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Why you should build a base of fitness

Personal training in Annandale

Why you should build a base of fitness

Posted by David Nickum Fitness programs

There are tons of fitness programs on the market these days. CrossFit and Orange theory fitness are two of the biggest. While these are great programs they might be too much for someone just starting out with exercise.

Building a base or foundation is important before going hard during your workouts. Would you build a home on a house with a weak foundation? No, you wouldn’t because the house wouldn’t be stable and may fall.

When you do base building, you will be getting your body ready to handle the harder workouts. You won’t be huffing and puffing during the workout. This will make the workout doable and more important more enjoyable.

Here are some ways to build a foundation of fitness.

Go aerobic

Doing steady state aerobic training is an important part of building your cardiovascular health. Aerobic training will improve your body’s ability to burn fat as a fuel source. The body has a lot more fat to burn than carbs and teaching your body to use this as your primary fuel is key to a long-lasting fitness program. Training in your aerobic energy system also promotes fast recovery when doing high intensity workouts.  

Try to keep your heart rate at a low level during this phase of training. Using a heart rate monitor can help keep track of your exercise intensity. Using a heart rate zone calculator can help find what zone you need to be in. I like Matt Fitzgerald’s 80/20 zone calculator.

Stabilization Workouts

Doing workouts with stabilization as the focus is a must before starting doing power or maximal strength workouts. During the stabilization phase you will be training with high reps around 12-15 on one leg or balancing on one leg. Bad form and muscle imbalances is one of the biggest reasons we get injured during our workout program. When you build up all the little muscles before working the big ones it will help prevent injury.

While working at the gym many of the body builders would watch me lifting weight as heavy or sometimes heavier than them. They would ask me how I can lift so heavy at such a light weight. I explained that I did a stabilization phase training my body to fire my muscles more efficiently. When I would switch to higher intensity workouts I would perform better and I would avoid injury. Now that I am doing marathon training the stabilization is important to prevent knee injuries and hip tightness.

If you don’t how to program a stabilization phase talk to a NASM certified personal trainer to help you get started.

Here is an example of a stabilization phase if you’d like to build it on your own.

https://magazine.nasm.org/american-fitness-magazine/issues/american-fitness-winter-2016/nasm’s-optimum-performance-training

How long should you do this phase

If you’re new to working out a base building phase should last anywhere from 12-24 weeks. This will help get your body ready for anything that you want to do down the road. Try not to jump forward until you’re ready because it will get in the way of your results down the road. I’ve met with so many clients that have jumped into a program like CrossFit or high intensity class only to find themselves injured. When you’re done building up a base of fitness you will be able to crank up the heat and take on anything. If your goal is weight loss don’t worry about going hard during your workouts because it will only cause you to eat more calories and maybe burnout causing you to quit working out.

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About David Nickum

David S. Nickum is an inspirational fitness professional with over 10 years in the health and wellness industry. What he brings to any workout program is a deep understanding of anatomy, nutrition, and exercise physiology. His programs are unique, innovative, educational, and customized to get the job done quickly. He is a cutting edge professional who builds a program that fits your individualized goals. Starting out in the field of automotive technology industry, David had a lot of problems with pain in the lower back. This led him to the world of health and wellness. David was tired of getting prescribed pills to address his problems and he knew that physical therapy would only be a short-term fix, so he decided to learn about the human body to fix the problem on his own. Being a musician has helped David to also apply an artistic approach to health and wellness. He always told me; “exercise is an art just as much as a science”, he was right, every human is different and needs an artistic touch to get the most out of a workout. Throughout his career, David has developed a deep understanding about the human body. He started out only knowing the basics. Seven years later he has become a leader in the field of fitness, he designed his own style of training which works on posture, metabolism, pain management, and performance. After working with David my life has never been better, the pain in my body is gone for the first time in 10 years. After only 6 months of training I feel like a new person. I feel and look the best I have in years. He gave me the education and the tools I needed to prevent failure in the future. He gave me a new lease on life and I am thankful for that everyday.

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