By Jonathan Aluzas

As we enter Week One of Stacey’s End of Summer Shred, a question emerges: ?”What’s it going to take to win this thing?”

The answer is……I don’t know. ?There are too many variables to answer that question. ?A more reasonable question is:?”What’s it going to take to do really well in this competition?”

This I can answer. ?The answers are:

  • Keep an accurate and honest food journal. ?Stacey gave you a paper on which to log your food intake. ?Do it daily and do it honestly.
  • Eat clean, healthy food. ?Stacey has prepared guidelines as to which foods are better than others for properly and efficiently fueling your body while keeping it within a healthy calorie range. ?Use the food journal to monitor the quality and quantity of your intake, and make continual improvements. ?Don’t expect perfection, but give it your absolute best if you want the absolute best possible outcome. ?A mediocre effort will result in mediocre or nonexistent results.
  • Exercise frequently. ?You must complete at least 8 workouts at Arena Fitness (during the Shred) to qualify for prizes. ?But don’t let that be the standard for your training frequency. ?If you want to do well, you’ll do 4 or 5 training sessions a week, every week. ?They don’t all have to be at Arena Fitness; you can jog, hike, swim, play racquetball, anything that is rigorous.
  • Train like a beast. ?If you cruise easily through your workouts, you’re wasting your time. ?In order to improve, there are Principles of Overload and Progression that must be met.

OVERLOAD

The principle of overload states that a greater than normal load is required if?adaptation?is to take place. The body will then adapt to the increased stimulus of the specific tissue or system we want to affect. When the body has adapted, a greater and/or different stimulus is required to continue the adaptation process. In order for a muscle (including the heart) to increase in strength, it must be gradually stressed by working against a load greater than it is accustomed to.?

PROGRESSION

The principle of progression refers to the rate of which overload is applied. In principle there exists an optimal rate of which to apply overload to achieve optimal results. Overload should not be increased too slowly or improvement will not take place. In the event that overload is increased too rapidly it will result in injury or muscle damage and most certainly no improvement. For example, an athlete that exercises only sporadically and with too much overload violates both the principle of overload and the principle of progression and will not achieve good results.

  • In simple terms, in order to achieve progress in fitness, you must slowly and consistently increase the physical demands you place on your body in a way that the demands are greater than what you’re accustomed to. ?You must push yourself beyond what you’re used to!
If you do all of these things, you are setting yourself up for the best possible outcome. ?Play small, and you’ll get insignificant results. ?Go all out and you’ll likely be pleased with your outcome. ?Next week I’ll address the mental part of this competition, which may be the most important factor of all.
Good luck!
Arena Fitness is a Personal Training and Group Exercise facility in Encino, California.