What constitutes a complete training program?

It is very important to have a well-rounded training program so that you develop aerobic capacity, strength and muscle tone. This leads to fat loss and increased health if a proper diet and healthy living habits are followed.

HIIT Aerobic Training- This is a rapidly-growing form of aerobic training which mimics many of the tenets of HIT, high intensity training. The premise is that a powerful workload can be condensed into a brief, but hard session instead of a longer period as is the case with low intensity aerobic exercise such as jogging, walking and the like.

To train in this way try the following workout:

warm-up with moderate walking
Sprint for 20 seconds using as near 100% effort as possible
walk at a moderate pace for 75 seconds
sprint for 20 seconds using as near 100% effort as possible

Initially only perform 2-3 cycles as health and condition permit.  After 2-4 weeks, you should be doing 5 cycles of this routine and should be able to complete 6-7 cycles after that.  Do no more than this as you will be decreasing the effort you put into your training because you will have to pace yourself, which is the opposite effect of what we are looking for.

Strength Training- Begin by learning the various exercises  and using good form. After one week, begin testing yourself in all of the exercises to find what your strength level is and the weights you are able to use in them. Your sessions should consist of basic multi-joint exercises that work many different muscle groups at the same time. After a period of 1-2 months, begin adding isolation movements to your routines. Some examples are dumbbell flyes and cable crossovers for chest, front, side and rear deltoid raises for shoulders.

Initially, a good set count is 4-5 for large muscle groups and 3-4 for small groups. In the beginning stop all sets 1-2 reps short of muscular exhaustion. Once you are confident that you are using good form in all of your training take all sets to the point where it is impossible for you to finish one more rep. Reduce your set count to 2 for small muscle groups and 3 for large groups. At this stage it is important to add HIT variables to your sets to maximize the intensity of effort. See my books for a complete explanation of these techniques.

Dave

www.personal-resistance-trainer.com
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