Jes Reynolds…Your Fitness Coach

Creating an effective fitness exercise program is a daunting task for anyone living in today’s fast paced society. Taking care of a home, children, and maintaining a job leaves very little time for finding and then learning the proper methods required to get in shape.  In this article, I’ll show you how to create your own personalized and effective fitness exercise program in three simple steps.

Step 1-Goals

Everyone has different goals and faces different challenges to reaching those goals. For some, it’s time constraints or are misinformed, others just do not have the motivation required to get in shape. Using a generic workout plan or mimic magazines and books to get results can be helpful, but often these programs don’t address your specific needs.

That’s why step one to creating an effective fitness exercise program is setting your personal goals. Instead of mirroring the results of magazines and fitness-in-a-box programs that are often super difficult to achieve, start with personal goals that are realistic for you. Learn what it means to set S.M.A.R.T. goals (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, time bound).

Summary:

1) Reflect on short and long term goals

2) Learn to create SMART goals

3) Record short and long term goals on paper

*Tip* Do not spend money on anything until you set your personal goals! *Tip*

Step 2-Educate

Of course there are various components to each of the three steps to an effective fitness exercise program like how much to eat, what activities to perform, and how often to perform them, but what is the point of having information if it doesn’t apply to you? For example, it would be silly to buy a fitness program such as P90X if your goal was to first run a 5k, then a 10k, and then finish it off at the end of the year with a marathon, right?

So now that you’ve set your personal goals, you can figure out exactly what information you need. Staying with the example of running a 5K, 10K, then a marathon, you can educate yourself first by starting with 5K training information, races in your area, and some general tips for healthy nutrition. No need for a marathon training regimen just yet, right?

Let’s say you want to complete these races but you also want to lose weight at the same time. What then? I recommend buying a general weight loss guide and combining it with your race training guides. If you fail to lose all the weight you want once you’ve completed the marathon, then re-focus your goals on weight loss.

Step 3- Action

The first few days and weeks of your fitness exercise program will be fairly easy because you’re motivation is at it’s peak when starting something new. It’s human nature. In thinking about step three, I want you to consider how you’ll stay persistent through life challenges, time constraints, busy work schedules, kids, and minor injuries. How will you take consistent action even when things get tough?

I ask you to consider this because that’s what everyone in our culture and people around the world are facing today. It’s as if our lives have gotten so demanding that our health and fitness goals have little to no priority. Once something comes up, fitness is on the back burner. While that may be ok for a while, if it lasts 20, 30, or 40 years the quality of life degrades if we cannot embrace it physically.

Make a long term plan to succeed when it comes to your fitness & exercise program. If you need help, be sure to contact me or see if the personalized monthly fitness plans I offer are right for you.