The analogy I use when people ask me this question, “what should I do when I get to the gym/fitness center?” or “what is the best way to get me in shape?” is simply this, look at me as a personal trainer/fitness specialist in a gym more like a librarian at a library. A librarian does not say go read this or only stay in that area. What you do & how how you do it should be based off of many factors, so what are these important guidelines that should dictate what to do with all the gym options out there?
First a person should understand your 5 components of health related fitness because this is what makes up all the parts of physical health. An assessment should be performed to see where you rank within each category, some of the answers you might already know, like you need to lose weight, but truly knowing your actual body fat percentage is a powerful guide not only as a measurement of progress, but it is one of those 5 major components of your physical health. Flexibility, Muscular Strength & Endurance, and finally Cardio-Vascular Endurance are the other four fitness components. Simple test can reveal results that will be guiding principles for your physical activity.
Each component plays a vital role in your success at both the gym and at home. I always say training yourself is a lifestyle, not something you do at just a fitness center. The idea is to combine as many components into a workout as possible. Never truly repeat a workout, but make small modifications to movement to increase resistance. Full body is the way to go with an emphasis on never really taking a break, but perform what I call an “active rest” (walk to get water, stretch, perform small simple one joint movements, breakdown or set up next movement (exercise)). It is common to always see people around the gym beings social butterflies, taking long excessive breaks, and only performing simple one task movements that only work one part of your body within one component of fitness at a time. All that takes LONG & is a waist of time with yielding very little results. Getting on one piece of cardio equipment (like an elliptical) for 45 min. consecutively will not burn fat off your body in an effective way, that is totally utilizing your bodies energy systems in a “slow motion” way.
The basic principle of knowing what to do at a gym should be totally driven by how you want to live your life, more specifically your goals. What should you accomplish, how long will it take to get there, does my ability limit my options, how do I actually exercise effectively in the shortest amount of time? Well, if you have any of those questions, that is exactly what a quality personal trainer can answer for you!
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