There are several things that you should think about when you want to get fit. One of the first is "fit for what?" If you want to be fit for sport then the route is fairly straight-forward - you train by doing the sport, or drills and conditioning for it. This is specific training.But what if your goals are more wide ranging? What if you just want to be healthy and strong enough to cope with whatever life throws at you? In this case you need to have unspecialised, or generalised, training. For General Physical Preparedness (GPP) you are aiming to have a full range of functional capability - to move (walk, run, sprint), balance, lift, carry, throw, swim, possibly fight - call it self-defense. The idea here is a range, and wide balance, of conditioning.
There are plenty of places that will tell you what exercises you should be doing - go to a gym, get an app, read a book, download a program. There is information on exercise schedules, with and without equipment, everywhere you look (within reason - not so much in our kitchen, for example). All the focus tends to be on the exercises, but do you want to do exercises? Not everyone does. For some people "exercise" is a thing that is off-putting in and of itself. There is a growing recognition of the importance of this point. Not least because we've found, quite incredibly, that telling people that they ought to get fit doesn't generally lead to the change that the well meaning (or not so well meaning) expect their advice to have.
If you want to get into good shape, there are several things that you will want to think about fitting into you schedule. These things will help you get fit with fun - is the picture to the left a bunch of fallen trees, or a promising looking playground? There's balancing, jumping, climbing and vaulting in that there jumble. But physical conditioning is only one of the things that you want to consider when you set out to transform yourself. You will also want to think about skills, mental focus and social interactions. The astute will recognise immediately that these factors are not necessarily independent (the less astute will say "whats astute?"). There are also different approaches you can take to gain confidence, skill, strength and conditioning - are you a 'novice' wanting guidance? Are you self-motivated but need challenges? Are you already in excellent shape but need pushing?
These are all important factors because being in shape shouldn't be thought of as something that you do to yourself if you can find the time. It should be a key component of the way that you live your life, just doing what you can do. Feeling good doesn't mean being an Olympian, it means that you are pushing your own boundaries, where ever they are. The more you do it, the further away those boundaries move.
Remember, your body is adapting ALL the time. Specific Adaptation to Imposed Demands (SAID) isn't just a training concept - its a life concept. If you live between chairs and the sofa, you will be well adapted to being supported. The downside to this adaptation is that its not ideal for a body that you then want to move around as your muscles and bones will weaken. Your neuromuscular control will reduce, and there will be knock on effects throwing other elements of your body out of synch. But the remedy is simple, just use your own propulsion to achieve the things that you like doing.
If you want my advice - follow the link below and start throwing some moves in the kitchen.
