Just as God made each one of us unique and individual, underneath the surface we are all composed of the same muscles, organs, and bones. In our many different personalities, it is fair to say that we all don’t like working out the same way. In today’s society there is always a new fad coming around with workouts. The idea is to get the best results fast. We want to look great without much effort; but I am here to let you know that anything worth having requires work. The work you choose to do is totally up to you. Workouts can be tailored to meet your needs: time, energy, likes and dislikes. There are so many different types of exercises to meet your fitness needs that there is no place for excuses. I will present 5 different categories almost all exercises fall into. It is up to you how you want to mix and match the exercises in each category to accomplish your personal goals. How creative can you be?
Cardio – Cardio exercise is designed to raise your heart rate for an extended period of time. There are different types of cardio exercises including: walking, jogging, running, sprinting, rope jumping, swimming, bicycling, and roller skating, and so on. The idea is to go at a pace that increases your breathing but leaves you still able to hold a conversation. Cardio is essential for burning calories and improving the muscles of your heart so blood is efficiently pumped throughout your body. Varying the intensities of your cardio routine can boost your metabolism for a longer period of time after your workout, not to mention keeping you from getting bored with the same old routine. There are no limits to your cardio routine, from doing a cardio machine at the gym to walking around your neighborhood, or just marching in your living room. Choose an amount of time to do the activity and each week add 5 more minutes to continuously challenge your body and increase your endurance.
Weight / Strength Training – Strength training is how you build lean muscle mass. The more you train your muscles, the less fat your body stores resulting in increased burning of calories throughout the day. As you begin to train your muscles through lifting weights the size of fat cells in your body begin to shrink. We are all composed with a certain amount of fat cells in our bodies; the more fat we store the larger each one of those cells becomes until the fat begins to take over our lean muscle tissue and then our organs thereby becoming fatal. As we stretch the muscle tissue with lifting weights, our muscle tissue increases resulting in a stronger, leaner physique not to mention an increase in bone mass. Say goodbye to osteoporosis. You can lift weights for specific body parts; legs, arms, back, chest, abs, or you can use your body as the weight with squats, pull-ups, lunges, pushups and planks.
Plyometrics / Agility – This type of exercise is used in training for speed and quickness. Training this way helps improve your balance and coordination. Plyometrics and agility training does have a cardio component to it making it interchangeable with your cardio routine. Exercises like jumping on / off boxes, skipping, quick feet through ladders, and side step runs are examples that fall into this category. These exercises are for short durations, 30 second intervals, because you are focusing on speed and quickness in performing each exercise.
Flexibility – So many people finish their workout and leave the gym in a hurry without stretching. This is, by far, the most left-out portion of an exercise routine primarily due to time restraints and often due to laziness. Flexibility is as important as the other types of exercises: cardio and strength training. Performing a good stretching routine before and always after your workouts will keep you from injuries and improve overall performance. Stretching releases tension in your muscles and keeps your joints moving through their available range of motion, thus keeping you from becoming prone to injury. This is one type of exercise that should be done daily, solo, or always with all of the other types of exercises.
Circuit – The last type of exercise I want to discuss is the circuit training routine. Circuit training can be incorporated into all of the above types of exercises. It is primarily used when time is of the essence and you need to combine your different types of exercises; for example: doing a strengthening exercise then jumping rope for 30 seconds followed by another strengthening exercise. You can set up 10 different exercises alternating 5 cardio and 5 strengthening. You could perform all 10 exercises for one round, rest then repeat the round 2 to 3 more times.
Conclusion
There is no excuse for not exercising. If you find you are significantly out of shape or just plain bored with your routine, look for new and interesting ways to change things up. Start with short periods each day and gradually build up your tolerance of all the different types of exercises. The only limits on your daily exercise routine are the ones you place on yourself.
