The benefits of being fit have been scientifically proven.  Physical fitness enhances your productivity and mental alertness, helps lower your cholesterol level, and reduces stress. Consequently your overall risk of cardiovascular disease is reduced and your overall health is improved.  Fitness improves your quality of life and is a key component of your quest for success.

So what is the definition of fitness?  Fitness can be defined in terms of five components:

• Cardiovascular fitness – this is the body’s ability to carry oxygen from the lungs to the cells and transport waste out of the cells. In other words, you ability to carry out activities that require efficient processing of oxygen, or breathing, at an elevated heart rate.
• Muscular strength – this is defined as the greatest amount of effort that can be exerted by a muscle or group of muscles.  In other words, your ability to lift the heaviest amount of weight possible.
• Muscular endurance – the ability of the muscle or muscle group to sustain repetitive motion at a sub-maximum load for a certain period of time.  That is, the ability to repeatedly lift an amount of weight that weighs less than the maximum amount that you can lift.
• Flexibility – the ability to move through an entire, normal range of motion.
• Body composition – the amount of body fat in comparison to total body mass.

In order to improve your fitness in the five components above, you need to engage in an effective fitness program.  This doesn’t mean that you necessarily need a complicated piece of equipment, a gym, or a personal trainer.  All of these things can be incorporated into a fitness program, but are not a requirement.  An effective fitness program only requires the following components:

• Regularity – in order to benefit from the effects of a fitness program, you must exercise at least three times a week.
• Intensity – an effective fitness program requires a minimum level of intensity or duration.  You should exercise for at least 20 to 30 minutes at a time.
• Balance – your fitness program should target all the components of fitness.  Your exercise routine should include cardiovascular, strength, endurance and flexibility training.  You body composition will naturally improve when you work on the other components of fitness, as long as you also watch your diet.
• Variety – it is important that you introduce a variety of exercises in your routine and make regular changes to your exercises in order to avoid boredom. One of the key components of a good fitness program is its ability to keep you motivated so that you don’t quit.
• Recovery – you must allow you body to recover from an intense exercise session.  When you work with weights, you should give your muscles 48 hours to recover before you train the same muscle group again.

If you are currently out of shape and you are considering starting on a fitness program you should first consult your doctor.  You should start slowly and progressively increase your level of intensity.  This should help your body adapt to the new demands you will impose on it.   A good place to start is to walk at a brisk but comfortable pace for 10 to 15 minutes three times a week.  After you have become comfortable with this routine and you no longer feel fatigue or muscle soreness from this exercise your can move to the next level of intensity, which is to walk briskly or run at a slow pace for 15 to 20 minutes.  Once you are able to sustain a 20-25 minute cardiovascular activity without feeling out of breath or sore, you can progressively increase the level of intensity to achieve your fitness goal.

The same concept applies to resistance training.   You should start with 8 to 12 repetitions for each exercise with a set of weights that you are comfortable with.  Then you can start gradually increasing the weight at about 5-10% at a time, until you get to the point where you can only do 8-12 repetition per set.

Once you have achieved the level of intensity associated with your fitness goals, you should strive to maintain that fitness level.  A 45-60 minute exercise program three times a week, at the right level of intensity should keep you in good shape.  It is critical that you incorporate your fitness program into your life style and make it a habit.  Exercising should become as natural to you as brushing your teeth.  Once you get used to exercising, it will be a normal part of your life and you will miss your exercise routine if you are unable to exercise on any particular day or week.

If you are overweight, as is the case with 63% of Americans, an exercise program will do wonders for you.  However, if you want to lose weight, you should combine dieting with your exercise routine.  If you go on a strict diet without exercising, you will lose muscle mass in addition to fat.  Losing muscle mass is not a good idea.  In fact, the larger your muscle mass, the more fat you burn even when you are at rest.  Therefore, the best weight loss program involves a combination of a reasonable diet, and an exercise routine that includes both cardiovascular and resistance training.  Unless you are extremely overweight, you should strive to lose only 1-2 pounds per week.  At this rate you should be losing fat while gaining muscular mass.  If you are losing more than 2 pounds per week you are running the risk of losing muscle mass in addition to fat.

If you like sports, you should include your favorite sports in you exercise routine.   Exercising is not just about repetitive motions.  Exercising can include basketball, soccer, swimming, bicycling, dancing, tennis, or any other type of activity that increases your hart rate for an extended period of time.  Obviously golf doesn’t count especially if you use a golf cart and don’t do any walking. 

Including you favorite sport or physical activity into your exercise routine will keep you motivated to maintain you fitness level.   Being fit means you will be more productive, more mentally alert and more confident.  All of these factors combined will help you become a more successful person.