Last post, we covered periodization. This post, we look at expanding your capacity. Depending on your personal goals, investing in an accurate heart rate monitor will be key in amping up your training and expanding your capacity.
Once you have established an exercise routine and have accomplished your initial fitness goals, it can be challenging to decide your next move. We encourage you to think about whether you would like to maintain your current fitness level, or expand your capacity and continue to increase your fitness. If maintenance is your goal, you can continue in a similar routine and sustain the volume and intensity of your exercise. You may even be able to decrease the volume or intensity of your exercise slightly (for example, cutting out one day a week or performing active recovery; blue or green zones rather than yellow or red). Undulating periodization (see last post) can provide a nice variety.
If improving fitness is your goal, you will need to continue a gradual progression in either the volume or intensity of your exercise. Let’s go back to the F.I.T.T. principle. The acronym F.I.T.T. stands for frequency, intensity, time, and type. Volume of exercise relates to frequency (how often) and time (how long). Intensity of exercise is how hard (gray, blue, green, yellow, or red zone). Your body will need to experience an increased stimulus in order for it to adapt and expand. This stimulus can be called progressive overload. You will gradually increase the frequency, the intensity, or the time of your exercise. Progress one variable at a time and by about 5-10% (intensity) or 5-10 minutes (time) as you feel you are ready. For example, if you have been circuit training for 20 minutes three days per week in the green zone, you have the following progressive overload options:
You can play with the options and determine an appropriate time frame and variables to progress. Because MYZONE's wearable heart rate monitor makes movement measurable, you have the advantage of taking a nostalgic trip down movement memory lane and reviewing your moves from the past. Observe the patterns in your training and make note of when and how much you progressed your exercise. This can help you to design appropriate progression going forward. Remember that gradual progression and effective recovery are key to a sustainable fitness routine.
We would like to see your progress! Post to Facebook or Twitter and use the hashtags: #myzonemoves #progress. Next post, specificity is the topic. Keep moving forward!