There are So Many Ways to Exercise Online, I’m Confused – What Works?

When creating a fitness program, it’s important to keep things as simple as possible.

Here are 4 steps I always use with my clients to build them a fitness program that works.

1. Define your health and fitness goals
2. Evaluate where you are now
3. Design a fitness program to get you results
4. Take action & implement your program

Let’s look at each step to developing your fitness program in more detail:

1. Define your Health and Fitness Goals.

Always answer 3 questions when figuring out what your fitness goals are:

1. What specifically do you want to accomplish? Answering this questions will help you stay on track.
2. Why are your goals important to you? Spending time thinking about this question because it will be what motivates you to exercise when you really don’t ‘feel’ like it.
3. How committed are you? You commitment will help you figure out how realistic your goals are, and how much time and money you should spend achieving them.

2. Evaluate Where You are Now.

I love the saying “What you can’t measure, you can’t improve“.

When figuring out your starting point, it’s so important to measure more than your weight on the scale. Take your body measurements with a measuring tape, and please take photographs of yourself from all angles in a bathing suit. As you start toning up, you will be so happy you did this! Also figure out how you want to measure your strength at the start of your program. Another reasonable test that really resonates is pay attention to how your favorite jeans fit. As the months pass, you’ll probably notice those jeans become too baggy to be your favourites any longer.

3. Design a Fitness Program to get You Results.

Make sure you include the following 5 components in your fitness program so you’re guaranteed success:

• Strength Training (ie. bodyweight training, lifting weights, TRX training – refer to video below). Increase your muscle mass and speed up your metabolism with strength training. Be sure to include a few hours of strength training into your weekly exercise routine.
• Cardiovascular Exercise (ie. walking, jogging, skipping, etc). This form of exercise helps keep your health healthy and strong, in addition to optimizing fat loss. Include a couple of hours of cardio into your weekly routine.
• Flexibility. Stretching will help you prevent injury, promote recovery and improve your range of motion. Getting in a little stretching each day, is beneficial.
• Nutrition and stress management. Don’t forget about the importance of eating and sleeping, as they are the foundation of our health and fitness. If you’re not consuming the right foods, or getting the proper amount of sleep and recovery, you won’t see continuous progress in your fitness level or physique.
• Coaching. You need the right knowledge to build a fitness program that benefits you in a safe and productive way. You also need a support person or team in place, to push you when you need it, and to hold you accountable for your goals.

4. Take Action & Implement your Program.

Once you have your health and fitness program designed, spend time really learning each component of the program. Commit to sticking with the program at least two months “no matter what”, to build the actions into habits. Things will be challenging at times, remember to just stick with it and keep moving forward. Everyday is a new day.

To Sum it Up…

Building a fitness program can be confusing and take a lot of time. I use the 4 steps above, to build my clients fitness programs that work. Together, we focus on defining health and fitness goals and evaluating where each person is at, right now. After understanding this information, I go away and design my clients a fitness program to get results. We both take action together to implement the program, and I make sure I hold them accountable to getting the results they deserve! I hope this helps clarify things, please reach out to me if you have any questions.