How to Become Fit - Cruz Anthony
Whether you consider yourself a seasoned fitness enthusiast or a newcomer to the world of fitness, here are essential elements you should integrate into your lifestyle to attain comprehensive fitness.
Check out my personalized fitness programs at www.tuzstraining.com
As a certified personal trainer, fitness coach, and certified nutrition coach, I have worked with clients from all different backgrounds and starting points. Each client with a different area of struggle and necessity for improvement. I have developed programs for clients that cover all the fundamentals of fitness; body composition, SAQ, muscular strength, muscular endurance, and cardiorespiratory endurance.
Fundamentals in fitness are these key elements that need to be assessed and improved on a consistent basis. Check them out!
Tip #1 - Body Composition
Body composition refers to how proportionate your body is based on percentages. These percentages are typically fat, lean muscle, bone and other tissues that make up a persons body.
Enhancing body composition is a common goal for many individuals. If you aim to boost your fitness levels, prioritize increasing muscle mass while reducing excess body fat. Given that these objectives often conflict, it's advisable to follow a tailored program that emphasizes one of these aspects according to your specific goals.
For example, if you eat in a calorie surplus to increase muscle mass, your body fat percentage will increase as well. This is often called "bulking" and in order to lose the body fat that was gained, follow that program up by eating in a caloric deficit (cutting). Eating higher protein foods while in a caloric deficit will allow you to lose fat and maintain most of the muscle mass gained during "bulking".
Tip #2 - SAQ
This topic is typically overlooked when someone is trying to achieve optimal fitness. SAQ stands for Speed, Agility, and Quickness. All of these elements are correlated and are necessary to incorporate into your workout program to improve functionality in daily life.
Speed
Speed refers to the ability to move quickly or perform physical activities at high velocity. Moving swiftly in a single direction enables you to be more efficient with your daily living. With a proper exercise routine, speed will likely be improved and if tested should increase throughout your program.
Sprinting
agility drills
plyometrics
exercises that involve fast twitch fibers
Agility
Agility involves quick directional changes while maintaining control. Improving agility will prevent falls in later life. Agility requires balance, coordination, speed, power, and reflexes. All of which decline throughout your life and will continue to decline until you practice them.
The following exercises may help you improve your agility:
agility ladder drills
cone drills
pro shuttle
All of these drills have something in common, a quick change in direction.
Quickness
Quickness involves the ability to react to a stimulus and to move rapidly and efficiently in response to that stimulus. Reaction time is critical to enhance athletic performance and prevent injuries. Developing quickness Improves proprioception, which is the awareness of the body's movements, position, and actions.
The following drills may help improve Quickness:
shuttle runs
ladder drills
sprint drills
plyometrics
Tip #3 - Strength Training
Strength training is arguably one of the most important aspects of fitness as it correlates directly to daily living and efficiency. Strength Training involves loading your muscles through a certain plane to put the muscle under stress. Putting a muscle under stress will allow the your body to adapt. This adaptation is called General Adaptation Syndrome. This explains that your body will adapt to the specific stresses placed on it.
Focus on improving these lifts (or variations of):
Squat
Deadlift (or a hinge)
Overhead press
Bench
lunge (all planes of motion)
If these exercises are unfavorable then chose alternatives that focus on the same major muscle groups.
Tip #4 - Muscular Endurance
Muscular endurance refers to the ability of a muscle to perform repeated contractions over an extended period of time without getting fatigued.
Muscular endurance is extremely important for all individuals. Endurance athletes may be more inclined to be on a muscular endurance-based program, but all individuals should take time throughout their program to improve this component.
Training for muscular endurance typically consists of low weight high reps. Do not chose a weight that is too light (can do for more than 20 reps). Research suggests that working within the 12-20 rep range with a weight that becomes challenging in the last few reps, is the most beneficial for muscular endurance.
Tip #5 - Cardiorespiratory Endurance
This is the most component in fitness and correlates directly to longevity. Cardiorespiratory endurance is the ability of the heart, lungs, and circulatory system to deliver oxygen to the bodies tissues during sustained activity.
The benefits of cardiorespiratory endurance include:
Improved Heart Health
Increased Lung Capacity
Enhanced Endurance
Weight management
Longevity
The list goes on!