LESSON 1: Types of Fitness Exercise

Aerobic Exercises

• Aerobic exercise is also known as Cardiovascular aerobic exercise an exercise that requires the use of oxygen to
fuel the body for exercise demands. This form of exercise is traditionally thought of as cardiovascular exercises,
such as running on a treadmill or cycling.

Example: Zumba

Anaerobic Exercises

• Anaerobic exercise also known as Strength (or resistance) training is a form of exercise that requires glucose for
short intense workloads. The process of building and maintaining muscles in the body by using progressively
heavier weights (or resistance). It is also called resistance training, weight lifting, toning, and bodybuilding.

Example: Weightlifting

Flexibility Exercises

• Flexibility training is also known as Stretching is a form of training designed to increase the range of motion of
joints and lengthen muscles. Lengthening your muscles helps you become more limber, which makes certain
activities of daily living easier. Plus, the improved flexibility gained from stretching regularly helps you prevent
injuries when you are performing everyday body movements and especially during exercise. Stretching also
reduces muscle tension, increases circulation, and improves posture.

Example: Stretching

LESSON 2: Fitness and Diet Planning

Workout Plan

Are you ready to start building your own routine and want to know how it's done?

Great! Let’s do this:

Step #1: Determine your “Get in Shape” situation!

Step #2: “What exercises should I do to lose weight (or build muscle)?”

Step #3: “How many sets and reps should I do per exercise?”

Step #4: “How long should I wait between sets?”

Step #5: “How much weight should I lift?”

Step #6: “How long should I exercise for?“

Step #7: How to create supersets and circuit training workouts.

Step #8: “How many days per week should I train?”

Step #9: How to record your workouts and progress.

Step #1: Determine Your “Get in Shape” Situation

As we lay out in our “How to get in Shape” guide, we need to answer a few key questions:

QUESTION 1: What are your goals?

• Are you trying to bulk up or build muscle? Great.

• Are you preparing for your first 5k? Swell.

Whatever your goals are, it’s good to write them down and be aware of what you’re trying to accomplish.

These goals will shape HOW you build your workout.

QUESTION 2: How much time can you devote to exercise?

If you can do an hour a day, that’s fantastic.

If you have a wife or husband, three kids, a dog, two jobs, and no robot butler, then maybe you only have thirty minutes,
twice a week.

As we cover “how fast can I get the body I want,” make sure you are thinking about your journey with a realistic
timeline:

QUESTION 3: WHERE do you want to work out?

• At a gym? Here’s a Beginner’s Gym Guide with 6 levels of workouts.

• At home? Have you tried our beginner bodyweight workout?

• In a park? Try our park workout.

Step #2: What Exercises Should I do to lose weight (or build muscle?

You want a workout routine that has at least one exercise for you:

• Quads (front of your legs).

• Butt and hamstrings (back of your legs).

• Chest, shoulders, and triceps: (“push” muscles).

• Back, biceps, and grip ( “pull” muscles).

• Core (abdominals and lower back).

By targeting compound movements that recruit multiple muscles at the same time, you can build a full-body routine
that uses only four or five exercises.

Here is a quick breakdown on which exercises will work for each of those movements:

• Quads – squats, lunges, one legged squats, box jumps.

• Butt and Hamstrings – deadlifts, hip raises, straight leg deadlifts, good mornings, step ups.

• Push (chest, shoulders, and triceps) – overhead press, bench press, incline dumbbell press, push ups, dips.

• Pull (back, biceps, and forearms) – chin ups, pull ups, bodyweight rows, bent-over rows.

2
 • Core (abs and lower back) – planks, side planks, exercise ball crunches, mountain climbers, jumping knee tucks,
hanging leg raises.

Step #3: How Many Sets And Reps Should I Do?

SIMPLE ANSWER: Not including a warm-up set or two, I recommend:

• 3 to 5 sets per exercise.

• 8 to 10 reps per set when starting out.

LONGER ANSWER: As we cover in our “How many sets and reps?” guide, a “set” is a series of repetitions that you
complete without stopping.

For example, if you drop down and do 10 push-ups right now, you just did 1 SET of 10.

Some general rule on repetitions you can follow as you’re starting to build your workout plan:

1. If you’re looking to burn fat while building muscle, keep your number of repetitions per set in the 8-15 range per set.

2. If you can do more than 15 reps without much of a challenge, consider increasing the weight or the difficulty of the
movement. This is true for things like lunges, bodyweight squats, push-ups, pull-ups, etc.

There are some other generally accepted ‘rules’ – as pointed out in Starting Strength – about how to determine how
many reps you should target per set, based on your goals:

• Reps in the 1-5 range build super dense muscle and strength

• Reps in the 6-12 range build a somewhat equal amount of muscular strength and muscular size

• Reps in the 12+ range build muscular endurance.

Step #4: How Long Should I Wait Between Sets?

Here are some guidelines for how long to rest based on how heavy you’re lifting (not rules set in stone!):

1-3 Reps (lifting heavy for strength/power): Rest for 3 to 5 minutes between sets.

4-7 Reps (lifting for strength): Rest for 2 to 3 minutes between sets.

8-12 Reps (lifting for size/strength): Rest for 1 to 2 minutes between sets.

13 Reps+ (lifting for endurance): Rest long enough to recover to allow you to do the next long-ass set!

If you need more or less rest than the above recommendations, that’s fine.

Do the best you can, record how long it takes you to rest between sets and try to rest for shorter periods in the future.

Step #5: How Much Weight Should I Lift?

How do you determine how much that is?

Trial and error.

ALWAYS err on the side of “too light” versus “too heavy” when starting out.

It’s better to say “I bet I could have done more!” instead of “that was too much, and now I need to go to the hospital!”

Step #6: How Long Should I Exercise For? How Long Should My Workout Be?

3
Easy answer: It depends about your current fitness

Longer answer: If you’re doing 15-25 sets of total exercise (3-5 sets for your 5 exercises), you should be able to get
everything done within that 45-minute block.

Now, factor in a five or ten-minute warm-up, and then stretching afterwards, and the workout can go a little bit longer.

If you can go for over an hour and you’re not completely worn out, try increasing the intensity.

The progression matters.

Step #7: How to Create Supersets and Circuit Training Workouts

We’re going to cover TWO things here:

• Super sets (or alternating sets).

• Workout circuits.

SUPERSETS:

Do a set of squats, wait one minute, then do a set of dumbbell presses, wait one minute, then do your next set of
squats, and so on.

Because you’re exercising two completely different muscle groups, you can exercise one while the other is “resting.”

• Let’s see how this would play out in a sample workout:

• Lunges alternating with incline dumbbell presses, four sets each, one minute between sets.

• Wait for a few minutes to catch your breath and get set for your next two exercises.

• Straight leg deadlifts alternating with wide-grip pull-ups, four sets each, one minute between sets.

• 3 Sets of planks, stretch, and get the hell out of there!

CIRCUIT TRAINING:

A circuit requires you to do one set for EVERY exercise, one after the other, without stopping.

After you’ve done one set of each exercise in succession, you then repeat the process two, or three, or four more times.

Step #8: How Many Days per Week Should I Train?

We don’t want you burning out quickly and falling back to square one, a concern we mention in our guide “How Often
Should I Work Out?“

Instead, focus on building proper habits and set a goal of 2-3 full body workouts per week.

For starters, your muscles don’t get built in the gym.

By giving your muscles 48 hours to recover between workouts, especially when training heavy, you’ll stay injury-free and
get stronger.

A Monday-Wednesday-Friday workout routine works well to ensure enough time to recover, especially when you are
just getting started.

If you want to do Tuesday-Thursday-Saturday, or Sunday-Tuesday-Thursday, great.

Lifehack: Program your workouts INTO your Google calendar (or Outlook).
4
You’re much more likely to do a workout that has been planned for in your work-week!

Step #9: Keep Track Of Everything!

Last but not least, keep a workout journal!

As they say, that which gets measured gets improved.

You should be getting stronger, faster, or more fit with each day of exercise.

Around these parts, we say “Level up your life, every single day.”

Maybe you can lift more weight, lift the same amount of weight more times than before, or you can finish the same
routine faster than before.

You can use an actual notebook, a bullet journal, an excel spreadsheet, a workout app, or a word document.

Don’t overcomplicate it:

1. Write down the date and your sets, reps, and weight for each exercise.

2. Compare yourself to your previous workout with those exercises.

3. Focus on getting stronger (more reps, heavier weight, an additional set, etc.)

4. Repeat.

Do this with a workout, you’ve built, and you will get results. I promise.

Step #10: What to eat?

Easy answer: Eat healthy foods, drink a lot of water, stay away from junk food and sugary sweets.

Longer answer: It's hard to create a diet plan given the fact that most of you are still in senior high school. To have a diet
plan that is suited for your body, to your fitness, and to your over-all well-being, you need to consult to a Dietician. Also,
you need to consult your Physician, maybe you have an underlying disease/morbidity that a certain type of food is not
allowed for you, so that's what it takes for you to be able to really make a diet plan that is suited to your needs.

Eh ser? Pano ko gagawa ng diet plan ko?

Research on your own, what is good, and what is best for the consumption of human beings. Ganon kasimple.

1. Assessment of fitness level.

You probably have some idea of how fit you are. But assessing and recording baseline fitness scores can give you
benchmarks against which to measure your progress. To assess your aerobic and muscular fitness, flexibility, and body
composition, consider recording:

• Your pulse rate before and immediately after walking 1 mile (1.6 kilometers)

• How long it takes to walk 1 mile, or how long it takes to run 1.5 miles (2.41 kilometers)

• How many standard or modified pushups you can do at a time

• How far you can reach forward while seated on the floor with your legs in front of you

• Your waist circumference, just above your hipbones

• Your body mass index

It's easy to say that you'll exercise every day. But you'll need a plan. As you design your fitness program, keep these
points in mind:

• Consider your fitness goals. Are you starting a fitness program to help lose weight? Or do you have another
motivation, such as preparing for a marathon? Having clear goals can help you gauge your progress and stay
motivated.

• Create a balanced routine. For most healthy adults, the Department of Health and Human Services recommends
getting at least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity or 75 minutes Of vigorous aerobic activity a week, or a
combination of moderate and vigorous activity. The guidelines suggest that you spread out this exercise during
the course of a week. Greater amounts of exercise will provide even greater health benefits.

But even small amounts of physical activity are helpful. Being active for short periods of time throughout the day can
add up to provide health benefits.

Do strength training exercises for all major muscle groups at least two times a week. Aim to do a single set of each
exercise, using a weight or resistance level heavy enough to tire your muscles after about 12 to 15 repetitions.

• Start low and progress slowly. If you're just beginning to exercise, start cautiously and progress slowly. If you
have an injury or a medical condition, consult your doctor or an exercise therapist for help designing a fitness
program that gradually improves your range of motion, strength and endurance.

• Build activity into your daily routine. Finding time to exercise can be a challenge. To make it easier, schedule
time to exercise as you would any other appointment. Plan to watch your favorite show while walking on the
treadmill, read while riding a stationary bike, or take a break to go on a walk at work.

• Plan to include different activities. Different activities (cross-training) can keep exercise boredom at bay. Cross-
training using low-impact forms of activity, such as biking or water exercise, also reduces your chances of
injuring or overusing one specific muscle or joint. Plan to alternate among activities that emphasize different
parts of your body, such as walking, swimming and strength training.

• Try high-interval intensity training. In high-interval intensity training, you perform short bursts of high-intensity
activity separated by recovery periods of low-intensity activity.

• Allowing time for recovery. Many people start exercising with frenzied zeal — working out too long or too
intensely — and give up when their muscles and joints become sore or injured.

3. Assembling your equipment.

You'll probably start with athletic shoes. Be sure to pick shoes designed for the activity you have in mind. For example,
running shoes are lighter in weight than cross-training shoes, which are more supportive.

If you're planning to invest in exercise equipment, choose something that's practical, enjoyable and easy to use. You
may want to try out certain types of equipment at a fitness center before investing in your own equipment.

You might consider using fitness apps for smart devices or other activity tracking devices, such as ones that can track
your distance, track calories burned or monitor your heart rate.

4. Getting Started.

Now you're ready for action. As you begin your fitness program, keep these tips in mind:

6
 • Start slowly and build up gradually. Give yourself plenty of time to warm up and cool down with easy walking or
gentle stretching. Then speed up to a pace you can continue for five to 10 minutes without getting overly tired.
As your stamina improves, gradually increase the amount of time you exercise. Work your way up to 30 to 60
minutes of exercise most days of the week.

• Break things up if you have to. You don't have to do all your exercise at one time, so you can weave in activity
throughout your day. Shorter but more-frequent sessions have aerobic benefits, too. Exercising in short sessions
a few times a day may fit into your schedule better than a single 30-minute session. Any amount of activity is
better than none at all.

• Be creative. Maybe your workout routine includes various activities, such as walking, bicycling or rowing. But
don't stop there. Take a weekend hike with your family or spend an evening ballroom dancing. Find activities
you enjoy to add to your fitness routine.

• Listen to your body. If you feel pain, shortness of breath, dizziness or nausea, take a break. You may be pushing
yourself too hard.

• Be flexible. If you're not feeling good, give yourself permission to take a day or two off.

5. Monitoring of Progress.

Retake your personal fitness assessment 6 weeks after you start your program and then again every few months. You
may notice that you need to increase the amount of time you exercise in order to continue improving. Or you may be
pleasantly surprised to find that you're exercising just the right amount to meet your fitness goals.

If you lose motivation, set new goals or try a new activity. Exercising with a friend or taking a class at a fitness center (If
it's not ECQ) may help, too.

Starting an exercise program is an important decision. But it doesn't have to be an overwhelming one. By planning
carefully and pacing yourself, you can establish a healthy habit that lasts a lifetime.