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The
Triangle of Fitness: The Key to Balancing Your Workouts
Do
you focus only on cardio and rarely on resistance training? Or
vice versa? Refer to the Triangle of Fitness below to see how
each component is integral to achieving overall fitness. All should
be considered equals but one or two of the principles often get
little attention or are forgotten entirely, depending on the goals
one is trying to achieve. Flexibility training, especially, often
gets relegated to the last minute of your workout, if accomplished
at all. See the text below to examine two
common goals in fitness and see how the Triangle of Fitness can
be applied to achieve each.
Image © ReachFitness.tv 2007
Applying
the Triangle of Fitness to achieve your goals.
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Case
#1 - Weight Loss Theory: Many people, especially women,
who want to lose weight tend to focus only on cardiovascular
training and avoid resistance training to prevent "bulking
up". Flexibility training isn't commonly considered useful
for weight loss.
Result:
Commonly, you'll spend several hours a week doing cardio, week
after week, month after month, and wonder why you aren't losing
weight. This affects your self-esteem, self-confidence, and
often results in a self-defeating attitude and ultimately, failure
to keep fitness a permanent, enjoyable and rewarding part of
your life.
Solution:
Balance your workouts between the three components in the Triangle
of Fitness.
-
Including weight training is crucial to weight loss to increase
your resting metabolism (so you burn more calories at rest),
enhance your performance ability of your cardiovascular exercise
(so you burn more calories when you exercise) and increase
your bone density and strength of your connective tissues
which reduces the chances of hurting yourself which is important
if you are doing a lot of cardio work (jogging, aerobics,
etc.). Especially among those spending a great deal of time
on high-impact cardiovascular training, a common complaint
is knee pain. It is essential to strengthen the leg muscles
and tissues to help stabilize the knee to reduce the wear
and tear on the knee joint, and this principle applies generally
to the whole body. Worried about getting that "bulked
up" look? For women, it is very difficult to achieve
this so resistance training 2 or 3 times a week will result
in a toned body, not bulky, bulging muscles. Note that for
both men and women, if you don't focus on stretching, your
range of motion will decrease and you will be training your
body to have shorter, tighter muscles which will indeed appear
bulkier.
- In
weight loss, the goal is to burn more calories than you ingest
so focusing on flexibility will increase your range of motion
which will allow your body to move longer and larger which
will recruit more muscle fibres, making your whole body work
harder and, thus, burn more calories. In physical terms, that's
what the Reach Beyond Yourself philosophy is all about:
reaching beyond your body to extend your muscles fully so
you can achieve your fitness goals faster! In addition to
knee pain mentioned above, many who focus on cardio also experience
pain and stiffness in the lower back and hips. Flexibility
training helps to reduce lower back pain, improve posture,
and improve circulation which all lead to healthier joints
and a more stable body.
- While
weight loss may be your main goal, you should not lose sight
of the overall picture of health which includes flexibility
training to produce longer, functional muscles and resistance
training which leads to a stronger, more efficient body. It
is important to note here that low-intensity cardio over a
long duration has been generally touted as the best solution
for weight loss because you will be in your "fat-burning
zone". However, this concept has been misinterpreted,
resulting in countless hours wasted on treadmills, stairmasters,
and stationary bikes everywhere. It's not the duration that
counts, but the type, intensity and your focus. Click here
to see a chart that describes recommended lengths, intensities
and the benefits of exercise.
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Case
#2 - Muscle Gain Theory. Those who want to gain muscle
tend to avoid cardio at all costs because they want their calories
to refuel, repair and build their muscles, not be burned away.
Many also avoid flexibility training because: 1. It can be boring
and time-consuming; and 2. You may have heard that stretching
actually reduces strength.
Result:
Weight lifters who avoid cardio can get a 'soft' look, meaning
they may have muscles, but their bodyfat percentage is so high
that you won't see them. They won't be getting the benefits
of regular cardio activity that will help burn off the excess
calories they ingest which is especially important if their
waist is bigger than their hips. Avoiding flexibility training
results in a rounding of the shoulders, decreased range of motion
and increased chance of muscle strain.
Solution:
Balance your workouts between the three components in the Triangle
of Fitness!
- Whether
or not you are trying to gain weight and muscle, everyone
should be engaging in cardiovascular training. The benefits
for overall health are too important to sacrifice cardio,
even if you are an advanced weight lifter looking to bulk
up now and cut later. Scientists have found that "waist
circumference is a red flag for abdominal fat that may be
lurking inside peoples' bodies and creating dangerous hormonal
changes that can trigger high blood pressure, cholesterol
and heart disease" (CTV
News). Health benefits aside, you will also maximize your
muscular gains by including cardio in your program by improving
your endurance and your body's ability to burn fat, thus better
enabling you to work on power, speed, balance and control
which are all important to functional muscular strength. The
type, intensity and duration of cardio training will be different
for everyone.
- One
can usually spot the person who lifts weights just for the
sake of gaining muscle. Their shoulders are usually rounded
forward, their arms are constantly bent slightly, they take
short steps when they walk, their arms don't move when they
walk, and they'd be lucky to throw a football more than twenty
yards. Muscles might look good on your body, but what good
are they if you can't use them? That's where flexibility training
comes in. Some have heard that stretching reduces strength,
but that applies to prolonged static stretching done before
or during your workout; stretching a muscle sends a signal
to your brain that that muscle is ready to relax as opposed
to being prepared for a resistance overload. Dynamic stretching
can be performed as part of your warm-up or save the stretching
for the end of your workout and you'll increase your range
of motion allowing your body to work harder when lifting weights,
allow you to perform better in and out of the gym, improve
your sports abilities, and keep them guessing if you got your
body under the fluorescent lights at the gym, or under the
sun playing sports.
One
of the main principles behind the Reach Beyond Yourself philosophy
is to use your whole body when you are exercising. Many people
are not using their full range of motion so they are only using
half their body and only getting half the workout and will,
therefore, have to spend twice as long in the gym to see results.
Your time is valuable and it is ultimately up to you if you
choose to do an effective workout in a short amount of time,
or a less effective workout in twice the time. Balancing your
time and commitment between the three training principles of
the Triangle of Fitness will help to produce an efficient, fat-burning,
strong, lean and flexible body that is better able to focus
on developing the secondary components of fitness: balance,
coordination, agility, reaction time, speed, power and mental
capability.
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