Thursday, March 14, 2013

Is Your Fitness Program Working For You? The 3 Best Ways to Ensure Successful Training

The training programs tried by the masses that guarantee their abilities to shed fat, build muscle and deliver incredible health are typically rigorous and very stressful on the body.

There's nothing wrong with them (and they obviously work well for thousands of people), but there are many times where the training doesn't work, despite the research (and results) that indicate they should, leaving those that 'fail' frustrated and wondering what to do.

If you're frustrated because repeated attempts at 'getting in shape' have failed to bring you results, or if you're simply a beginner struggling with 'where to begin' your journey to improved health and fitness, here are 3 things you can do to ensure you get the most out of your training:

1. Assess Yourself. An assessment is one of the most basic and important steps to getting results, yet it's also one of the most overlooked (or ignored). You might have a clear vision of the health and fitness goals you want to achieve, but the roadmap you use to get there can only be drawn if you know your starting point. The best way to determine your starting point? An assessment!

2. Use an assessment that goes beyond 'health history' and postural/movement analysis... and digs deeper into your current lifestyle. The importance of health (and family) history can't be denied because it gives you a 'heads up' about ailments/injuries you're predisposed to. Postural assessment and movement analysis is also important because it enables you to effectively deliver structural balance to your body, ensuring that you're actually 'working the parts you think you're working' while preventing injury.

But an equally important assessment that you'll want to do (that's rarely ever done) is a lifestyle assessment because it helps you to objectively look at the elements of your life that are significantly influencing the health and function of your body right now. Not only will a lifestyle assessment direct you toward the specific areas of your life you can improve upon, but it will also help you to create a training program that will most benefit you.

Which leads to...

3. Use a training program that's 'ideal' based on your current stress/health status. If your body isn't functioning properly on the inside (i.e. if it can't handle and positively adapt to the stress of training) it won't respond to exercise in the way you think it's supposed to... and you won't see the expected results. It doesn't matter if you're training hard, using most 'proven' fitness program on Earth!

Simply put, it's not often the training program that's not working -- it's your body that's not working with the program. And one of the most effective ways to fix the problem is to utilize training that emphasizes rejuvenation, rebuilding and recovery (like Qi-Gong, Yoga or a walk in the park) instead of solely following the latest, greatest 'run yourself into the ground' fat loss program.

Assess yourself (including a lifestyle assessment) and create/use an exercise program that works best with your body as you strive to reach greater levels of health and fitness. They may be simple and obvious concepts, but they're frequently overlooked, misunderstood or ignored. Make a concerted effort to do these 3 things, and you'll open the door the greatest, longest-lasting results of your dreams.








Christopher Warden is a health and fitness expert helping people to achieve long-lasting body transformations with his holistic, 'training from the inside-out' approach. For more about him and his work, please stop by his site christopherwarden.com christopherwarden.com

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