Frequently Asked Fitness Questions (Part 1)

Answering Fitness Questions Often Asked

Eventually, everyone will decide it is important to take the steps to improve their health and fitness. Often, where to start or begin is confusing and often an obstacle to moving farther.  The goal of Optimal Personal Fitness is to remove obstacles to your fitness health and providing valuable information.

The valuable information you need begins with addressing your questions in a way that Carlos Perez can which is easily understandable and makes sense. Carlos’ education and passion for exercise and fitness is his secret to offering advice and devising quality exercise routines.  Click here to learn more about me, Carlos Perez,  and my passion to help everyone at every stage of life.  [click here]

Do I Need to Work Out Every Day?

Simply put, no, it is not necessary to work out every day.  It’s more important to be committed and focus on a consistent schedule.  I recommend at least 1-2 days of total rest a week. Resting does not mean you have to be sedentary and inactive.  Scheduled rest days are defined as activities like walking your dog, stretching, and other light activities that keep your muscles from tensing and increases blood flow.

Regularly scheduled rest days and practicing a well-balanced recovery routine can be beneficial in reducing the risk for injury and promotes fitness routine longevity.  If you take time to rest, you will stick to your fitness plan longer and be more likely to see lasting results.

How Long Should I Work Out?

Honestly, short workouts can be just as beneficial as long ones.  Workouts do not need to be of significant length to generate effective results.  We all have this vision of long hours on a treadmill or extensive weight training.  Nothing can be farther from the truth.  Fitness is not about quantity it’s about quality and your fitness level.

The length of your workout will essentially depend on your fitness level, type of training, and training intensity.  According to the CDC, the average adult should do at least 150 minutes (2 hours and 30 minutes) to 300 minutes (5 hours) a week of moderate-intensity workouts.  That amount translates into at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity 5 days a week.

A strategically planned fitness schedule will make sure you’re hitting these minimums for exercise and maximum efficiency.  The recommendation is an average and is different at every age level.  It is just a good measurement to compare to make sure you’re on track.  Do not worry if you’re not hitting those numbers, we all have to start somewhere!

How Can I Increase Lean Muscle Mass?

Increasing lean muscle mass is important to your overall health and an optimally functioning metabolism. This objective of increasing lean muscle mass is as simple as adding heavy strength training into your routine. Surprisingly, there are other methods available to increase strong lean muscle tone in your body.

Any form of resistance that your muscles have to combat that is greater than what their normal experience, can assist in the stimulation of the muscle growth process. Completing exercises with your body weight or resistance bands are effective methods of training for strength building.

If you decide to incorporate strength training into your routine, start with what you feel comfortable with and build from there. As your exercises or the weight starts to feel easy, increase the weight or choose, increase the resistance, or add more challenging exercises to continue challenging your muscles and seeing results.

How Much Weight Should I Use When Strength Training?

Previously, we spoke about strength training and why it’s beneficial to add to your routine.  However, the amount of weight you should use is just as important.  Keep in mind the workout you’re doing is ‘your workout’. Do not compare the amount of weight used in your workout to others.  Focus on your rate of perceived exertion on a scale of 1 to 10.

When strength training, strive for a perceived exertion of 7 to 9.  Each rep should feel challenging with the last reps and sets feeling noticeably harder. The indicator, that it’s time to increase the weight in the next workout, is when you’re not feeling challenged. Listen to your body.

What Training Should I Be Doing to Lose Weight?

Losing weight is an extremely common goal.  Determining what training works best for you is the question. The key is increasing your daily calorie burn. This is achieved by instituting regular cardio training as a starting point.

Yes, strength training is important to building lean muscle and increasing resting metabolism. However, it must be slowly added in and structured accordingly to achieve optimal results.  Remember, your goal should be to burn more calories during exercise and at rest!

FAQs for Better Fitness and Health

As we, at Optimal Personal Training, focus on your fitness health and knowledge, we will continue to bring valuable information and answer your questions.  Feel free to send us your questions and we will get them answered.

Finally, don’t forget to eat a healthy, well-balanced diet highlighting whole foods. With any fitness routine, it’s important to maximize the nutrients in the calories consumed to fuel workouts!

In the words of Michael Jordan, “Some people want it to happen, some wish it would happen, others make it happen.”