During the first 10 years of the 21st century, fitness has been redefined. Fitness is no longer about being in a target heart rate zone for a certain period of time or how far you can run only focusing on your cardiovascular system.
Fitness in the 21st century is about having endurance, strength, power, core stability, flexibility, improved range of motion and better function in day-to-day activities.
Does your fitness routine include everything a 21st century fitness routine should?
Ask yourself these questions:
How long have you been doing your routine?
Is your body used to it?
Does it include endurance, strength, power, core stability exercises (I'm not talking about crunches), flexibility and range of motion along with working in all three planes of motion?
Too many people get stuck in a rut of doing the same routine for years and most of those routines only work on one aspect of fitness -- usually the aspect that they are already good at.
For example:
- Runners work on endurance only in one plane of motion.
- People who spin work on endurance only in one plane of motion.
- People who do yoga work on their flexibility and range of motion.
- People who lift weights, do the same lifting routine working on strength usually not including power and core exercises.
- People who do pilates work on core stability.
But every single one of the above routines only builds one aspect of fitness missing out on all of the other crucial components. A fitness routine of the 21st century should include all aspects of fitness-endurance, strength, core stability, power, flexibility and range of motion along with working in multiple planes of motion.
People are limited on time now more than ever so how do you include all of the above in a fitness routine?
At Results Fitness our average client works out 2-3 times a week for an hour at a time and we get all of the above done.
WARM UP
Start with a 10 minute dynamic warm up improving range of motion and flexibility. Walking on the treadmill to warm up is a waste of time because you are only moving in one plane of motion usually walking slower than you walked into the gym. Instead use stretches, foam rolling and dynamic movements in all three planes of motions to get your body ready for your workout while also improving your range of motion and flexibility.
POWER
Spend 10 minutes developing power, which should be a priority in every 21st century fitness routine. The research has shown that the ability to generate power is one of the first things we lose as we age. We have to train power as part of our fitness routine.
CORE STABILITY
Spend 10 minutes doing core stability exercises. The research has shown that crunches are not the most beneficial when it comes to strengthening your core and may even be detrimental. Instead strengthen your core doing stability exercises such as planks along with rotational exercises such as Chops as part of your fitness routine.
STRENGTH
Spend 25-30 minutes performing a full body strength training routine using compound movements and short rest periods to also put a demand on your cardiovascular system building your endurance along with your strength.
FINISHER
At the very end finish with 3-5 minutes of a cardiovascular demanding "finisher" getting your heart rate up and your metabolism boosted. This might be jump rope, body weight jump squats, mountain climbers or squat thrusts as some examples.
The above is based on the exact templates we use at Results Fitness where we are redefining fitness and leading the way.
Change up your routine and reinvent your body by redefining your fitness routine to include everything a 21st century fitness program should include!