Planning a Fitness Program Ch. 3, L.3

Selecting the right activity for you Aspects to consider Where you live (terrain etc) Range of interests (more likely to complete activities you like) Level of health (consider health conditions or injuries) Time and place (season, weather etc) Personal safety (safe area vs unsafe) Comprehensive planning (multiple types of activity)

Cross training Combining various exercise routines to help work different body systems IMPORTANT: giving your body a varied workout gives your body the best overall workout. You work all body systems, and your body doesn’t get bored by doing the same activity all the time. It responds better to change.

3 Basic principles of an exercise program 1. Overload: working the body harder than it is normally worked Necessary in order to improve fitness and strength. Can be done by increasing sets, reps, weight, amount or time.

3 Basic principles of an exercise program 2. Progression: a gradual increase in overload necessary for achieving higher levels of fitness. As an exercise becomes easier, increase sets/reps to improve fitness level. Try to progress at a steady rate, but it is okay to progress early.

3 Basic principles of an exercise program 3. Specificity: particular exercises and activities improve particular areas of health related fitness. Example: Aerobic: swimming/running: cardiorespiratory Anaerobic: weight training: muscular strength & endurance

3 Parts of an Exercise Plan Warm up Workout FITT Cool down

Warm up Engaging in activity that prepares the muscles for the work that is to come. 1. Raise body temperature with a brisk walk or jog 2. Stretch large muscles to increase elasticity and prevent injury. Active stretching: plyometrics Static stretching 3. Do activity slowly for about 5 minutes

Warm up VERY IMPORTANT It allows your pulse rate to increase gradually A sudden increase in the pulse rate puts unnecessary strain on the heart.

Workout FITT Principle F…Frequency: how often you do the activity each week. Should be 3-4 times per week with only 1 or 2 days in between. Will depend on type of activity and your goal as well. (Progression)

Workout I…Intensity: how hard you work at the activity. You should work at a level where you consistently achieve overload. Start slowly until you build endurance Work within your target heart rate range which is 60 % to 85% of your max heart rate. (Overload)

Workout T….Time: How much time you devote per session Should increase gradually A goal is to work 20 – 30 minutes within your target heart rate range (Progression)

Workout T…Type: The specific type of exercise or activity during each session Make sure the type of activity you do is appropriate to your overall fitness goals (Specificity)

Cool down Engaging in activity to gradually decrease activity (simply slow down your activity) Important: If you stop exercise too suddenly the increased blood flow from during exercise will pool in your muscles resulting in less blood flow to the brain which can in turn lead to dizziness, fainting, and in some cases stroke. Adequate when you are within beats of your regular heart beat.

Resting Heart Rate Resting heart rate: # of times your heart beats in one minute when you are not active. Person of average fitness should be around 72 to 84 beats per minute Below 72 is good, a teen at best fitness could be as low as 40 beats per minute

Monitoring your progress You can use your resting heart rate to monitor your progress during your fitness plan. If it decreases over time you are becoming more fit. This means your heart is having to do less work to get the same results, so you are putting less strain on it daily. You can also assess improvement if a task becomes easier for you.

Target Heart Rate Range The range in which your heart rate should be during exercise for maximum cardiorespiratory endurance benefit. 1) Find your resting heart rate. 2) Subtract your age from 220 (this = your maximum heart rate) 3) Subtract your resting heart rate (result from step 1) from the number you arrived at in step 2 (max heart rate). 4) Multiply the number you arrived at in step 3 twice, first by 85%, then by 60%. 5) Add you resting heart rate back to each of the numbers you got in step 4 to get your range.