If you are exercising in any capacity, whether it is walking running, cycling, swimming, strength training, muscle building, cardio machines, or playing some kind of fitness-based game or sport. I will happily clap for you as loud as I possibly can! For so many people just doing some form of physical activity can be a huge struggle.
At MPower, we encourage everyone to exercise in a way that makes them happy.
Find a Fitness Regimen You Enjoy
When people ask me, What is the best form of training? I always answer with “whatever you can see yourself doing, ongoingly forever”.
Fitness training may sometimes have a beginning, for some it may be sooner or later. When it comes to our long-term health, training should never come to an end. The best fitness programs are well-rounded and have various aspects of different categories of training types. Various training types are incredibly different, both in terms of how to implement them, & also the results you receive from them.
While there is a ton of overlap in many ways between different training categories, such as strength training, muscular & cardiovascular endurance training, hypertrophy training, skill development training, just to name a few. Each of these categories involves a different approach & promotes a distinctly different response from the body.
Even when it comes to lifting weights, there are various ways to approach it in terms of the exercise selected, the number of reps/sets, the way the movement is performed, the load selected, etc. All these variables, when adjusted can elicit a totally different response from the body. Doing bicep curls for sets of 25 will create a vastly different response than doing a heavy back squat for 3 to 5 reps. Yes, both are weightlifting, but they are dramatically different in overall result.
The same could be said about endurance training. From short duration, incredibly high intensity, maximal heart rate and breathing rate, output style of conditioning compared to a long, steady, continuous effort at a lower heart rate and breathing rate.
While both are cardio, these different types of approaches will induce a very different utilization of the bodies energy systems and development of cardiovascular muscles.
Which is best? Hypertrophy, Strength Training, High Intensity, Long Steady State
The answer is that none are more or less important than one of the other. All are necessary and none should be overlooked.
Many individuals find themselves putting a ton of time and effort into one or a couple of categories and leaving other categories of training completely untouched.
While this is still better than no training at all, I would consider it a flawed fitness program, both in terms of maximizing someone’s specific training related goals, and considering long-term health.
The Ideal Training Program
An ideal training program balances these different categories with the appropriate application of each and selection of various exercise types. Every fitness program should have elements from each category, many of which are not even mentioned here, such as Plyometric training, sprint training, or skill development training for sport or game.
This landscape can be incredibly confusing if you are not well-versed in exercise/ training modalities.
That’s where a great instructor lead class or personal trainer can be a huge benefit! These are experts in the field, who develop programs to emphasize these various aspects of fitness, health, and training optimization in the appropriate amounts.
Take your fitness and/or performance to the next level
If you want to take your fitness and/or performance to the next level, then level up your training and balance the elements to cover all the various aspects of your physical abilities!
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