By: Isabel Curini
1. Number of trainings. What's most necessary for making a fitness program more effective is establishing a certain number of trainings every week. It is considered that the minimum number of trainings is two (anaerobic) and three (aerobic) every week. If they are combined, their number can be reduced to three trainings a week (two combined and one aerobic). Obviously, an increase in the number of weekly trainings brings better and more rapid results. Their maximum number would be four force trainings (anaerobic) and six resistance trainings (aerobic).
Doing less than the minimum of training could lead to erasing of information and getting out of shape. Training more than the maximum indicated could bring with it the risk of over-training, of physical overwork.
2. Individualize the frequency of the programs. One of the roles of the fitness trainer is to individualize the frequency of the programs, in order to find the best periodicity for every person involved in training.
3. Performing the exercises correctly. Another factor that can increase the effectiveness of a training program is performing the exercises correctly. Wrong technique will quickly determine worse results, even if the program which includes those exercises is well conceived, organized in time and personalized. Besides lack of good results, the person who didn't acquire good training technique exposes himself to the risk of sometimes very bad accidents (muscular ruptures, hernia, stroke, etc.).
4. Performed automatically. The movements a person learns must get to be mastered and performed automatically, the same as the technique of breathing which accompany them. This way, the sportsman will save mental energy that he can use for getting the right intensity, focusing on the muscle towards which a particular exercise is directed, forced repetitions of movements, etc. Any new exercise require patience and time in order to be correctly assimilated and introduced in the set of exercises mastered by any sportsman.
5. Well-balanced diet and hydration. Besides a well-balanced diet (carbohydrates, proteins, lipids – 4:1:1 – the proportion in grams per kilogram of food principles), hydrating must be given special care. Good hydrating of the body has as a result the increase of the efficiency of a fitness program. The body must be carefully hydrated before, during and after training. The sensation of thirst must not be experienced – this would only be a late signal of dehydration. The types of liquids that can be used can and should vary a lot: soda, plant teas, fruit, fresh juice, isotonic drinks, energizers, etc. Be also careful with the drinks that fasten dehydration. This category of liquids includes drinks which contain caffeine or alcohol. They forcedly increase dieresis, fastening dehydration, which is also naturally determined by the training (especially by aerobic training).
6. Biorhythm. Another factor that must be considered is biorhythm, which is specific to each person. The training must thus be placed at the time of maximum physical efficiency, time which is directly related to the increase of the body temperature.
