When you start a program ask yourself this question; what is my goal?

We want to know from the start what is your goals are.

It is a simple question, but many times people don’t have a clear answer.

The reason that I say this is because the media and ill informed trainers are making some feel like they have to train very hard and train like an athlete to get fit and healthy.

This is the farthest from the truth.

People have to exercise but they don’t know what they should be doing. They think they should be doing what is on TV like the Biggest Loser or doing infomercial training like P90x or Insanity or what athletes do. This type of training ends up typically in failure. It is a situation of too much, too soon. Further it can actually do more arm than good.

If you want to feel healthy and look better then don’t train like an athlete, train like a fitness enthusiast and train for life.

That means cardiovascular exercise most days of the week that elevates heart rate but doesn’t exhaust (for most this is brisk walking, biking, swimming, climbing stairs, or light jogging) as well as muscular conditioning (resistance training) two to three days a week with some stretching possibly before and definitely after exercise.

If you are training for health and to look better then their is no need for maximum lifts, power cleans, heavy back squats, maximum deadlifts, all out sprints, plyometrics, 2 hour long training sessions, etc. Leave that for young athletes who have the recuperation ability and the time that most over thirty don’t have. I did all of those in my past when I was a collegiate sprinter. It was not fun and left me sore on many days.

One of the reasons its a function of age. Our body losses the elasticity and the recuperation ability that we had when we were young. Tendonitis, bursitis, arthritis, and radicular pain have become common place with those over 40 who train too hard and too much with ballistic, momentum driven exercises as those found in athletic training rooms.

Another reason for failure with these fitness programs is if it hurts and/or is too hard people stop. Over 90 % of people who start a fitness program stop within 3 months and one of the reasons is it is too hard. 

If you want to perform better in a sport there is ways to do that, which are safe and healthy. Seek out proper coaching, like the staff at FitTec, if you are looking to train like an athlete because training like an athlete can be dangerous and is definitely different for mostly every sport (specificity of training).

In other words buyer beware; just because a program looks and sounds cool doesn’t mean that it is the best thing for your body. Get assessed before you begin to get an understanding where you stand. See if there are muscle imbalances, weaknesses, hyper and hypo flexibility, joint and postural issues, etc. and address them before you start. 

Overuse disorders and sports injuries can last a long time and is a frequent problem in athletic training room. Very often these issues never fully resolve.

Your fitness program should not cause pain or dysfunction. It should elevate health and not deflate it.

Chris Morin MS MEd