The right training program can help you get fit in order to mobilize your body’s energy reserves and increase your resistance to stress. This article is about how to improve your health through exercise. We’ll cover workouts, the five pillars of fitness, and more! Go.

Author: Mike Mahler

Some iron sports enthusiasts strive to develop maximum strength and musculature; others are interested in muscle definition. But most people don’t care about it. When I am asked to advise on choosing a training program, I always ask the person about his goals. In 90% of cases, it all comes down to improving physical fitness.

Many coaches, including me, are puzzled by this answer. He’s too vague. We need specifics. After all, how else can you develop an individual training program – for example, to lose weight by 15 kg or to increase your deadlift result by 25 kg?

The point is, most people view training a little easier. It is not uncommon for fitness instructors to assume that regular gym goers should take exercise as seriously as possible. This is mistake.

We need to start not on how people should train, but on how they train and what goals they set for themselves. And most people have one goal – to improve their well-being, get in shape and improve health. A comprehensive general fitness program contributes to achieving this goal.

What is General Fitness?

This question can be answered in different ways. For some people, this is the ability to run a cross of at least 3 km. For others, squeeze 100 kg with perfect technique.

Any of these answers may be correct, but let’s look at fitness from the point of view of an ordinary person: being in good physical shape is the level of strength development that allows you to perform routine activities. That is, you should be able to carry your suitcases at the airport or toss your carry-on luggage on the top bunk on the train.

Or you must have enough strength to carry the bags from the supermarket to the car in your hands. A trained person will not puff like a steam locomotive after climbing several floors of stairs.

For people seriously involved in strength sports, such indicators are not something outstanding. But this article is not focused on serious “jocks”, but on ordinary people who want to strengthen their body.

An effective workout program can help you get fit in order to mobilize your body’s energy reserves and increase your resistance to stress. Moreover, properly selected exercises promote the production of serotonin (“the hormone of happiness”) – as a result, your well-being will significantly improve.

So, we got a general idea of ​​what will be discussed in this article. Now let’s look at five key elements of general fitness:

1. Force

First of all, consider such an element as strength. From the point of view of the modern lifestyle, the development of strength interests us for two reasons. First, to be able to lift objects from the ground: heavy boxes, water bottles, bags of groceries, etc.

Secondly, to lift objects overhead: toss the bag on the top bunk in the train, put a heavy saucepan in the top compartment of the sideboard, etc. If a person cannot do such simple things, then the quality of his life leaves much to be desired.

The two main exercises that develop strength in these areas are and. Progress in these exercises indicates the development of muscle strength throughout the body.

Having mastered the deadlift technique, you will learn how to properly lift objects from the ground. You will learn how wide you need to put your feet in order to relieve the load on the lower back. Plus, you can strengthen your back muscles.

Many people are poorly developed, which is the cause of frequent pain. A person begins to avoid back exercises – and this is a big mistake. You need to strengthen your muscles and develop strength, and not indulge your weakness.

The deadlift is the key to a strong lower back and a strong back in general. Exercise teaches the body to work as a unit and to engage as many muscle fibers as possible to resist the load. In addition, the deadlift develops the muscles adjacent to the hip joint well. No trendy exercise can match the deadlift’s effectiveness in building a strong back.

Deadlifts can be performed with any weight: dumbbells, kettlebells, and even sandbags. However, from the point of view of complex strength development, the most effective is the regular deadlift with a barbell.

Beginners should start with an empty 20kg (or lighter) bar. Experienced athletes can load more than 200 kg on the barbell, and with a gradual increase. This is the best projectile for developing strength.

Next, we move on to the standing dumbbell press. If the barbell is such an effective tool, then why is the bench press recommended to be performed with dumbbells? The fact is that for a standing barbell press, you need either a power frame or racks – so that in the initial position the bar is at chest level.

Quality squat racks cost a lot of money. This is an excellent sports equipment for professional strength workers, but they are rarely used in regular fitness.

There is another way to “bring” the bar to its original position – an exercise called lifting the bar to the chest. Of course, on light weights, you can use a regular reverse grip barbell lift. However, sooner or later, the weight of the burden will increase; throwing the barbell over your chest in this way will become difficult (and traumatic).

For those who do not know what “lifting the barbell to the chest” is, I will explain: this is an exercise in which you need to raise the barbell from the platform to the level of the racks (chest) in one quick motion. This is a very good exercise, but it requires good coordination and many years of practice.

Those who disagree with this statement usually use bad technique or, even worse, teach others bad technique. Yes, experienced athletes or professional bodybuilders are able to learn the technique of any exercise in a short amount of time. The average fitness enthusiast won’t do that. In addition, getting injured is not part of a general fitness program.

Again, in order not to complicate things, we will use dumbbells. What’s more, beginners can start with a one-arm dumbbell press. In this case, both hands are used to raise the projectile to shoulder level. Even a very heavy dumbbell can be lifted this way.

We look further. If you are able to squeeze a 35kg dumbbell, then, of course, you will have the strength to grab it on your chest with both hands.

One-handed dumbbell press allows you to get rid of the imbalance in muscle development – here the difference in strength between the right and left hand becomes immediately obvious. To maintain balance in the dumbbell press with one hand, the muscles of the trunk are used (and this is an additional plus).

Now supporters of minimalism will decide that for the development of strength it is enough to have only two mandatory exercises in the arsenal, but … this is not so. In the long run, this approach doesn’t work. The standing press and deadlift are excellent exercises for building strength. But one cannot be limited only to them.

Take baseball players, for example – they don’t just play baseball to keep fit. In fitness, everything is exactly the same: different exercises should be performed for proportional muscle development and prevention of injuries (which are inevitable with an unbalanced training program). Fortunately, the list of recommended exercises is not too long.

You should focus on five areas:

1. Press (examples:,,)
   
2. Traction (examples:,,)
   
3. Quads (examples:,,)
   
4. Hip biceps (examples:,)
   
5. Press (examples:,,)

I usually refer to these areas as the “five pillars” of strength training. To keep your workout balanced, take one exercise from each group and do it in two to three sets, three times a week. For example, you can do complex workouts for all parts of the body on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.

Looking at these “five pillars”, men are probably looking for barbell lifts for the biceps, and women are looking for exercises for the buttocks. I can only say one thing – while I get paid to teach strength training, you keep wondering why your bicep circumference barely crossed 30cm after years of bombing your arms several times a week.

Doing a lot is the wrong way. Serious results can only be achieved. Men, your arms are already getting a tremendous load in presses, pull-ups and deadlifts; they grow from just this kind of exercise. Women, your quads, hamstrings and glutes are maximized in squats and deadlifts. Why do you need isolation exercises?

In strength training, doing basic exercises is the most effective technique. This is especially true for ordinary fitness enthusiasts who do not have the slightest desire to spend their whole life in the gym.

Below is an example of a strength training program in general fitness:

Monday

Wednesday

Friday

The above program is one of the options. You can limit yourself to, for example, two days of strength training (Monday and Thursday) or do each exercise in three sets. Alternatively, you can focus on your upper body on Monday-Thursday and your lower body on Tuesday-Friday.

In any case, you should start from the specified training program if your goal is to improve your overall physical fitness. You need to do the program for four weeks, after which you should change the number of repetitions or choose other exercises.

2. Cardio

Now let’s take a look at cardio training as part of a general fitness program: aerobic exercise is necessary to strengthen your heart, increase lung capacity and improve circulation, and build endurance – you don’t want to be the guy who has extraordinary strength but can’t climb fifth floor without lift.

There is a huge variety of cardio exercises to choose from. Preference should be given to the one that you like the most. For many, a 30-minute session does not seem like a boring workout.

That is why there is a skeptical attitude towards cardio training, since this type of physical activity is associated with something boring and monotonous. But you can organize everything differently. If you like tennis, make it your cardio exercise (three sessions a week should be enough). Swimming or walking is also a great cardio exercise (similarly, three sessions per week).

Unfortunately, life is arranged in such a way that we are not always able to do what we like. However, the choice of aerobic exercise is overwhelming. Take race walking, for example. Legendary athlete Steve Reeves, a great lover of sports walking, made his career at a time when all bodybuilders could boast of good physical shape.

Play your favorite music on your player and go for a 30-minute walk. Control the distance – in the next session, your goal will be to go more distance in the same amount of time. If you are confused by the classic (slightly ridiculous) walking style with large strides and sweeping arm movements, you can use a weight vest.

The weighted 20-pound vest transforms your daily walk into an intense cardio workout. Whichever option you choose, you need to increase the load gradually. It is also advisable to purchase a pair of quality walking shoes.

If you prefer to do indoor cardio on machines, consider interval training. This type of physical activity – also known as “high-intensity cardio” – not only strengthens the heart, but also provides effective fat burning while saving time (the workout is twice as fast as regular cardio workout). Try this technique; in twenty minutes you will become her supporter.

The idea is as follows: first, a five-minute warm-up is performed at a moderate pace, after which the pace accelerates sharply for 30 seconds, and then slows down for 90 seconds. The acceleration-rest intervals should be repeated ten times. Finish your workout with a five-minute cool down to normalize your heart rate.

As the body adjusts to the load, begin to shorten the rest time in each interval – for example, after 30 seconds of acceleration, followed by 50 seconds of a moderate pace. You should aim to have equal periods of acceleration and rest over time – 30 seconds each.

There are other options for interval training, including a skipping rope or bodyweight exercise cycle (push-ups, squats, squat jumps, jumping in place). You don’t have to do the same thing all the time! Change your exercises to keep your workouts fun.

For example, on Tuesdays you can go to the pool, on Thursdays you can do race walking, and on Saturdays you can do an intensive training cycle at home. The most important thing is to do three cardio workouts a week. Then you are guaranteed to improve the work of the cardiovascular system and develop the body’s endurance.

There are also a large number of interesting training programs aimed at developing endurance and general strengthening of the body, such as, and.

3. Joint mobility, flexibility and balance

Next we have joint mobility, flexibility and balance. In the elite division, many athletes work with weights over 300 kg in the bench press, but cannot reach their toes. From the point of view of general fitness, this situation is not normal.

Of course, no one asks you to stretch like a circus acrobat, but you must have a certain level of balance, mobility and flexibility. Reaching your toes is a simple yet effective way to measure flexibility.

Bottom line: If you can’t reach your toes by slightly bending your knees, your muscles and joints are too stiff. If you can’t stand on one leg for thirty seconds, you need to develop balance.

Finally, the ability to stay at the bottom of a deep squat (without a barbell) for thirty seconds indicates good joint mobility. These minimum standards of mobility, flexibility and balance are indicators of the general level of physical development of any person.

Some people need to work hard to learn how to meet these standards. Others have an innate flexibility that one can only envy. In any case, I advise you to include stretching exercises in your general fitness program, and also do them in the morning after getting out of bed.

One of the best exercises for developing joint mobility is the Hindu squat. Exercise improves leg flexibility and blood circulation.

It is recommended to start the exercise with 25 repetitions. To get the most out of your Hindu squat, try to breathe deeply: inhaling hard when lifting from the squat and exhaling when lowering down. Deep breathing promotes the production of epinephrine, the “hormone of happiness,” which strengthens the lungs and relieves stress.

There is another good exercise to improve blood circulation and develop flexibility -. Take a light weight with both hands; take it back between your legs and perform a sharp forward swing with the lifting of the projectile over your head. Do 25 reps to warm up and. If you don’t have kettlebells, you can use a dumbbell.

Do these exercises regularly to maintain good flexibility. And it happens that a person gets out of bed, eats breakfast (sitting), goes to work (sitting), and then spends the whole day in front of the computer (also sitting). Sounds familiar?

I often work from home, and my “path to the office” runs from the bedroom to the living room, where the laptop is. As a result, I came to the conclusion that in the morning you need to drink a couple of glasses of water, walk the dog, and then do a few stretching exercises – then you feel cheerful and willing to work all day. I do not accept it when a person sleeps for eight hours in a row, wakes up, goes to work and there again sits in one place all day; you need to constantly move and do something.

Mobility and aerobic exercise can be done in the morning. Strength training is a little different. As a rule, muscles and joints are a little stiff in the morning – it is better to postpone power loads until a later time. Mobility exercises can also be done just before strength training.

What about stretching? I would recommend stretching after strength and aerobic training. The muscles will be warmed up, they will become more flexible. Stretching will be more effective and your risk of injury will be reduced. At the end of the article, there are examples of stretching exercises that you can include in your general fitness program.

To develop balance, you need to stand on one leg (both on the right and on the left): at first, at least thirty seconds. Over time, the duration of the exercise should be increased, trying to get to one minute or more. After that, you can proceed to the exercise with your eyes closed: starting at thirty seconds and trying to get to ninety.

Undoubtedly, you cannot build a general physical training program on strength training alone (without cardio and flexibility / mobility exercises). We must focus not only on muscle strength, but also on the normal functioning of the heart / joints. However, the physical aspect of health is only part of the equation. Let’s move on to the next pillar of fitness, ie. to nutrition.

4. Food

Exercise will never work if the person is eating poorly. Of course, even the most avid sweet tooth can maintain a normal body weight if she spends half a day in the gym. But between “slim” and “healthy” can not be equated.

Accidental diet disturbances are tolerated with the right strength training program. Joel Marion writes in his excellent book, The Diet of the Deceiver, that a one-off diet violation for a week increases the level of leptin, a hormone that regulates energy metabolism, in the body.

Great news – moving away from the diet once a week is not only possible, but also necessary! Remember, this is about one day, not all seven. For the remaining six days, we must follow the recommendations of Ori Hofmekler, author of The Anti-Estrogen Diet, to eat the lower links of the food chain.

This means that you should lean on fruits and vegetables with low: berries,,,,,,, etc. This means that we must get protein from beef and dairy products, legumes, nuts, seeds.

Finally, we must choose healthy sources of fat: buffalo butter,,,, nuts and seeds. If you consume these foods, the effectiveness of the training program will increase significantly. Once a week, you can eat whatever you want, without a twinge of conscience, since the importance of our attitude to food can hardly be exaggerated.

What about the number of meals? Five times a day, three times, one time? There are many answers to this question. Some fitness instructors and nutritionists advise eating small meals five times a day. I cannot agree with this point of view for two reasons.

First, too much time will be spent on cooking. Most of us don’t have time to go to the kitchen that often (just the thought of eating five meals a day can be annoying). Manufacturers are well aware of this, so there is a huge selection of protein blends and bars on the market. But the use of products of dubious quality, which have undergone complex technological processing, carries a certain health risk.

Secondly, the five meals a day is ineffective, since it does not allow a person to get enough: every time you have to get up from the table with a slight feeling of hunger. You will be constantly thinking about food, looking forward to your next meal (which again will not make you feel full). Let’s be honest – we all love to eat well (it’s not about filling our belly to the bone; it’s about the usual satisfying hunger).

In The Anti-Estrogen Diet and The Warrior’s Diet, Ori Hofmekler writes that the secret to good nutrition is to have one big meal a day. Better if it will be dinner (when all the problems and worries are left behind). After all, how nice it is after a hard day’s work to come home and have a good dinner.

But this does not mean that we have to sit on a starvation diet all day – hardly anyone will be able to withstand such a diet for a long time. On the contrary, throughout the day you need to organize regular snacks: cocktails, salads with nuts, fruits, vegetables – any products from the lower link of the food chain that are easily absorbed by the body. The digestion process takes up a lot of energy, which can cause fatigue and lethargy.

A hearty breakfast can lead to reduced performance. A hearty lunch is a good option … if later you could take a nap for an hour or two. Only experimentally can you determine the optimal diet for yourself. Someone used to eat more often, someone less often.

Try to plan your day so that your most nutritious meal comes in the evening, ideally after your workout. Dinner should be a few hours before bedtime. Not in order to prevent excess weight (this is a myth), but in order not to have problems with insomnia.

5. Recovery

So, we come to the final “pillar” of the general fitness program – recovery. (Just in time, you will want to rest after reading such a long article.) We live in a busy society. The more busy we are, the higher our social status.

We despise laziness, although the percentage of obese people in our country is growing. Labor gives us full life. But the ability to enjoy all its joys directly depends on the body’s recovery program. Just as a car needs repair and maintenance, our body needs periodic rest.

The most important part of a recovery program is getting adequate sleep. The problem of lack of sleep is widespread in our country. It’s not for nothing that coffee vending machines are on every corner. In the hope of deceiving nature, we steal sleep from ourselves using artificial stimulants – over time, this leads to problems with the adrenal glands.

The importance of deep sleep is due to several reasons: first, we have dreams, which are necessary for normal mental health and mental balance; secondly, anti-aging hormones (testosterone, dehydroepiandrosterone, pregnenolone and growth hormone) are produced in the body in large quantities; thirdly, during sleep in the body processes of recovery and replenishment of forces take place.

Lack of sleep literally accelerates aging (the less you sleep, the faster you age). Chronic lack of sleep negatively affects not only our health, but also the people around us, because we drive our aggression and discontent to them.

One of the reasons for poor sleep quality is the inability to deal with stress. The source of stress is not the events taking place in a person’s life, but his attitude to these events. Our perception is to blame for everything.

You need to constantly work on yourself in order to learn how to overcome stress. Meditation is best suited for this. There are various methods of meditation. You can, for example, practice qigong or tai chi. Or just walk around the city, watching your breathing.

You don’t have to sit in the lotus position and recite mantras; For example, after a workout or before going to bed, I go out to breathe fresh air, and also listen to calm music.

While the music is playing, I take deep breaths through my nose. During such meditations, I almost always fall asleep, and when I wake up, I feel a surge of strength. Meditation is not a fashion statement. Wise people have been practicing this technique for many millennia. I recommend everyone to use meditation in their workout routine.

There is another effective component of the recovery program – massage. A weekly good massage works wonders for our muscles and also improves overall well-being. If you find it expensive to visit the massage parlor every week, you can do it once every two weeks. In extreme cases, you can go to a masseur once a month. If this option is too expensive for you, give up cable TV and mobile communications … or find a job with a higher salary.

The quality of the massage depends on the specialist who does it; you may have to visit several massage parlors until you find your masseur. A qualified specialist conducts a massage session taking into account the characteristics and wishes of a particular client.

The last element of the recovery program – which doesn’t cost a dime – is deep breathing. As soon as you feel an increase in stress, start breathing deeply. On the count of five, inhale through your nose, hold your breath for ten seconds, then exhale for the count of five. Try to breathe slowly and intensely, holding your breath for as long as possible.

As the famous bodybuilder Steve Reeves said, deep breathing increases the level of the hormone of happiness – epinephrine. A person gets high without external stimulants. In animals, this is laid down at the level of instinct, they always breathe deeply.

As I write this, my dog ​​Mona is lying down on the floor and doing a “breathing therapy” session; breathing is done by moving the abdomen rather than the chest. Mona always breathes deeply. In stressful situations, a person holds back their breathing. It is not right. The stress level in the body only increases. You must always breathe deeply and freely.

conclusions

So we briefly reviewed the general physical training program! If someone you know ever wants to do fitness, let him / her read this article. And remind you that no water flows under the lying stone.

General physical fitness is not something difficult: the main thing is to know when to stop. A balanced workout program is based on the Five Pillars of Fitness. Build your muscles, strengthen your heart and lungs, develop mobility, eat healthy foods and do not forget to get good rest. The tale is easy to tell, but the battle is not easy to do. Set a goal for yourself; and start moving towards achieving it today.

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