Exercise Strategy

In the 3rd part of this series we’re going to focus on how you can improve the way your body works. This means getting a little physical!

Your body is a complex machine.  Each part of your body functions well because of the support that the other parts contribute to.  Your ultimate goal is to give your body what it needs to continue to perform perfectly.  What most people don’t realize is why their body has developed to what it is.

So let me tell you a little story:

Back in the time of the caveman era, cavemen had to do what they needed to do so that they could stay alive. Because they had to hunt their food, they didn’t know when their next meal would be so their bodies would store the food they ate in the form of fat, so that when there wasn’t enough food available, these fat reserves could be used.

This is why if you end up not eating to lose weight you’ll just gain it even more because your body will store it as fat so it can function for a longer period of time.

Your muscles on the other hand, are designed to be used, not to sit and deteriorate. Your body is familiar with providing your muscles with the fuel they need to work hard.  If you don’t work hard, your body can’t maintain the healthy lean muscle.

What’s Healthy?

Before you start your journey on losing your first 5-10 pounds, there are a couple important facts that you should know.

Get Your Doctors Clarence. You should first get clearance from your doctor that it’s okay for you to begin an exercise program. Also they’ll be able to let you know if there are things that you should specifically work on such as lowering your blood pressure or decreasing body fat.

Talk To Your Doctor. Talking to your doctor is a great place to start when it comes to determining your overall health. You shouldn’t skip this step. If you’re overweight, chances are pretty high that your heart has been affected by it. This can result in you not being physically able to exercise to a certain level.

If you don’t have any physical limitations, pains or weight problems, then that’s a great sign. Now, look at your body in other manners to determine what you can improve on.

Get Assessed. After you’ve seen your doctor the next step should be to get a “Fitness Assessment” done. Any personal trainer at your local gym will be more than happy to help you out with this. Some may have a fee and some may not, just make sure you check their credentials and that you trust and like them.

During the assessment they should cover these in detail.

• Your current weight
• Your Body Fat %
• Measuring different sites on your body (waist, hips, thigh, arms, calves)
• Compare how much Fat you have in your body in relation to Lean Muscle Mass
• Blood pressure reading
• An upper body strength test eg. Push Ups
• An abdominal strength test eg. Sit ups
• A lower body strength test eg. Vertical Jump

These would be the bare minimum that you would want.

You can also do a cardio test but it’s pretty simple to do that one by yourself.

Just time yourself when you do any cardio activity and try to beat your previous time whenever you go for a walk jog or run.

These tests will give you a good baseline to work with, think of it like your starting point.

Over time and as you add more intense exercise into your routines you’ll be able to see a huge change in the values of your fitness assessment and your health.