four principles in later posts.
The Principle of Frequency:
How often should you work out? Frequency is really about your body's ability to recover from exercise stress. Exercise too often and you'll over-train. This leads to injury, frustration and poor results.
Workout too little and your body will not need to change its physiology. There simply are not enough stimuli to create a response. In this case, the response is your results - be it fat loss, muscle tone or more energy, etc...
Frequency then is a principle of balance. Not too much, not to little.
The Principle of Intensity:
How hard should you exercise? Intensity is about work and your body's ability to handle exercise stress. It asks questions like how many repetitions should I do and what weight should I use? How fast should I run, walk or jog?
Intensity is a principle of capacity. How much can your body handle safely? It might be more than you think, but sometimes should be less than you want.
The Principle of Time:
How long should you workout? Time is about defining need. If you're training for a sport and your game lasts one hour, you NEED to factor that into your training. If you're a busy mom who has 20 minutes to exercise during your baby's nap you NEED a workout to fit that time.
Time is a principle of relativity. You can get a lot done in little time. You can also spend a lot of time exercising and have very little to show for it.
The Principle of Type:
What kind of exercise is best? There are two kinds of "type" - general and specific. General refers to the macro types of exercise like, strength training, aerobic exercise and flexibility training. Specific refers to the micro types of exercise including running, walking, Pilates, Yoga, free-weights, machines, sport specific, etc, etc, infinity?
Type is a principle of relevance and fashion. There are many ways to achieve a goal. Exercise methods we especially enjoy or see others get results from have special relevance and naturally attract us to use them. When the type of exercise we use stops being effective, or bores us we can move to a new type that offers better mental, physical or even spiritual relevance.
You can try on exercise types like clothes. If it fits and looks good, wear it. If you find something better, you can always change. Just go shopping?
The FITT principles are the foundation of a successful fitness plan. Within them are the real variables we can "tweak" to achieve better results in half the time. It's an infomercial claim that really does work. But just incase you need a little more hype to get you thinking, I'll indulge you?
"All you have to do is call in the next 12 seconds and I'll throw in a second bottle of FITT principles free. But wait, there's more. If you're one of the first 20 callers, you'll receive, at absolutely no cost to you, a FITT principle container. This special container is a $300 value, but it's yours free? So what are you waiting for? Get FITT today!
Curt Conrad, CSCS, is Founder and President of StrollerFit Inc. an international product and franchise company that helps parents exercise with their babies. He is author of The StrollerFit ExerBook. His companies have helped thousands of clients enjoy better life through better fitness. http://www.strollerfit.com
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