The keys to a sustainable fitness routine are to plan ahead, to remain consistent, and to add variety. In the fitness industry, we often see folks strapping on a fitness wearable, fired up about a fitness routine at the beginning of the year, but falling out of a routine after only a few months. More important than a handful of awesome workouts is a long standing streak of consistent workouts.
As you are planning your workouts for 2016, look ahead and map out the big picture, but plan to take it one day at a time – aiming for a sustainable lifestyle. Look back at your activity calendar each week and each month to monitor your progress and your consistency over time. Did you average 300 MEPs per week and obtain at least 1200 MEPs for the month? If not, what do you need to change?
Pace yourself as you pursue your goals. Physiological adaptations will take time and will not happen overnight. Most measurable physiological changes (i.e. resting heart rate, aerobic capacity, and body composition) take eight to twelve weeks of good training to show change. Use your MYZONE heart rate monitor to measure your resting heart rate at the beginning of your training by putting it on right away in the morning while you are still lying in bed or sleep with it on overnight. After eight to twelve weeks of training, repeat a resting heart rate assessment to see how much your resting heart rate has come down. Use your MYZONE user account to track all of your outcomes and body metrics.
As you are working on your fitness goals, we encourage you to play a little game to add variety to your workouts each week. This game is called the blue, green, and yellow game. Throughout each week, attempt to create at least one blue, one green, and one yellow tile on your activity calendar. This means you are participating in workouts of various intensities during the week. If a tile is blue, you averaged between 60-69% Maximum Heart Rate (MHR) during that workout. A green tile means you averaged between 70-79% MHR, and a yellow tile indicates you averaged 80-89% MHR. Remember, there should be an inverse relationship between intensity and duration, so your blue tile should be of a longer duration than your green or yellow tiles.
If you really wanted to be an all-star, you could alternate yellow tiles between blue and green tiles. For example, Monday might be blue (in more ways than one) - then Tuesday can be yellow. Wednesday could be green, and then Thursday, yellow. Or, maybe you are more of an every other day exerciser – that’s cool too! Make it work for you. The MYZONE system is designed to provide support and accountability exactly as you need it.
We’d love to follow your progress! As you complete your moves for the week, please use the hash tags: #myzone #myzonemoves #effortrewarded