With the countdown to summer well and truly on, many of us are exercising more than usual to make up for any winter laziness. However, it’s hard to tell how often exercise is really necessary for a healthy lifestyle, and how often you will be able to continue this long term. Tim Robards, Sports Chiropractor and creator of the 721 Nutrition Program explains how to build your best body and have an exercise regime you can stick by.
The amount of exercise you should be doing will depend on your current fitness level, your strength and of course your goals. You should keep this in mind whenever you are planning your workout week.
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When planning, there are 5 key considerations to keep in mind. They are:
1. How big are your goals?
2. What time frame do you want to achieve them in?
3. Where are you currently sitting in relation to your goal? (age/ fitness/ injury/ health condition)
4. Are you balancing out the rest of your life? (nutrition, support, managing stress, sleep)
5. Are you eating like a horse but moving like a goat? Remember that input has to balance with output.
So for example, a 30 year old female who is relatively healthy, but works hard, spends around 8 hours desk bound 5 days per week and sometimes deals with work and personal related stress wants to lose 5kg healthily over the next 2 months, if her nutrition and sleep were fairly good, I would recommend that she is completes 3-4 x 45 minute workouts that are a mix of cardio, strength and mobility. I would also recommend that she make an effort to be active for at least 45 – 60 minutes per day even if she is not exercising that day. This could be as little as a walk.
The 11 reps over 10 reps theory!
When it comes to exercising, remember that lifting something heavy, regardless of whether it’s a big piece of steel in the form of a dumbbell, or your own body weight, is a stress on the body. The body has an amazing ability to adapt to stress and it does this by increasing the nerve activation to contract more muscle fibres and increase the size of the muscle cells.
When starting a resistance based program, the quickest results that a person would likely see would be strength based before building muscle or losing weight.
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Think of it like a light bulb with a dimmer switch. The more regularly you train the more you can turn the dimmer switch up and turn the power on. Eventually, your muscular size will start to change, along with the muscle’s efficiency to get fuel in and waste out. So essentially if you don’t stress it a little, it won’t adapt. However, there’s always a smart balance and this is why I have put such emphasis on mobility warm ups and functional movements to get your joints and stabiliser muscles strong!
I like to recommend to clients to try to do 11 reps (depending on their goal) instead of 10 reps and this is because 10 is the standard that most people will do.
The reason I say this is because it forces you to work at 110%. Most of us limit our own potential on a daily basis for various reasons. This does us no justice in any aspect of our lives, especially when it comes to health. My passion for health and fitness is largely inspired by applying this mentality to a number of aspects including training, business goals, family and relationships – no matter what area of your life, you can increase your ability and continue to smash your goals.
It’s time to learn what you are really capable of, but as always, be safe and sensible! I will only ever push myself to that 110% level once I’m warmed up, which may be only in my second or third set. Good luck guys! Crush your training, smash your goals and live an inspired life!
