Good Exercise Routine
Basic Components of an Exercise Program
An effective fitness
program should include warm-up
and cool-down exercises, plus specific workouts for each of the four basic
fitness components, which are: (1) Cardiovascular
Endurance. (2) Muscular Strength.
(3) Muscular Endurance. (4)
Flexibility. Crosstraining
- engaging in different types of exercise either in the same workout,
or successive workouts - helps to reduce muscle-strain and other exercise-overload
injuries. So, space your workouts throughout the week and avoid consecutive
days of identical hard exercise.
How to Warm-Up
Perform 5-10 minutes of light exercise like:
walking, slow jogging,
knee lifts, arm circles
or trunk rotations. An effective fitness warmup should always include
a series of slow stretching
exercises.
How to Raise Cardio Endurance
Do at least three 20-minute workouts of continuous
rhythmic aerobic exercise,
each week. Popular aerobic conditioning activities include brisk
walking, jogging, swimming,
cycling, rope-jumping,
rowing, running
and some continuous action games like handball, racquetball
and squash. Aerobic
gym machines include: treadmills,
elliptical trainers,
rowing or skiing machines.
How To Develop Muscle Strength
Perform a minimum of two 20-minute sessions
per week that include exercises for all the major muscle groups. Lifting
weights is the most effective way to increase muscle
fitness and total body strength, and tone muscles for a shapely figure.
Weight-training should
be done carefully and built up slowly to avoid strains. Alternatively,
do specific exercise like plyometrics,
or use exercise equipment like an exercise
bike, treadmill or rowing machine to develop
muscular strength in different parts of the body.
How To Develop Muscular Endurance
Do at least three 30-minute sessions each
week that include exercises such as calisthenics, pushups,
situps, pullups, and weight training for all the major muscle groups.
Alternatively, play squash or tennis
singles, or swim laps.
How to Increase Body Flexibility
Do 10-12 minutes of daily flexibility training.
Flexibility exercises use gentle, stretching movements to increase the
length of your muscles and the range of motion around your joints. They
can include a series of specific stretching exercises (may be included
after a warmup or during a cooldown), or be part of a larger workout program
such as yoga or Tai Chi.
Although flexibility exercises don't offer the dramatic benefits of aerobic
or weight-training, regular stretching is very beneficial for posture,
mobility and coordination, especially in middle age and later.
How to Cool Down
Do a minimum of 5-10 minutes of gentle exercise,
such as slow walking, combined with stretches.
Back to Calorie-Burning
Exercise
Back to Top
|
