Effective Exercise Plans

Effective Exercise Plans
Photo Credit Workout image by Nikolay Okhitin from Fotolia.com

Effective exercise plans help you achieve your fitness and health-related goals, whatever they may be. Effective exercise plans should allow you to achieve your goal, but not cause you to sacrifice your health in the process. What one person may consider an effective exercise plan may be ineffective for somebody else; it just depends on the outcomes you want to achieve through your plan. Effective exercise plans should be fun, sustainable and deliver significant results.

P90X Workout

The P90X or Power 90 Extreme workout incorporates strength training, plyometrics, yoga, kenpo and cardiovascular exercise, and is divided into three 30-day phases. For optimal results, the P90X training plan is combined with a nutrition plan, and an optional supplementation plan also exists. According to BeachBody.com, who developed this training system in conjunction with Tony Horton, the P90X exercise plan utilizes an advanced training technique called Muscle Confusion, which relies on cross training and periodization to keep your body from adapting to the exercises over time. If you're muscles aren't able to adapt to the training stimulus, you'll experience continual improvement without a plateauing effect. Consider the P90X workout if you want to build lean muscle mass or bulk up, or if you're looking for an exercise plan that incorporates a variety of activities, but still is highly structured.

Egoscue General Conditioning Program

According to Pete Egoscue, an anatomical physiologist and the author of "Pain Free: A Revolutionary Method for Stopping Chronic Pain," dedication to his general conditioning program will help you combat your slide into dysfunction and pain and give you a base upon which a full restoration of your posture and body functions can eventually be built. The purpose of Egoscue's general conditioning program is to help you realign your body's eight principle weight-bearing joints to improve your posture and reduce your likelihood of joint degeneration and other acute and long-term musculoskeletal complaints. Performing the general conditioning program optimizes your structural fitness and helps you perform leisure activities and your other activities of daily living without pain. The general conditioning program consists of eight simple exercises, takes about 20 minutes to perform and should be performed daily for best results.

The Gyrotonic Expansion System

Created by Juilu Horvath, a former ballet dancer, the gyrotonic expansion system is an exercise modality that helps you simultaneously stretch and strengthen your muscles and tendons while mobilizing your spinal and extremity joints, according to gyrotonic.com. The gyrotonic expansion system--which uses a line of specialized equipment developed by Horvath--incorporates specific breathing patterns, along with three-dimensional, circular movements, to improve your coordination, endurance and aerobic capacity. The breathing patterns, which come from yoga, are touted to cleanse, detoxify and rejuvenate your body. Gyrotonic exercises incorporate movements found in gymnastics, tai chi, yoga and swimming, and are designed to improve your flexibility and muscle strength, and target your joints to improve their stability and mobility. The gyrotonic expansion system is used both by athletes and the general public to improve physical conditioning or for rehabilitation purposes following an injury.

References

Article reviewed by noomninam Last updated on: May 2, 2010

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