The Five Components of Fitness

First I would like to thank you for taking an interest in San Diego Premier Training, and more importantly, in your fitness lifestyle. Whether you are just getting started in a fitness program or you have been working out for years, there are components of your routine that you must be aware of. These include your nutrition, resistance training, cardiorespiratory training, flexibility, and rest. The purpose of this report is to show you what these components involve and why they are so important to your fitness plan.

1. Nutrition:
Food intake is the most important part of your fitness program and needs the most attention. Whether your goal is to lose weight, gain weight, or live a healthier life the key to success will start with your nutrition. We need to be aware of everything that we are putting in our mouth and the amount of calories (or energy) that is included with it. Calories are units of energy that our body needs to take part in everyday activity. If you are consuming more calories that your body needs then it will store that extra energy in the form of fat. It is through this process that we gain weight. You must understand how many calories your body needs in order to function and that is the amount of calories you should be eating. Anything extra cannot be used immediately and will be stored.

2. Resistance Training:
Resistance training is another name for strength or weight training. Now that you have your understanding of food intake we can get started with resistance training. There are two main benefits to resistance training. The first is because it will burn calories. During your weight training routine your heart rate will be elevated and you will be using calories as energy to lift the weights and perform exercises. This will help you if you are trying to lose weight and need to reduce the number of calories that you are eating. The second benefit is you will increase your lean body mass. This means you will increase the amount of muscle you have. The result will be strong muscles to help you get through the day, as well as, better joint stability to help decrease any joint pain.

3. Cardiorespiratory Training:
The next piece of your fitness plan will be your cardio training. Cardio training will involve any physical activity that will increase your heart rate to a moderate to intense level for an extended period of time (20-60mins). Many cardio programs can involve activities that you currently enjoy doing. There are numerous benefits from performing cardiovascular exercises on a regular basis. If fat loss is the goal cardio training will burn calories, it will lower resting heart rate, increase cardiac output, as well as improve cardio and muscular strength and endurance just to name a few benefits. For general fitness, a cardio program should consist of some mode of training 3-6 days per week.

4. Flexibilityn Flexibility is one of the most important aspects of a program that is often times overlooked. If a proper flexibility training program is not used it may result in poor posture, muscle imbalances, joint dysfunctions, overuse injuries, and reduced mobility. Flexibility has also been shown to reduce stress on muscles and joints drastically reducing pain. Proper stretching routines must be implemented into a training plan both before and after the workout. Stretching, however, should not be limited to only workout days. A flexibility routine should be utilized everyday for maximal results.

5. Restn The fifth and final component is rest. For this purpose rest will involve both days recovering from a workout as well as sleep. A common misconception is that your muscles are growing when you are working out. While your muscles do get bigger when training, it is due to an increase in blood flow to supply energy for the muscle being used. Your muscles will return to normal size shortly after the workout has been completed. While you are lifting you are created small tears in your muscles. Your body will then rebuild your muscle tissue to become stronger than before over the next 24-48 hours. If you do not allow for proper time for your muscles to rebuild then you are at risk for seriously injuring your body. Most of this rebuilding process will occur at night while you are sleeping. If you are not get adequate rest (about 8 hours) then you may not be fully recovering from your workouts.

Any workout routine must use the 5 components mentioned together. In order to see the best results in the quickest amount of time, you plan must involve all of them. If you feel that you are not doing enough of any of these speak with your trainer immediately to fix the problem.