In part one I covered my aim with 'Fitness for people with a job and a life'. In part two I am going to get into the details of what you need to know to get yourself in shape. Here it goes.
Part two: The plan
It all begins with what you want to accomplish. Do you want to:
- get stronger
- get leaner
- feel more energized
- just feel good about yourself
- look good naked
- all of the above
Whatever your goal may be, it probably falls in to one, or a few of the above categories. You are a busy person who wants to look and feel good. The most important thing you must realize about achieving your goal, is that you need a fitness plan. Specifically, a plan that fits into your schedule and keeps you interested. If you can not find time in your day to exercise, and you find it more of a chore than fun, then nothing is going to get done. Sorry, that is the truth, so don't even bother fooling yourself that you are going to do stick to it this time around.
What did you say? You will have the time and you will enjoy it. Awesome. But where do you start? What kind of workouts should you be doing to get the most bang for your buck? You are motivated and that is key, but a plan of action is vital.Before you do your first workout you need to answer three questions.
#1. Where are you going to exercise?
#2. What time of the day are you going to exercise?
#3. How much time do you have to exercise?
There you go. Those are the three most important points to consider before getting started. Does it sound to simple?
#1 - Where are you going to exercise? This is important because you need to find a place where you will go four to five times per week to get your sweat on. Ideally, you can do it at home. This is the most time effective because you can do it anytime during the day and not have to worry about travelling to and from a gym and taking up more of your precious time.
But that is not to say that training at a commercial gym is a bad thing. Maybe you have a gym at your work, or have a gym close to your home that is more convenient for you.
Wherever it is, the most important thing is that it is convenient as possible for you to get there. The less convenient, the easier it will be for you to miss a workout.
#2 - What time of day are you going to exercise? Figuring out what time of day you are going to train is key. This is going to be your time and you really have to be selfish when it comes time to have it. Think of it as a good selfish, because your time exercising will benefit everyone who is around you on a daily basis. Family, co-workers, customers. You will feel better about yourself because you exercised, and they in turn will benefit from your feeling of well-being that came from that exercise. See, it is a win-win situation for everyone.
When establishing a time to exercise, you want to do it so it is ideally at the same time every day. This way it will become part of your routine, just like going to work, or doing laundry.
If you place exercise in the "I'll get around to it if I can" category then you are not going to succeed. You need to make it a priority if you want to see results.
#3 - How much time do you have to exercise? 30 to 45 minutes is your ideal time to exercise. Surprised? Most people think that an hour is the minimum, but nothing could be further from the truth. If you have 30 minutes from the time you start your warm-up to the time you untie your running shoes, then you are in great shape to succeed.
There you go. Answer those three questions and you will be ready to progress to part three.