Getting in shape : Ramping things up

OK, this post really doesn’t pick up from the last post, more like a few weeks after the last-to-last post.

So, now I’m assuming you’ve been on working out for a while. The next thing to do, is to make things more challenging for yourself. The fact of the matter is that the human body is excellent at adapting, and so once your body begins to cope with the strain you throw at it, you’ll need to keep making it harder to prevent things from stagnating.

Let’s begin with stamina i.e. running. Now, refer to one of the previous posts in which I gave the formula for average pace and speed. Once you’re acquainted with them, choose one you like. If you choose pace, your aim is to bring it lower it, and if you choose speed, your aim is to increase it.

Now there are several ways of tracking your progress. If you’re like me, lucky enough to have an application do it for you on your mobile phone, you won’t have much problems. On the other hand, if you don’t, you’ll need to have a stopwatch. This is of course assuming you’ve calculated the length of your jog/run. Then, everyday, you can calculate your average speed for the day.

Don’t even think about changing it drastically. For example, when I started measuring, I used to do about 10.5 kmph, and now, after about a month, I’ve only reached 12 kmph. That may not seem like a big jump, but once you start keeping track of your progress, you’ll realise exactly how hard it is to up your speed by even 1 kmph.

Once you’ve calculated your first speed, set yourself a reasonable target, never more than 0.5 kmph more than your average. Now, each time you go for your run, try to go just a little bit faster, consciously. If you’re running laps, use the lap timer in your stopwatch to see if you’re slowing down. If you are, use your MF (motivational factor) to give you an extra boost of speed. This step may be hard for some. But don’t give up. Just work consistently at it, and eventually, you will speed up.

After you’ve reached your first speed threshold, you have two options. Either speed up some more, or work on distance i.e. set yourself a longer route, which for me, translates into more laps of the park. This step it totally up to you, except that 2 successive thresholds shouldn’t ideally be of the same type. Once you’ve decided to increase speed once, it’s not advisable to go for it again.

Also, you’ll notice that as you progress, it will become increasingly harder to achieve new thresholds. Like I find it very hard to reach 12.5 kmph. It’s just that you’re reaching the limit of what your body can do with its current fitness level. Don’t get frustrated, just keep at it, and eventually, you will be able to attain your target. It’s just that it might take some time.

The same logic can be extended to the exercises. Except that there are some terms you need to know first:

• Rep – A rep is short for repetition. In other words, it’s one complete movement through an exercise. For example, one push-up counts as a rep.
• Set – A set is a collection of reps.

Now there are many ways to alter your sets, according to your needs. If you’re just interested in weight loss, a static routine will be fine. Something along the lines of 10-15 reps of Level 1 exercises, and 5-7 reps of Level 2 exercises will help you reduce body fat, but relatively slowly.

On the other hand, if you’re like me, you have the option of punishing yourself a bit more.

Work your way up to something like 20 reps of each Level 1 exercise, and 10-13 reps of Level 2 exercises. Now, instead of doing all your exercises in one go, do a couple of sets of each, interspersed with other exercises. This allows your muscles some time to relax, while you work on the others. Alternatively, you could do a super set, which would have one set of each exercise which concentrates on one part of the body. The order in which I gave the exercises is essentially automatically divided into super sets, so you can just alter the number of reps in each of them, and do something like 2-3 super sets of each kind.

With each passing day, try to add a rep to a particular exercise. If it doesn’t work i.e. you just give up (which you shouldn’t, assuming you have a suitable MF), don’t try to add it the next day, instead add it the day after. In the meantime, try to add a rep on an exercise on a totally different part of the body, and see how that works.

Once a set gets too crowded i.e. too many reps, balance it out by adding a new shorter set, that way, you can keep developing your body, without suffering too much fatigue. In case you’re having trouble adding reps, take it easy for a week before adding more. But, you should never, ever, reduce the number of reps. It’s OK, if one day, you do 25 push-ups instead of 30, but don’t make it a habit.

That concludes this post, but doesn’t mark the end of the series…