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2.5: Developing an Exercise Program

Last updated

Jan 10, 2025
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- 2.4: Assessing Physical Fitness
- 2.6: Sticking to Your Plan- Strategies for Overcoming Common Barriers to Exercise

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Developing an Exercise Program

Creating a structured exercise program can significantly improve your overall health, fitness, and well-being. By following evidence-based recommendations and applying key principles of training, you can design a program tailored to your needs and goals. This section will guide you through the process of developing an exercise plan, understanding physical activity guidelines, applying training principles, setting goals, and implementing the F.I.T.T. principle. Finally, you will learn how to put your plan into action to maximize success.

General Physical Activity Recommendations for Adults

It is recommended that:

All adults should undertake regular physical activity.
Adults should do at least 150–300 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity; or at least 75–150 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity; or an equivalent combination of moderate- and vigorous-intensity activity throughout the week, for substantial health benefits.
Adults should also do muscle-strengthening exercises at moderate or greater intensity two or more days a week, involving all major muscle groups, as these provide additional health benefits.
For additional health benefits, adults may increase moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity to more than 300 minutes, do more than 150 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity, or an equivalent combination of moderate—and vigorous-intensity activity throughout the week.

Principles of Training

When designing your exercise routine, remember that it is important to overload your body to allow it to respond by building more strength or increasing the capacity of your cardiorespiratory system. Since your body will adapt to the overload, you cannot continue with the same exercise routine; you need to continue increasing the demand by progressively increasing your workouts. Lastly, be sure you are including a variety of exercises intended to build each specific body system.

The three Principles of Training are:

Overload is the physical stress placed on the body when physical activity is greater in amount or intensity than usual. The body’s structures and functions respond and adapt to these stresses. For example, aerobic physical activity stresses the cardiorespiratory system and muscles, requiring the lungs to move more air and the heart to pump more blood and deliver it to the working muscles. This increase in demand increases the efficiency and capacity of the lungs, heart, circulatory system, and exercising muscles. In the same way, muscle-strengthening and bone-strengthening activities overload muscles and bones, making them stronger.
Progression is closely tied to overload. Once a person reaches a certain fitness level, he or she is able to progress to higher levels of physical activity by continued overload and adaptation. Small, progressive changes in overload help the body adapt to the additional stresses while minimizing the risk of injury.
Specificity means that the benefits of physical activity are specific to the body systems that are doing the work. For example, the physiologic benefits of walking are largely specific to the lower body and the cardiovascular system. Push-ups primarily benefit the muscles of the chest, shoulders, and upper arms.

Setting Goals

Setting clear, actionable goals is a critical component of a successful exercise program. Using the tools outlined in the Assessing Physical Fitness section, you can establish SMART goals—goals that are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. For example, a SMART goal might be, “I will improve my VO_2max by 5% within the next 3 months” Another example could involve muscular fitness, such as, “I will increase my bench press strength by 10 pounds within six weeks.”

Applying the F.I.T.T. Principle

The F.I.T.T. principle—Frequency, Intensity, Time, and Type—provides a structured framework for designing an exercise routine. By addressing each component, you ensure that your program effectively targets various aspects of physical fitness.

F.I.T.T Principle:

Frequency refers to how often you will exercise.
Intensity refers to how hard you will work during your exercise session.
Time refers to how long your exercise session will be.
Type refers to the type of exercise you will do to build your fitness.

The four elements of the F.I.T.T. principle help you create an exercise plan that will build or sustain your level of physical fitness.

F.I.T.T. for Cardiorespiratory Endurance (Aerobic Activity)

Frequency: 3-5 days a week.

Intensity: Moderate or vigorous intensity.

Time: 150 minutes to 300 minutes a week of moderate-intensity exercise, or 75 to 150 minutes a week of vigorous-intensity exercise. The 1996 Surgeon General’s Report on Physical Activity and Health and the 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans included the guidance that aerobic activity needed to last at least 10 minutes to count in your total minutes of aerobic exercise each week. However, continued research into aerobic exercise bouts has shown that moderate-vigorous aerobic exercise of any length is beneficial for your health. So remember throughout your day that moderate-to-vigorous physical activity of any duration counts toward meeting the key guidelines.

Type: Any exercise where the body’s large muscles move rhythmically for a sustained period of time. Brisk walking, running, bicycling, jumping rope, and swimming are all examples. Aerobic activity causes a person’s heart to beat faster, and they will breathe harder than normal.

Measuring Cardio Intensity

The intensity of your aerobic exercise is measured by how the activity affects your heart rate and breathing. All types of aerobic activities can count as long as they are of sufficient intensity to meet the description of moderate or vigorous intensity.

Three ways to measure aerobic intensity include:

The Talk Test
- As a rule of thumb, a person doing moderate-intensity aerobic activity can talk, but not sing, during the activity. A person doing vigorous-intensity activity cannot say more than a few words without pausing for a breath.
Perceived Exertion
- Using perceived exertion provides a way for a person to assess their level of effort. As a rule of thumb, on a scale of 0 to 10, where sitting is 0 and the highest level of effort possible is 10, moderate-intensity activity is a 5 or 6. Vigorous-intensity activity begins at a level of 7 or 8 out of 10.
Target Heart Rate
- Focusing on how fast your heart is beating is a good indicator of your aerobic intensity. To figure out whether you are exercising within the target heart rate zone, you must either briefly stop exercising to take your pulse or wear a heart rate monitor while exercising.
- Tips for taking your pulse:
  - You can take your pulse at your neck, wrist, or chest; wrist is recommended. When taking you pulse at your wrist, place the tips of the index and middle fingers over the artery that is in line with your thumb. Do not use the thumb to take your pulse. Take a full 60-second count of the heartbeats, or take for 30 seconds and multiply by 2.
- Calculating your target heart rate
  - Step 1: Calculate your maximum heart rate
    - To estimate your maximum age-related heart rate, subtract your age from 220.
      - 220 – [age] = [maximum heart rate]
    - Example for a 25 year old
      - 220- 25= 195
  - Step 2: Calculate what your heart rate should be for moderate and vigorous intensity
    - For moderate-intensity physical activity, your target heart rate should be between 64% and 76% of your maximum heart rate.
      - 64% level: [maximum heart rate] x 0.64 = [beats per minute]
      - 76% level: [maximum heart rate] x 0.76 = [beats per minute]
      - For example, for a 25 year old, the 64% and 76% levels would be:
        
        64% level: 195 x 0.64 = 127 bpm
        
        76% level: 195 x 0.76 = 148 bpm
      - This shows that moderate-intensity physical activity for a 25-year-old person will require that the heart rate remains between 127 and 148 bpm during physical activity.
    - For vigorous-intensity physical activity, your target heart rate should be between 77% and 93% of your maximum heart rate.
      - 77% level: [maximum heart rate] x 0.77 = [beats per minute]
      - 93% level: [maximum heart rate] x 0.93 = [beats per minute]
      - For example, for a 25 year old, the 77% and 93% levels would be:
        
        77% level: 195 x 0.77 = 150 bpm
        
        93% level: 195 x 0.93 = 181 bpm
      - This shows that vigorous-intensity physical activity for a 25-year-old person will require that the heart rate remains between about 150 and 181 bpm during physical activity.

Figure $\PageIndex{1}$ : Target Heart Rate Zones

F.I.T.T. for Musculoskeletal Fitness (muscle strength and endurance)

Frequency: 2 or more days a week

Intensity: Muscle-strengthening exercises should be performed to the point at which it would be difficult to do another repetition. The key is to overload the muscles. If you choose to complete one set of 12 repetitions, it is important to choose a weight where the 12th repetition is very hard.

Time: Repetitions and Sets are typically used as the measure of the amount of time spent doing muscle-strengthening exercises. A repetition is a single time you perform the exercise, and the set is a group of repetitions separated by a period of rest. A person new to strength training may see the benefits of doing one set of 8-12 repetitions. If a person's goal is muscular endurance they may prefer to increase their repetitions to 12-20 repetitions. If a person's goal is muscular strength they may prefer to increase the sets and reduce the repetitions, such as doing five sets of 8 repetitions.

Type: Strength exercises that target all major muscle groups. Strength exercises make muscles do more work than they are accustomed to doing, that is, they overload the muscles. Examples of muscle-strengthening activities include lifting weights, working with resistance bands, doing calisthenics that use body weight for resistance (such as push-ups, pull-ups, and planks), carrying heavy loads, and heavy gardening. Muscle-strengthening activities count if they involve a moderate or greater level of intensity or effort and work the major muscle groups of the body—the legs, hips, back, chest, abdomen, shoulders, and arms.

The three Training Principles described previously, overload, progression, and specificity, are key to muscular development. You must choose strength exercises that are challenging to overload your muscles, you must continue to increase the intensity to allow your muscles to adapt and grow stronger (progression), and you need to choose exercises to ensure you are focusing on each major muscle group. Improvements in muscle strength and endurance are progressive over time. Increases in the amount of weight or the days a week of exercising will result in stronger muscles.

Avoid muscle imbalance

It is important to ensure that you are exercising all major muscle groups. When one set of muscles is stronger, weaker, or tighter than the opposing group of muscles it can cause injuries or pain, or impact your body's alignment or posture. Muscle imbalance might occur in athletes who have one dominant side or might occur through exercising when a person only focuses on specific areas. For example, if a person only performs strength training exercises to grow their biceps, chest, and quads, they are forgetting to also train the opposing muscle groups which are the triceps, back, and hamstrings. Be sure to train the major muscles of the legs, hips, back, abdomen, chest, shoulders, and arms.

F.I.T.T. for Flexibility (stretching activities)

The Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans (2nd edition) does not state specific recommendations for the frequency, intensity, or time for Flexibility. The following recommendations are from the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM)^[6].

Frequency: Equal to or greater than 2-3 times per week. Daily stretching is the most effective.

Intensity: Stretch to the point of feeling tightness or slight discomfort.

Time: Holding a static stretch for 10-30s is recommended for most adults. In older individuals, holding a stretch for 30-60s may confer greater benefit toward flexibility.

Type: A series of flexibility exercises for each of the major muscle-tendon units is recommended.

Exercise: Create Your Personalized Exercise Plan

Step 1: Set Your Fitness Goals

List your personal fitness goals for each component:

1. Cardiorespiratory Fitness
Goal: ___________________________________________
(Example: Be able to run 5 miles without stopping)

2. Muscular Fitness
Goal: ___________________________________________
(Example: Perform 25 continuous push-ups)

3. Flexibility
Goal: ___________________________________________
(Example: Perform yoga 3x/week for the next 6 weeks)

Step 2: Choose Activities

Select activities for each component. Indicate the specific exercises and the fitness components they address.

Cardiorespiratory Fitness
Activity: _________________________

Muscular Fitness
Activity: _________________________

Flexibility
Activity: _________________________

Step 3: Frequency

Determine which days of the week you will perform each activity.

Cardiorespiratory Fitness
Day(s): __________________________________________________

Muscular Fitness
Day(s): __________________________________________________

Flexibility
Day(s): __________________________________________________

Step 4: Intensity

Describe the intensity of each activity. For aerobic activities, calculate your Target Heart Rate Zone using the formula above.

Cardiorespiratory Fitness
Intensity (Target Heart Rate Zone): ____________________________

Muscular Fitness
Intensity (Resistance Level, % 1-RM, or Reps/Set): ______________________

Flexibility
Intensity (Hold Duration or Stretch Depth): ___________________________

Step 5: Duration

Indicate how long you will perform each activity.

Cardiorespiratory Fitness
Duration: __________________ minutes

Muscular Fitness
Duration: __________________ minutes

Flexibility
Duration: __________________ minutes

Step 6: Plan Reflection

After completing your plan, reflect on any potential challenges or barriers to following it consistently. How will you overcome these?