Fitness - what does that mean?

"Can't see the wood for the trees"
Defn: if someone can't see the wood for the trees, they are unable to understand what is important in a situation because they are giving too much attention to details After you've spent years researching a single topic you get to a point where you can't see the wood for the trees.

At the age of 41 I must say that I have reached a point where the internet provides so much information about peoples different views on the topic of "fitness" that it was difficult to decide what to adopt and what to ignore.....

I must say that I now believe that I have found the answer......

1. A good eating plan - without which you can forget your plan to look like the guy/girl in Fitness magazine. Eat at least 3 meals and 3 snacks per day, include lean protein, complex/low GI carbohydrates and essential fatty acids into each meal. Ensure that you eat sufficient fruit, vegetables, nuts, seeds and oily fish (salmon, herring etc) and drink at least 6 glasses of water per day. The size of the portions are important.
   

1. Alternate the Intensity of exercise/focus on large muscle groups and include flexibility after every workout (train at least 3 times per week) -

• After a 5-10min warmup, complete 10-20 minutes of medium to high intensity circuit training, using free weights, bodyweight exercises (incl gymnastic based strength exercises) and plyometrics. Variety is key.

• Alternate with strength sessions that focus on large muscles groups eg squats - back squat, front squat, OH squat, deadlift, benchpress.

• Include a 10-15min flexiblity session after every workout (yoga is great).

• Cardio exercises such as cycling, swimming, running - these can be incorporated into the interval training sessions or focus on these separately.

The Crossfit training philosophy and their methods of training, the training methods of coaches like Steve Maxwell, Craig Ballantyne and Chris Sommer have inspired me to review my training and my outlook as to what constitutes fitness.........(strength, muscle endurance, cardio endurance, flexibility and improved lean mass/body fat ratio)

So ensure that your kCal consumption consists of quality items filled with the necessary nutrients/vitamins/minerals etc that is needed to grow and maintain a healthy body. Ensure that if your goal is to lose weight ( a kCal deficit is required) which is achieved by cutting out saturated fat and poor quality carbohydrates and exercising in accordance with the guidelines above.........

IT'S SIMPLE.......

Its all about dedication, commitment and not making excuses.......

We all work, we all have kids, we all have bosses, we all have other obligations, so it's about ...........finding the 20-30 min per day to train, it's about .............meeting people who have the same outlook or goals in life, it's about...........buying a few pieces of simple equipment to train at your home or a friend's home if you don't like or want to train at your local gym........