Building a Complete Fitness Program

It’s a new year and resolutions are abound. Since most resolutions are health and fitness related, I’ll offer a bit of advice for planning your fitness routine.

First, it’s important to set goals. These goals should be specific, measurable, action oriented, realistic, and time-based (S.M.A.R.T.). There’s a difference in saying “I want to lose weight” and “I want to lose 5 pounds by the end of the month.” You could also set a goal to workout three times per week. Goals give you something to work toward and provide a measurement for achieving results.

Your fitness program is the path you follow to reach your fitness goals. Everyone’s goals are different. Some may have aesthetic reasons for going to the gym (to look good in a bikini or impress the ladies with a six pack perhaps), but the overall goal of any fitness routine is better health. Put another way, your fitness routine should improve your health and better prepare you for the activities of daily life.

Losing weight decreases your chances for heart disease. Performing cardiovascular activity improves heart function. Building strength and increasing flexibility leads to better posture and improves joint function through muscular balance.

So how do we build a fitness plan that addresses the many needs of daily life?  Enter the TD Fitness Structure...

This structure has a solid foundation of four sides: core strength, baseline cardiovascular health, proper nutrition, and flexibility. These four areas must be addressed before advancing to other areas of fitness. All movement begins and ends with the core. Having baseline cardiovascular health ensures proper heart and cardiovascular function needed for many fitness goals such as weight loss and endurance training. Nutrition, an often overlooked but vitally important part of your health, provides energy and nutrients for the body. Finally, flexibility is important because mobility must precede stability. If our muscles are not capable of moving through the required range of motion, injury and imbalances can occur.

Once the foundation is laid, we can build the walls of the structure. These are strength, endurance, balance, and agility. Muscular strength and endurance allow for proper muscle function. Muscular balance leads to proper movement, ensuring symmetry and proper joint function. Agility, often thought an athletic trait, is important in the unpredictable circumstances of life – dodging an oncoming object, catching yourself on a mis-step, or quickly reaching to prevent an item from falling.

At the roof of the house are power and speed. Although these are typically needed more in competitive athletics, power and speed have utility in general fitness training as well. Incorporating power and speed work can increase calorie burn and enhance muscle production.

We cap the ends of the roof with adequate rest and recovery, important no matter what your level of fitness.

The TD Fitness Structure model provides a way to construct training to improve health and prepare for the activities of daily life.