The Simplest Ways to Tailor Your Workout to Your Fitness Needs

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Many people hitting the gym as part of their New Year’s Resolution this year subscribe to the mindset that cardiovascular exercise is all you need to lose weight. The truth is that getting on the treadmill for an hour a day won’t help you reach your weight loss goals. Strength training and flexibility training are equally important when it comes to exercise. A well-rounded workout is the key factor in your success.

Though all three are important, everyone has different needs and our bodies are all different. Cooper Fitness Center Professional Fitness Trainer Aaron Feldman explains how to tailor your workout to your needs.

Evaluate your existing workout routine.

Does your current fitness routine consist primarily of cardio? Perhaps you’re more focused on strength training and tend to neglect a good cardio workout. Do you have a workout routine, or are you currently sedentary?

Take a good look at what you are (or aren’t) doing to stay fit and then add in the missing components. If you live a sedentary lifestyle, you aren’t using many of the muscles in your body, you will lose that muscle, slowing your metabolism and restricting range of motion.

Strength training keeps your muscles functioning and cardiovascular exercise prevents heart disease and keeps your heart and lungs functioning.

All cardio? Add strength.

If you have a manual labor job or a job where you are physically moving all day long, or if your existing workout routine is cardio-focused, work with a fitness trainer to learn how to change things up and incorporate strength training for a well-rounded workout. Whatever your fitness goal, it’s important to incorporate strength training into your workout. As we get older, our bodies lose strength. In order to maintain function, we must be continually strengthening our muscles.

All strength? Add cardio.

On the flip side, some people ignore cardiovascular training and prioritize strength training. If you don’t use your heart and lungs, their function will begin to decrease and you will easily get winded doing even general living activities, such as walking upstairs. The risk of heart disease also increases if you aren’t giving your heart and lungs a good workout.

Do you have a desk job?

We can all benefit from flexibility training to maintain range of motion. When we lose range of motion we begin to compensate by using other muscles. Sitting for long periods of time in a one position, muscles will begin to tighten to favor that position and you lose movement in muscle over time.

You can recover range of motion through stretching, yoga and other range of motion exercises.

Lack of flexibility training can also lead to injury. If you work out regularly but don’t stretch, you are putting yourself at risk of an injury. If you are sedentary and losing muscle function, you are more prone to injuries, such as back injury, when you do even basic movements such as bending over.

Each of us should have a balance of cardio, strength and flexibility training in daily movements and exercise. Depending on your job or your current physical condition, you may need to place more focus on one over the other.

Cardio, strength and flexibility training at Cooper Fitness Center

At Cooper Fitness Center, our Personal Fitness Trainers will assess a client to know what they need to work on before designing a workout regimen for the client. Once the screening is complete, our trainers will design a workout program specifically tailored to the client’s needs. In general, all personal training sessions include a warm up, corrective exercise to correct faulty movement patterns, strength training, cardio training and flexibility training.

If you are new to workout out, or you need to correct something, work with a Professional Fitness Trainer who can evaluate and correct your form and structure an exercise program tailored to your needs.  

Article provided by Cooper Aerobics Marketing and Communications.