Tackle ALL 5 Components of Health & Well-being

Have you had a hard time picking out a gym or fitness program? Endless health and fitness solutions exist everywhere you look. Gyms, clinics, online videos and just about every other option you can imagine is now available and advertised as a quick-fix. You see them on signs on the road, ads on the radio, and weight-loss solutions all over the internet. Now imagine being a fitness professional. It’s hard to escape the fitness bubble and frankly, it’s frustrating when you research these advertised programs and you find out how lacking their programming is.

Any qualified fitness professional will tell you that a well-rounded program will include all of the five major components of health: cardiovascular endurance, muscular endurance, muscular strength, flexibility, and body composition. How well-rounded is your program?

Here are examples of each component and ways you can insert each into your routine:

1. Cardiovascular endurance - Get outside or on a cardio machine at the gym. 20 minutes is the magic number to start at to see improvements.
   
   
2. Muscular endurance - 12-20 reps of circuit training for 2-3 sets with minimal rest (and you can categorize this as cardiovascular if you can keep your heart rate up!)
   
   
3. Muscular strength - 6-12 reps for 3-4 sets with heavier weights with at least 45 seconds of rest between sets for proper muscle recovery
   
   
4. Flexibility - this one is “easy”! Doing a dynamic warmup stretching or foam rolling before and static stretching after any workout is an easy way to incorporate this component on a daily basis.
   
   
5. Body composition - You know what “they” say. Having a healthy body requires a healthy diet. Don’t let all of that work in the gym go to waste. Keep your weight down by trimming fat weight and increasing lean muscle mass.
   

If you’re training for something (half marathon, triathlon, weight-loss goal), I can’t think of any excuses as to why you can’t fit all if not most of these important components into your routine. If you need help developing an improved routine that makes your program more well-rounded, please email me at [email protected].

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