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The Seven Components of a Good Fitness Program

Aug 18, 2011 | By Miguel Cavazos
The Seven Components of a Good Fitness Program
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The seven components of a good fitness program include activities that keep your muscles and cardiorespiratory system strong. Good fitness programs change up your exercises to avoid muscle adaptations that can occur within three or four weeks if you do not vary your workout activities. The progress evaluation component of good fitness programs helps ensure you are making progress toward your specific fitness goals.

Aerobic Exercise

Good fitness programs include an aerobic exercise component. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends performing at least 150 minutes of light to moderate aerobic activity every week. Moderate aerobic exercise brings your pulse within 60 to 70 percent of your maximum heart rate. A man can determine his maximum heart rate by subtracting his age from 220. Subtract 88 percent of your age from 206 to determine your maximum heart rate if you are a woman.

Upper-body Pushing

An upper-body pushing resistance component is important; this includes horizontally and vertically loaded resistance exercises at least once per week. Horizontally loaded upper-body pushing exercises -- such as the flat, incline and decline bench press -- work the pectoral, front deltoid and triceps muscles. Vertically loaded upper-body pushing exercises -- such as shoulder presses and military presses -- work the lateral deltoids, posterior deltoids and muscles in your arms.

Upper-body Pulling

An upper-body pulling resistance exercise component is equally important. Horizontally and vertically loaded pulling exercises should be performed at least once per week. These exercises work all the major muscles of your back. Examples include seated rows, bent-over rows and t-bar rows. Vertically loaded resistance exercises include lat pulldowns, pullups and chinups. Pullups work your back, and they are particularly effective for targeting your biceps.

Lower-body Exercises

Lower-body exercises are a critical component of a good fitness program. Your lower body contains the largest skeletal muscles in your body and provides support that is essential for mobility and posture. This component includes exercises involving both quadriceps and hamstrings. Quadriceps-dominant exercises include squats, lunges and leg presses. Hamstrings-dominant exercises include leg curls, glute-ham raises and goodmornings.

Core and Midsection

Your core includes inner and outer abdominal muscles and muscular structures that support your hips and spine. Activities that target the core are an essential component of a good fitness program, because the core stabilizes muscle movements throughout your entire body. Core and midsection activities include abdominal isolation exercises, such as crunches, in addition to dynamic movements that challenge your center of gravity with medicine balls, balance boards and physio balls.

Variation

Variation is essential for continual progress and avoiding overuse injuries. Variation might involve increasing the amount resistance that you use when performing exercises. Increasing the number of repetitions or sets of particular exercises in subsequent workouts is another way to include variation in your program. You may also alternate between free-weight and machine-weight versions of particular exercises.

Tracking

The tracking component of a good fitness program includes multiple metrics that help track your progress. Bodyweight measurement tracks total weight gain and weight loss. Circumference measurements around multiple parts of your body can indicate muscle growth or weight-loss progress. Body composition tests are particularly effective for tracking your progress, because they help determine the relative proportions of fat and lean muscle tissue in your body.

References

Article reviewed by Leah Ann Crussell Last updated on: Aug 18, 2011

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