Designing a Workout Program

If you are designing a fitness program the first thing you need to ask yourself is what are you hoping to achieve.  Are you wanting to lose weight, add shape and tone, better health, or for competitive reasons?   Whatever the reason, here are a few things to think about.  

• How much aerobic training do you need?
• How much anaerobic, strength training?
• How long should your training sessions be?
• Can your body handle the additional physical Stress?
• Is your current level of health being considered in designing a program?

It’s about training and dieting smarter -  not harder or longer!

1. Exercise can be a ‘double-edge’ sword.  It can be stress reducing and stress producing.  The more intense your workout – the more stressful it is on your body and the more cortisol and adrenaline you produce.  Can your adrenal glands handle that extra demand?  Over-worked and exhausted adrenal glands are a primary reason for plateau’s and sticking points.
   
2. Exercise is a ‘physical’ stress.  Walking is exercise, but it’s not that stressful.  Weight training and High Intensity Burst training is stressful. But so is aerobic training done incorrectly or at too high an intensity level for your current level of fitness.  This is the most common mistake I see, read below, and a key reason why people are over-training. This is why having your cortisol and adrenal glands tested is important if you've hit a plateau.
    
3. Exercise is when you tear down the muscles. It’s the ‘catabolic’ or breakdown phase. Only about 15-20% of your results will come from the workout - the other 70-80% of your results come from diet and rest.  This is when the 'anabolic' or growth phase kicks in.. 
    
4. Reduce your stress hormones after a workout – the quicker you get your stress hormones (cortisol and adrenaline) back to normal after a workout, the quicker the ‘anabolic’ growth phase begins.  Don’t assume your stress hormones automatically drop back to normal when you finish working out. If you rush through your shower, guzzle down a shake or meal, sprint out the door, in a constant state of hurry-up - I can almost guarantee you that your stress hormones are staying elevated.
    
5. Pump up the testosterone (TT) and growth hormones (GH).  The more intense your workout the more TT and GH you ‘Can” produce. This is what you want, but the reason I say, ‘can’ produce is that I have seen too many athletes who are stacking more physical stress on an already exhausted body (adrenal glands). 

FYI…If you're adrenals are depleted you are not going to produce as much TT and GH as you would like. This is why measuring your cortisol levels, can be important.

6. More Exercise, More Stress = More Rest.  Sleep and Exercise are the two best ways to pump up your TT and GH. So you have to give your body a chance to rebuild itself. Your new workout routine may feel great for the first several weeks, but as you keep adding physical stress are you adding equal amounts of rest?
    

7. Aerobic Deficiency and Anaerobic Excess is a common mistake.  Don’t assume your aerobic workout is aerobic.  You could be performing your aerobic workout too fast or too hard.  The most common mistake I run across is people doing their aerobic workout at too high an intensity. This activates anaerobic metabolism and is stress producing. Aerobic exercise is supposed to be stress reducing! 

FYI…Only well trained marathoners and triathletes can perform their aerobic workout at 80-85% of their maximum heart rate – and still be aerobic.  If that’s not you, do your aerobic workout at 65-75% of your max heart rate.

These are only a few of the things you need to consider.  I haven’t even discussed all the variables that come into play with regards to your health symptoms (thyroid, hormonal imbalance, hypoglycemia, fibromyalgia, fatigue, etc.), because that will be pivitol in design the correct health and fitness program for you.

I hope this helps those who are looking for answers to why they aren’t getting the results they are looking for.

by Dr. Len Lopez