Total body fitness: choosing a workout

People start to work out for different reasons. Some want to lose weight. Others need to gain weight. Some want to prepare for a particular sport or activity. Others mostly want impressive muscles. In any case, it is best to consider your whole body in the context of total fitness.

Besides a sensible diet, a total fitness program has three parts: aerobic or cardiovascular exercises that burn calories; strength training exercises for your muscles, bones, and metabolic rate; and stretching exercises to help prevent injuries.

In planning your total fitness program, you have numerous options. This article will consider gym membership, workout videos, and other home exercise.

Joining a gym has several advantages. A good one offers not only total fitness equipment, but also classes and certified personal trainers. It will have a variety of cardio equipment, machines to tone individual muscle groups (back, shoulders, legs, etc.), various kinds of free weights, various kinds of balls, and all manner of other things. Most probably have swimming pools, spas, and saunas.

The gym also has some disadvantages. It is expensive and apparently difficult for some people to commit to. People who sign up for a gym membership and then never get around to going regularly contribute greatly to the gym's bottom line, but not at all to their own fitness.

You can get some kind of workout video program and never have to leave the house. That might make it more likely for some people to follow through and complete the course. Although most programs work on both card and strength training, most also focus more on one than the other.

More programs concentrate on cardio training than strength training. Cardio training video programs offer a variety of styles, too. Some concentrate on proper technique at the expense of interest or fun. Others provide dance-based moves and upbeat music. If you prefer this sort, make sure you use proper form and technique anyway. It will not longer be much fun if you hurt yourself.

Much more hype surrounds workout videos than gyms. Anyone can put them together. While many are excellent, others do more harm than good as their instructors have more enthusiasm than knowledge. Using videos to achieve total body fitness requires careful research.

Workout videos often require the purchase of other equipment. Of course, you always have the option of getting equipment for home exercise and skipping the videos.

You can buy treadmills, exercise bicycles, elliptical machines, or rowing machines for home use. The kinds you can buy will not be as sturdy as the ones at the gym. Not as many people will use them, so it probably doesn't matter.

Unless you are a particularly dedicated exerciser, you will not be able to get every kind of machine. That, in turn, means that you cannot rely on  home machines for total body fitness.

Machines take up a lot of room and make very expensive coat racks if you don't use them. You may have to move them from time to time when the space they occupy becomes more important for something else. If that's the most exercise you get from them, they're not a good investment.

You can find plenty of smaller, less expensive items, either to use on their own or to supplement workout videos or machines: stability balls, medicine balls, resistance bands, BOSU™ platforms, dumbbells, foam rollers, etc. Again, don't buy a lot of stuff unless you're sure you will actually use it. I have more information for selecting home equipment in another Hub.

In any case, do not neglect the obvious.  Get exercise doing things you would do anyway.You can run, walk, or jog, which require only good shoes. You can ride a bicycle that will actually take you somewhere. You can get great exercise gardening, using whatever equipment they have at your local park, or playing various sports.

Just remember that total body fitness requires three kinds of movement: cardio training, strength training, and stretching. It doesn't really matter how you get them. The Core Performance site  has numerous videos to give you ideas for how to use a variety of equipment correctly.