Subscribe Feed (RSS)Get The Physique You Want By Getting FITT
February 27th, 2005 by admin | Filed under Uncategorized.F.I.T.T. is a basic philosophy of what it takes to accumulate a training effect from your exercise program. It’s not a program in and of itself, it’s a list of criteria and elements that, when applied to your particular program - or anyone’s program - ends up keeping checks and balances in place so that results can be realized based on a workable formula.
The elements of a FITT monitored program are these:
FREQUENCY = How often you exercise
INTENSITY = How hard you exercise
TYPE = The kind of exercise you undertake
TIME = How long you exercise
All exercise programs have these elements, but they are fully malleable parameters - how you fill in the blanks can make an exercise program appear very different, and can make one program garner much different results than another. What’s more, application of the FITT formula can pertain to both resistance training and cardiovascular training, and can pertain to weight loss or strength training regimes.
Frequency, and the combination of exercises one chooses within that particular pagination of days throughout a given week, will vastly affect the outcome of a given workout program. Changing this one element alone can make all the difference between simple conditioning and actual growth.
For instance, working each major body part, such as chest, back, legs, shoulders and arms on a single day of the week (one body part per day, five days per week) will promote growth like nothing else. That’s because the intensity of the workout will be allowed to be much higher. Why? Because you’re only working one body part and you’re working that one part as hard as possible - more sets, more reps, heavier weight etc. All contribute to intensity. This is how each of the elements can work individually or together.
Remember that it is important to know why you are exercising and what you wish to achieve before rushing into any exercise program. Adjust the number of times you exercise per week to reflect your current fitness level, the time you realistically have available, your other commitments like family and work, and the goals you have set for yourself.
Intensity is an extremely important aspect of the FITT principle and probably the hardest factor to monitor. The best way to gauge the intensity of your exercise is to monitor your heart rate, pump and recovery between sets, and soreness and overall recovery between workouts.
Purchase an exercise heart rate monitor - it’s the surest way to measure heart rate. These can be purchased from $50 to $400. They consist of a transmitter that fits around your chest and a wrist watch that displays your exercise heart rate in beats per minute (bpm).
If you do not want to spend the money on a heart rate monitor, simply count your heart rate over a 15 second period, and multiply by 4. This will give you your exercise heart rate in beats per minute.
A final note on intensity: The way in which you work out really determines your results. If you put the squeeze on each repetition, keep the pace up, and really put your mind into your muscles, it’s a great way to ensure that you’ll get better results than staring blankly toward the wall, monotonously lifting weights and thinking about your upcoming dental appointment or what’s on TV that evening.
Type can address both the type of workout (resistance or cardio) but can also indicate the type of workout you’re doing. In other words, you may be lifting weights, swimming, hiking, cycling, doing isometric work, using core workouts. Like time, the type of exercise you choose will have a big effect on the results you achieve. That is why it is important to know what you want to gain from your efforts.
For example, if you are looking to improve your cardiovascular fitness or lose fat, exercises like walking, jogging, swimming, cycling, and stair-stepping are effective. If you are trying to put on muscle, maximize the type of exercises you choose by choosing mostly compound movements, such as squats, bench press and deadlifts. Choose free weights, machine weights and body weight exercises like push-ups, chin-ups and dips to better your strength and endurance.
Time is both the time you dedicate to particular focus, such as cardiovascular or strength/ resistance training, and within a given workout or even within set. It’s also the time you take between sets to recover. This is what makes time one of the more important elements because it encompasses so much of what either makes or breaks your success.
Now it’s up to you need to determine what role each of the aforementioned FITT elements play in your current routine and what you can do, if anything, to really maximize each element of this training philosophy – remember, there’s always room for improvement!
Dane Fletcher is THE Training Authority – sure, he’s got all the industry recognized “certs”… but here is one chap you won’t see hanging on his den wall. Dane is more comfortable in the dirtiest hole in the wall gym, than your local polished “Fitness Corral”. Originally from London, he has trained in gyms all over the world and has picked up knowledge all along the way from some of the industry’s most recognized personas. Dane writes exclusively for GetAnabolics.com, a leading provider of getanabolics.com Bodybuilding Supplements and alternatives to getanabolics.com Steroids For more information, please visit getanabolics.com getanabolics.com
Dane writes exclusively for GetAnabolics.com, a leading provider of Bodybuilding Supplements and alternatives to Steroids. Please visit GetAnabolics.com for more info.
Tags: exercises, Heart, weight LossRelated posts
Tags: exercises, Heart, weight Loss
