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You may want to design your own personal
program specifically geared to your goals and
lifestyle. Designing a program is easy, as long as
you follow the guidelines below.
Understand fitness and its components:
Improperly designed programs can be
dangerous. Take some time to review this
manual as well as other fitness guides.
Know your current fitness level: Before you
start any fitness program you should consult
a physician who will help you determine your
current abilities.
Identify your goals: Goals are critical to
choosing and designing an exercise program
that fits and enhances your lifestyle, but so is
strategy. It’s important not to rush the process
and try to accomplish too much too soon.
That will lead to setbacks and discouragement.
Instead, set a series
of smaller achievable goals.
Select complementary exercises: Be sure to
pair exercises that address compound joint
movements and single joint movements.
In addition, select exercises that address
complementary muscle groups.
Put first things first: During each session, first
work muscle groups that need the most training.
Remember your cardiovascular component: Any
fitness program must contain a cardiovascular
fitness component to be complete. So
complement your resistance training with
aerobic exercise such
as walking, running, or bicycling.
Training variables: When designing your own
program there are several variables that, when
mixed properly, will equal the right fitness
formula for you. In order to find out the best
formula, you must experiment with several
combinations of variables.
The variables are as follows:
• Training Frequency: The number of
times you train per week. We recommend
daily activity but not daily training of the
same muscle group.
• Training Intensity: The amount of
resistance used during your repetition.
• Training Volume: The number of
repetitions and sets performed.
• Rest intervals: The time you rest between
sets and the time you rest between
workouts.
Once you’ve established a base of fitness, follow
these basic principles:
• Isolate muscle groups: Focus work on
specific muscle groups.
• Progressive Loading: The gradual
systematic increase of repetitions,
resistance and exercise period.
Design Your Own Program
Define Your Goals