Staying on track to reaching your health and fitness goals

BY MIKE DONAVANIK

It’s January and we all have a new found inner drive to accomplish our newly set New Year’s resolutions. Whatever your goals may be, exercise and health are sure to be at the top of the list. Whether you want to lose weight, tone up, gain more muscle, or just be healthier, every year starts off with the same vigor and good intentions as the last. Here’s a plan and some tips on how to get started and how to reach your New Year’s health resolutions long after the year has begun.

Start off by setting specific and measurable goals for yourself, by stating why you want to achieve your goals and how many pounds or inches you want to lose—or gain. Keep your goals realistic to avoid frustration or feelings of failure. Goals should serve as a way of keeping you motivated, not as a way of bringing you down. Make sure to set long-term and short-term goals. Long-term goals are what you would like to accomplish overall. Depending on what your goal is, the time period to achieve it will differ. Short-term goals can be achieved on a weekly or monthly basis, and will work as a tool to measure how well you’re long-term goals are coming along. For example, if your long-term goal is to lose 50 lbs. over the course of a year in order to avoid the risk of heart disease, you can gage that with short-term goals of losing 6 lbs. a month or around 2 lbs. a week. The goal is realistic, can be easily measured, and is specific in terms of time and reason. The most important thing when setting goals is to give them substance by making them specific, realistic, and measurable.

If it has been a while since you have worked out, don’t go all out right away. You don’t want to work out too vigorously because that can lead to overtraining and burnout. On the other hand, if you work out too lightly you won’t see results. Find a happy medium, where you can push and challenge yourself without overexerting yourself. Keep in mind the FITT Principle (Frequency, Intensity, Time, Type) whenever advancing your workout routine. Our bodies tend to start adapting to new exercises and new routines within 3-4 weeks. The FITT Principle will prevent that. When advancing a routine, only two of the four parts of the FITT principle should be changed.

For resistance training, you ideally want to start working out at about 60%-70% of your perceived maximum effort. Thus, if you were to gage the intensity on a scale of 1-10 it should be about a level 6 or 7. That suggestion is for those who have been relatively inactive or sedentary. For those who have been working out, you can raise the intensity to about 75%-90% of your maximum effort depending on what your goals are. Another good rule of thumb to help figure out weight training intensity is to make sure the last 2-3 repetitions are a challenge to finish. Again, depending on what your goals are, this could differ and you may need a spotter to help you finish off your reps.

For cardiovascular activity it really depends on how cardiovascularly fit you are and what your goals are. There are a lot of factors that play a role in determining an appropriate and effective cardiovascular program. With that being said, here are some basic guidelines from the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) and American Heart Association (AHA) to get you started. Do moderately intense cardio for 30 minutes a day, five days a week. Or do vigorously intense cardio 20 minutes a day, three days a week. Whichever path you choose, your cardiovascular system will benefit from it by becoming stronger and more efficient, lowering your risk of heart disease. Doing cardio will also release endorphins, which will decrease your levels of stress.

So which should you do, cardio or resistance training? Both! You will reap maximum benefits if you cross train and combine cardio and strength training into your workouts. I’m a huge advocate of cross training. In addition to weight training and cardio exercises, I incorporate yoga, kettlebell training, and self-defense into my workouts. This way you are constantly being challenged because new exercises are always being introduced into your workouts, preventing your body from adapting and reaching any plateaus. It makes the workouts more fun and prevents you from burning out and getting bored due to performing the same exercise routine over and over again. Cross training keeps your work outs challenging, fun, and keeps you happy because you are constantly seeing results.

Remember though, the only way to lose weight and body fat is to burn more calories than you take in. You need to combine exercise with proper eating habits. So make sure you are aware of what you are eating and how much of it. Don’t drastically start cutting calories and making huge changes to your diet. Start off small by cutting your meal portions down by 25%. We all know what foods and beverages are good and bad for us, it’s just about being more aware of what we choose and committing to making healthier choices.

So be sure to set your long-term and short-term goals, start off at a challenging pace, watch your eating habits, and keep your workouts fun and enjoyable; before you know it, you will have achieved your New Year’s health resolutions.

Mike Donavanik is a Certified Personal Trainer and Performance Enhancement Specialist. He trains out of two private studios located in West Hollywood and Pasadena. He also offers in-home training. He can be reached through www.mikedfitness.com or at 626/905-5413.