Freeport Integrated Health Center

Before you begin any type of exercise, you need ask yourself this question, ?What are my goals?? - 10/3/2005

Before you begin any type of exercise, you need ask yourself this question, ?What are my goals?? This may seem like a simple question, but sometimes people have a hard time answering it honestly. Your answer to this question is what will determine how you will exercise.

Having goals to attain gives your training a purpose and direction. Sit down with a paper and pen and write down what you want to accomplish or what you want to happen as a result of exercise training. Once you have your goals written down, number then in the order of importance. Prioritizing your training allows you to focus and achieve the results that you want. I suggest that you keep your goals simple and don?t expect too much.

Set realistic goals that are attainable. The following is what I give to patients before beginning an exercise routine.

COMMITMENT: After setting your goals, it is important to visualize them in your head and commit yourself to reaching it.

INTENSITY: The gym is a place to work and work hard. Anything less than 100% is a waste of time. It is important to maximize the time that you spend in the gym and not waste time in between sets or exercises. While rest is good in between sets, too much rest can cause your muscle to ?cool-off.? This can lead to muscle injury or not allow you to reach your full potential.

CONSISTENCY: Weight training is like anything in this world, ?practice makes perfect.? How successful would you be at anything if you only worked at it once in while. It is important to set a training program and stick to it. By training on and off, the gains that you achieve one week can be lost the next with out maintaining your training.

NUTRITION AND WATER: The food that you eat is turned into the energy used to run all bodily functions. Proper nutrition is important for health and essential for training success. The food and nutrients that you ingest are the building blocks for your body. In general, I recommend a diet of that is high in protein, moderate in carbohydrates and low in fat. It is also important to drink plenty of water because it makes up for 66% of the human body. I recommend at the very least eight, 12 oz glasses of water per day. I would be happy to discuss specifics of diet and nutrition with any of you on an individual basis.

REST: Believe it or not you are not building muscle on your training days. Muscle is built on the days that you are not training. Rest is important for general health and muscle growth. When you are resting your body takes this time to repair in self and store energy. Without the proper rest, your body can become prone to injury, sickness and muscle breakdown. The typical person needs any where from 7-9 hours of sleep per night.

GENETICS: The variable or exercise that you can not change. There are three specific body types to which each of us belongs. Factoring in your body type and can help guide your training and provide the optimum results. Determining your body type is specific and individual and should be done by a qualified professional.