General Fitness Guidance

General Exercise Recommendations

While physical fitness is measured by how well your body performs in the components of fitness, true physical fitness and health cannot be maintained without following an effective and balanced fitness program.
  • Obtain your health care professional’s approval before starting a physical fitness program.
  • Include all four components of physical fitness in your plan.
  • Emphasize weaker components.
  • Perform all activity with good postural alignment.
  • Select activities that are appropriate to your individual needs.
  • Perform activities that don’t cause pain.
  • Incorporate appropriate rest and recovery.

Fitness Guidelines by Age

The World Health Organization has published physical activity recommendations by age group. As this changes periodically, click here for WHO's most up-to-date recommendations.
The CDC (Centers for Disease Control Prevention) has published the same guidelines. 
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Exercise Caution with High Intensity Training: Exertional Rhabdomyolysis

As part of an effective exercise program, we continually progress your workouts.  High intensity interval training (HIIT) in both cardio and strength formats is a great way to increase demand, add variety to your routine, and avoid plateaus.  I don't rush into this training lightly for obvious reasons, including 1) your physical readiness and 2) your ability to perform the exercises at higher speeds and/or increased resistance in PERFECT form.
 
There is another BIG reason that caution and care is needed with HIIT.  Exertional rhabdomyolysis (ER) is a condition that can cause kidney damage & even acute renal failure. In most cases, ER is caused by a dramatic increase in exercise intensity or duration, which is why it's so important to not jump into a HIIT workout when you are deconditioned. Symptoms include EXTREME muscle soreness and dark brown colored (think coca-cola or tea) urine.  Please be aware that not all doctors are familiar with ER.  Don't ever wait if you or someone you know experiences these acute symptoms - head immediately to an emergency room and have your creatine phosphokinase (CPK) or creatine kinase (CK) levels tested. Quick treatment is critical.  I've never worked with anyone who got this condition, and this is not meant to alarm you, but I do want you to be aware of ER.  Click on the following links for more information:  Ideafit article, Huff Post article, Crossfit article