How to Train Your Body

Get a health checkup. Before starting any fitness program, the first step is to consult your doctor. They can determine if your exercise plan is safe and appropriate for you.

• Schedule an appointment or call your doctor. Provide them with details about your fitness goals and exercise plans to help tailor the program to your needs.
• Additionally, inform your doctor if you experience joint pain, muscle soreness, or any discomfort, as well as breathing difficulties.
• Consider consulting a personal trainer. These fitness professionals can assist in setting goals, creating a plan to achieve them, and teaching you how to perform exercises safely.

Set personal goals. Training your body is a broad objective. To increase your chances of success, establish more specific goals. You can use the S.M.A.R.T. goal system, which stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Time-Based. These characteristics help ensure your goals are clear and achievable.

• Additionally, outline how you plan to achieve these goals.
• Reflect on your training intentions. Are you aiming for a lean physique? Preparing for an upcoming race? Building strength or muscle tone? Losing weight? How much and by when?
• An example of a well-defined goal might be: I want to run 15 km within five months. I will run 3-4 days a week, gradually increasing my distance by 1.5 km every two weeks until I reach 15 km.

Keep a progress journal. Regardless of your fitness goals, maintaining a journal to track your progress can serve as a motivational tool and an integral part of your plan.

• Write down your goals and plans in the journal. This helps maintain focus and allows for closer monitoring.
• Track your progress daily or weekly. If your goal is to run 15 km, record the distance covered each week, along with any challenges or successes encountered.
• You can also include a schedule or chart outlining your workout plans for the week or month.

Join a gym or invest in home exercise equipment. Some training plans require gym access or specialized equipment. While not all physical activities demand this, consider what tools are necessary to best meet your objectives.

• Explore gym memberships, which can start as low as 250,000 VND per month. Gyms provide access to a variety of exercise equipment, cardio machines, strength training tools, and group classes. Even if you don’t need gym equipment, it’s a great option for training indoors during bad weather.
• If gyms aren’t your preference, you can purchase home exercise equipment. Options range from simple tools like dumbbells or resistance bands to more expensive items like cardio machines or home gym setups.

Complete 150 minutes of cardio weekly. The Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans recommend at least 150 minutes, or about 2.5 hours, of cardio per week for health benefits. This can be divided into five 30-minute sessions weekly.

• Studies show that individuals who engage in 150 minutes of physical activity experience numerous health benefits, including reduced risks of diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease, weight loss, improved sleep, mood, and even better blood circulation.
• Cardio activities for these 150 minutes can include walking, running, cycling, or boxing. However, daily activities or basic movements don’t count toward this goal.
• If you’re new to physical activity, one of your first goals could be to meet this general recommendation.

Combine steady-state and interval training. There are two main types of cardio exercises—steady-state and interval. Both offer unique benefits, so incorporating both into your routine is ideal.

• Steady-state cardio involves activities lasting at least 10 minutes at a consistent intensity. The goal is to maintain a steady heart rate throughout. For example, jogging for 20 minutes or using an elliptical machine at a steady pace for 30 minutes qualifies as steady-state cardio.
• Benefits of steady-state cardio include improved recovery, preservation of lean muscle mass, enhanced cardiovascular fitness, and immediate reductions in blood pressure and blood sugar levels.
• HIIT, or high-intensity interval training, has gained popularity recently. It involves short, intense bursts of exercise alternated with moderate-intensity recovery periods.
• HIIT offers distinct advantages, such as being time-efficient, increasing calorie burn, and boosting metabolism for 8 to 24 hours post-workout.
• Regardless of your primary training style, combining both HIIT and steady-state cardio allows you to reap the benefits of each.

Increase basic daily activities. While these activities don’t provide the same benefits as steady-state or HIIT workouts, they are still an essential part of staying active.

• Basic or lifestyle activities are those you perform during a typical day—walking to your car or doing household chores.
• These activities don’t burn many calories or significantly raise your heart rate, but they should be done as much as possible throughout the day to support overall calorie burn and fitness levels.
• Increasing basic activities improves your body’s efficiency in daily tasks (burning more calories without extra effort).
• Think of ways to stay active or incorporate movement into your day. Examples include parking farther away, taking stairs instead of elevators, taking short walks during lunch breaks, or standing and doing light exercises during TV commercials.

Engage in strength training 2-3 days per week. In addition to cardio, the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans recommend dedicating 2-3 days to strength or resistance training weekly.

• Strength and resistance training offer benefits distinct from aerobic or cardio exercises, such as protecting bones, preventing osteoporosis, maintaining or increasing lean muscle mass, boosting overall metabolism, improving balance and coordination, and enhancing energy levels.
• Weightlifting can include a variety of activities, such as bodyweight exercises, free weights, weight machines, or practices like yoga and pilates.

Incorporate compound and isolation exercises. When it comes to weightlifting or resistance training, there are two basic types of exercises—compound and isolation. Both offer different benefits, and your choice depends on your overall goals.

• Compound exercises involve multiple joints and muscle groups. Examples include bench presses, squats, and lunges.
• Benefits of compound exercises include reduced risk of overtraining, time efficiency, increased muscle mass, and improved overall strength.
• Isolation exercises target a single muscle group or use machines to focus on specific muscles. Examples include bicep curls or tricep extensions using a machine.
• For most fitness goals (even from beginner to advanced), prioritizing compound exercises yields the best results. Isolation exercises are useful for maintaining your current physique after achieving your goals.

Perform repetitions with low or high frequency. Beyond choosing between compound or isolation exercises, you must decide whether to perform many repetitions with lighter weights or fewer repetitions with heavier weights.

• Higher repetition frequencies are typically used to build muscle mass rather than enhance strength. If your goal is muscle growth, incorporate exercises with higher repetition counts.
• Lower repetition frequencies with heavier weights are more effective for significantly improving strength without necessarily increasing muscle size.
• Ideally, combine both high and low repetition exercises. However, your choice should align with your goals (building muscle or improving strength).

Warm up. Before engaging in any exercise, a proper warm-up is essential. Incorporate a quick warm-up routine to ensure safety and effectiveness.

• Warm-ups don’t need to be overly specific. Aim for at least 5 to 10 minutes, though longer workouts may require extended warm-ups.
• The goals of warming up include gradually dilating blood vessels in muscles to improve blood flow, increasing muscle temperature for flexibility, raising heart rate, and reducing stress on the heart.
• A warm-up is typically a slower version of the activity you plan to perform. For example, if you’re preparing for a long run, start with a 5 to 10-minute walk.

Rest for one to two days. While it may seem counterintuitive, adequate rest is just as important as exercise. Without rest, achieving your fitness goals becomes challenging.

• In strength training, rest days are when muscles grow in size and strength.
• Without sufficient rest, your performance will gradually decline, leading to undesirable results.
• On rest days, engage in light activities. Avoid complete inactivity; instead, consider walking or restorative yoga.

Stretch your muscles. Combining adequate rest, warm-ups, and stretching creates the best conditions for effective exercise and achieving excellent results.

• Stretching has been proven to reduce muscle stiffness and soreness when done correctly. It also improves flexibility over time.
• Additional benefits of stretching include better posture, increased blood flow, prevention of back and neck pain, and improved balance.
• You can perform slow stretches like toe touches or join recovery-focused classes such as yoga.

• If you experience pain, discomfort, or difficulty breathing, stop exercising immediately and consult a doctor.