How To Design A Fitness Training Plan
Your fitness training plan should be designed to provide clear and personalized direction toward achieving your goals. It is a blueprint that organizes all of your exercise activities into one cohesive program for success.
Before you design your plan, establish specific training goals. Also, gather results from any health or performance-related assessments, such as body composition, stress tests, or strength tests. Your goals and current condition offer meaningful information on which you can craft your individualized fitness training program.
Steps 1-6 summarize how to design your plan.
1. Set your target date for achieving your goals and work backwards to the present.
2. Break down your total time line into training phases of at least 4 weeks (with some latitude), starting with your initial conditioning phase.
3. Assign a purpose to each of the phases of training so that, collectively, they lead you to your goals. For example, phases may have a purpose of increasing strength fitness, cardio fitness, or maintaining fitness. All exercise activities should work in concert within the same phase. The use of training phases, or cycles, is known as periodization.
4. Within each phase, or cycle, include variations by week and by day within a range that fits the purpose of the phase. Slight variations in training regimens produce more consistent gains and prevent boredom.
5. Choose the primary exercises and alternatives that you plan to incorporate in your program in light of the exercise equipment and facility you have available. Work in any prescribed exercises you may have received from a health professional.
6. Plan detailed daily workouts for the first training phase. Select the exercises and activities for each training session and determine the order in which you will perform them. Allow ample time for all activities, including warm up and cool down.
After the design is completed, implement the first phase of the training plan. Evaluate your progress and revise the next and subsequent phases in light of how you are progressing toward your fitness training goals.
Dr. Denise K. Wood is an educator and sport and fitness training consultant from Knoxville, TN and creator of www.womens-weight-training-programs.com She has trained a wide range of clients from beginners to Olympians. Dr. Wood is a former national track and field champion with years of international experience. She has been recognized as an outstanding professor in exercise science and research/statistics.
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