We have all been there. You decide to begin exercising but immediately find yourself overwhelmed. It can be a frustrating experience to put in hard work and effort and not see any results. This happens when you start to work out "blindfolded," meaning that you simply do not have a plan. Remember, the hardest part of exercising is getting started. If being intimidated by the lack of basic workout knowledge prevents you from seeing result you are not alone. For you, utilizing the F.I.T.T.e principle of Frequency, Intensity, Time, Type and enjoyment, good intentions can become reality.
Frequency
Frequency refers to how often you will exercise. After performing any form of exercise, your body completes a process of rebuilding and repairing. To determine your frequency of exercise it is important for you to find a balance that provides your body with enough stress for you to experience change. Equally important is a frequency that provides your body with enough rest time to recover from a workout. The American College of Sport Medicine (ACSM) has F.I.T.T.e guidelines for both aerobic activity and strength training. For cardiovascular benefits, ACSM recommends exercising three to five times per week. For strength training, the recommendation for working out is two to three times per week. Always take in to consideration how much time each week you realistically have to devote to an exercise program.
Intensity
Intensity refers to the amount of effort or work you invest in a specific exercise workout. You will need to determine the level of intensity that will offer your body with a challenge during exercise. Think of it this way: If your body can perform a workout without feeling exhausted, you won't experience maximal progress in strength, endurance and weight loss because your body does not need to change. Basically, you will need to push your body past its limit so your body will have to change to keep up with the new challenges. At the same time, there needs to be balance to ensure that your exercise program is not so difficult that it results in overtraining, injury or burnout. For aerobic benefits, you will exercise at an intensity equal to 60 to 85 percent of your maximum heart rate, or max HR. Your max HR can be determined by subtracting your age from 220; for example, to determine a 25-year-old's max HR you would take 220-25 = 195 beats per minute. Moderately intense activity should be closer to the lower end of your heart rate range, while vigorous intensity activity may be closer to the high end of your heart rate range. For strength training, work out at an intensity that is equal to 70 to 85 percent of your one repetition maximum -- the maximum weight you can lift for one rep. If you can perform more than 12 reps, increase the weight by 5 lbs. If you can't perform more than eight, decrease the weight by 5 lbs.
Time
As you might expect, time is how long each individual session should last. Your duration of exercise will vary based on the intensity and type. For cardiovascular benefits, ACSM recommends exercising for 20 to 60 minutes. For strength straining, aim for completing eight to 12 reps and two to three sets. If you are limited in your schedule, then determine the amount of time you will have to dedicate to exercise. Otherwise, choose your intensity level, which will help you decide how long your training session should be. For example, a higher intensity will typically burn more calories in a shorter amount of time. This means that if you choose to jog three miles you may require only 30 minutes of exercise, while walking three miles may require you to work out for 45 to 60 minutes to cover the same amount of mileage.
Type and Enjoyment
The type of exercise you will be doing should be determined by your goals, your needs and, most importantly, your enjoyment. On some days your exercise session will be primarily cardiovascular. On other days your workouts will be mostly resistance training. Then you will have training days where you will be doing a combination of both. The specific exercises you will perform will depend upon your enjoyment of those activities.
For beginners, choosing the type of exercise may be the best place to start mapping out your routine. After all, if you have the perfect frequency, intensity and time, but hate the actual exercise, then you will never do it. So start with something you enjoy. This may be walking, biking, swimming or something else.
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