In fitness, there are three categories that everyone should use to get their desired results. Those big three are cardio, strength, and diet. When combined, it is an unstoppable force and you will be getting compliments from everyone. Using only one or two however, will result in more effort being placed on working out. On the All Strengths No Weakness Facebook page, I put up a little survey as to which is the most important out of the three or if they were of equal importance. From the answers I got, it was unanimous that everyone said all three were of equal importance. Realistically though how many of you are performing all three?
Cardio is a great way to strengthen up the heart and lungs. You can do cardio in a number of ways. Agility work using a ladder or small hurdles are great to get the feet moving quickly making you faster at changing directions if you play sports. A jog, elliptical, or bicycle are great ways to build up your cardiovascular health. Make sure that when running or using the cardio machines, you keep your heart rate at a certain speed. That way you do not pass out or have any other medical condition occur. Performing cardio will help the heart in the long run. Keeping a lower heart rate or BPM (Beats per Minute), your heart is working efficiently by working slower. Which pumps more blood through the body without having to work at a higher rate.
Strength training is important because without it, you are not able to perform your daily activities. Women are always looking for toning the body. Now a 5lb dumbbell is not going to get the job done. You have to change the weights constantly for your body to change. When the body resists theses changes it is due to what we call in the fitness industry "muscle memory". So constantly changing the weights will always benefit you. Also strength training is important because when working out, exercises should be geared to overall health but also the prevention of injuries. Lets face it, this is the body that we have for the rest of our lives, so preventing injuries will be a great way to keep going into the gym on a consistent basis instead of one week and then three weeks of no activity.
When it relates to men, they all go in to squat, bench, and curl. Believe me I enjoy all those exercises, but at the end of the day we go into a feeding frenzy and eat everything in sight. Now this is the most harming thing to guys who workout to lose some weight. I know that after a workout, I have my protein ready. Then a couple hours later, I will eat a solid meal. Look at the protein you are consuming, make sure that it is lean and full of vitamins and minerals. One thing that I hear all the time from people is the myth of fat turning into muscle. Now guys I want to be serious with you, that is completely false. Fat is an energy that the body uses daily during activity or resting. There is no way you can take an energy and convert it to muscle, IT JUST CANNOT HAPPEN! To create that muscle, you have to look at protein consumption, again making sure that the protein is leaner and not so much a weight gaining protein brand.
A proper diet should not take away any macronutrients (fats, proteins, carbs). I am sure that you have seen people try the South Beach or Atkins diet. Yes, you will achieve your results, but your body will want to put in the nutrients that it isn't getting without you even noticing. Talking to colleagues of mine, we all agreed that people should not create a strict diet because at the end, a majority of people will breakdown and eat everything which will cause their weight to increase. You have to remember the word diet as defined by the dictionary is a change in eating habits. This change however, should not be drastic. Just like with cardio and strength training, diets should have a proper game plan. That way you can maximize your results. What I mean by a game plan is one week ok I am going to eat less rice or pasta. The following week my junk food consumption will decrease. You can also game plan by eating more frequent smaller sized meals. It has been proven that more frequent small meals keep the body's metabolism running, therefore, keeping the internal furnace going and burning all the excess calories. That way, your body will be able to compensate for the changes that you are trying to do.
No category of fitness works best unless you combine them. By doing this, you are going to look healthy, feel heathy, and friends and family will notice the changes. Remember, without having a route to take in regards to all three, you will just end up doing the same thing over and over. So please create a game plan and you will be able to reap the benefits from doing so!
