Fitness goals

If you find yourself breathless at relatively low levels of activity, a cardiovascular workout would be beneficial to your heart and lungs.

To be considered cardiovascular, an activity must be rhythmic and continuous over a prolonged period of time (ideally around 20 minutes at a time), such as a brisk walk, jog, swim, bike ride etc.

For improvements in cardiovascular fitness, a minimum of three 20-minute sessions each week is recommended, although you can train as often as you like.

Incorporating music can help you get into the workout groove and fend off boredom.

If increased strength and/or muscle size is the focus then resistance/weight training is the path to follow. This encourages the body to adapt by placing an increased demand on your muscles. Your body’s response to this new demand is an increase in strength and muscle size. This can be achieved by simply contracting a targeted muscle for five seconds or by using weights or everyday items such as paint or soup cans to contract the muscle fully.

In order to achieve continued gains you will need to increase the resistance or weight you use over time, since your body will become accustomed to the initial starting weight and will need to be constantly challenged.

An important thing to remember with resistance training is that unlike cardiovascular exercise, you shouldn’t work the same muscles every day. If you work a specific muscle or a set of muscles one day, you should not work those same muscles the next day. Always take a days rest between resistance training sessions so that the body has time to rest and recover.

However, if you are determined to see big improvements in your body shape, you can work different muscles on different days so that daily training is possible.

In order to improve overall fitness levels it’s best to do a mixture of both cardiovascular and resistance training. However, please remember that if you are unwell, you should not do any strenuous exercise.

Finally, flexibility is a major component of physical fitness that is often overlooked.

Overworked and tight muscles are uncomfortable and can eventually cause postural problems, which is why you should always stretch muscles thoroughly (10 to 20 seconds for each muscle group) after every exercise session. This will help keep your muscles in healthy balance with a full range of movement.