Healthier, Stronger, Better

Physical fitness can be best described as the set of attributes that people have or attain that relates to the ability to perform physical activity. A fitness program is typically designed to improve an individual's overall level of endurance, strength, flexibility, co-ordination and balance. To achieve reaching a higher fitness level, an individual needs to go out of their comfort zone but needs to be assured that it is safe for them first. Training each week should consist of exercising on 2 or 3 days with a day of rest in between. Every exercise session should last about 1 to 1 ½ hours and be split into 5 units of exercise consisting of a warm up unit, strength unit, flexibility, balance, co-ordination and core unit, endurance unit and cool down unit.

Warm-Up Unit: The first unit and primarily aims to prepare the body for the following units after it. This unit begins with 5-10 minutes of aerobic exercise at a gentle pace including walking, jogging, cycling, or rowing). This is followed by a few dynamic stretching exercises which include arm swings, hip circles and twists, lunges and ankle bounce. In total, this unit should last between 15 and 20 minutes.

Strength Unit: This second unit has 4 or 5 dumbbell exercises that includes standing one leg heel raises, one arm dumbbell rows (alternation between), seated one arm triceps extension, incline seated dumbbell curls (alternate) and an incline dumbbell bench press. These are to be performed as 1 to 3 sets of 10 to 12 repetitions of each exercise. This unit focuses on mostly the upper body and should last between 15 and 20 minutes.

Flexibility, Balance, Co-ordination and Core Unit: This unit is comprised of upper body conditioning exercises this includes sit ups, back arches, transverses abdominis and also hip and leg raises. These exercises must be done smoothly and slowly to develop a solid coordination and balance. Begin with 10 repetitions of each exercise and over time increase the number of these repetitions focusing on the quality of the movement rather than the amount of repetitions. The unit should last between 10-15 minutes.

Endurance Unit: The endurance unit also known as the aerobic unit should consist of 20 to 40 minute activity that includes running, rowing, jogging, cycling and also cross-training. The endurance unit could also be a combination of jogging, cycling and rowing with 10 minutes each. Maximum heart rate should be at around 70% at this point with the majority of concentration focused on breathing.

Cool Down Unit: The cool down unit is primarily focused on taking away waste products, realigning the muscle fibres and re-establishing a normal-range of movement. Start with a 5 minute jog followed by static stretching exercise which should be held for 10 seconds including chest stretch, shoulder and triceps stretch, hamstring stretch, calf stretch, hip and thigh stretch and quadriceps stretch.

An improvement in your general fitness should be seen between 4 to 6 weeks following this general fitness program.

At Texas Integrative Medicine & Cardiology, we want our patients to receive the best results from their general fitness program for a healthier outlook on life whether it is one that we have available or one that we can customize for you depending on your current physical health and state. For more information or to schedule an appointment for a physical fitness program, please call us at (915) 532-8233