Choice is a double-edged sword. Too little and your options for progress are limited. Too many, and your probability of making the wrong choice increases. Fitness is at a stage where there are just way too many choices and a lot of them are too good to ignore for an unsuspecting fitness enthusiast. As a result, we end up taking up too many things and do them without any real structure. This group class three days a week, that dance thing twice a week, running with friends four days a week, cycling on weekends and, of course, that short hour of yoga that we hope will magically balance all this out. Unfortunately, such random actions don’t lead to anywhere productive.
If results are important to you, then it’s important to have some method to the madness. You can add elements to make it fun, but you need a fundamental structure of training to make sure you are covering all your bases.
Here is that structure
Strength training
Everyone needs this. It doesn’t matter who you are or what your goals are, you should strength train. Lifting weights doesn’t make you big or bulky. It makes you strong. It helps maintain and build muscle and, more importantly, keep your bones, ligaments, tendons and other connective tissue healthy protecting you from osteopenia, osteoporosis and other bone related issues.
You should strength train two to five days a week, based on your goals. If you’re a strength athlete, lifting is your sport and you’ll be lifting four to five times a week. If you lift for general fitness, two to three days a week of sincere strength training will do the job. If you are a sportsperson or an endurance athlete, one to two days a week is ideal.
Always train as per plan. If you don’t have one and don’t know how to design one, find a coach or a programme that works for you and follow it.
Endurance training
Running, cycling, swimming, zumba, aerobics, dancing and playing sport will fall in this section.
The way life is setup today, our most probable use of fitness will be endurance based. Chasing a bus, running away from a predator, playing a sport and helping someone during a disaster are some examples. But endurance activities are considered sports today and that’s another reason to train endurance - having a sport that you care about.
You can train endurance one to five days a week. The more serious you are about an activity the more you will do it. For example, if you are a serious runner, you will run four to six days a week, but you should have a running plan that balances your running. If you’re running for fat loss, two to three days a week is plenty (Yes, you still need to watch what you eat). It is the same for the other endurance activities.
If you are a sportsman, then you’ll play your sport three to five days a week, and strength train one to two days a week. If necessary, you can add in a day of specific endurance training to help you in your sport.
Mobility and flexibility
We sit too much and we stress too much. We slouch too much -- and all this has left us tight and immobile, which is in turn cause aches, pains and nigglesMost of us need to work on mobility and flexibility.
If you’re looking for a simple way to approach this, think yoga. That doesn’t mean just register at the nearest yoga studio. Find a teacher first. Even doing simple surya namaskara everyday will help, but it’s important to make sure that they are done properly.
The other option is to include mobility work in your training plan. Talk to your physical therapist, if you have one. They should be able to draw up a simple plan for you.
Training towards results or specific goals requires planning and execution. Take the time to design a programme that involves strength, endurance and mobility, and you will find yourself making consistent progress.
Noted for his passionate, no-nonsense approach to healthy living, coach Raj Ganpath is a fitness and nutrition expert and entrepreneur
