F.I.V.E.R – The key to your fitness success
F.I.V.E.R – The key to your fitness success
Introduction
Below you will find information on the keys to success in high performance fitness training. Becoming stronger, faster, more agile, more flexible, and in general more athletic takes dedication, presence of mind, and of course lots and lots of hard work. If you want to become a dominant athlete you need to adhere to the list below. This is the difference between becoming a high performance athlete or settling for a mediocre level of fitness.
Frequency
No matter what your goals are, training frequency is the key to success. Without it your system will be lacking valuable training time it needs to shed body fat, build strength, and become a functional machine.
3 Days/week – Good enough to maintain what you have accomplished but not great for rapid results or weight loss
4 Days/Week – Allows for greater variety in training that will bring your skill set up to speed much quicker. Greater results will follow. Body composition will change faster.
5-6 Days/Week – This is ideal for anyone who wishes to lose weight or be able to perform at a higher level. Allows for rapid development of skills while maximizing your fat loss, building lean muscle, and excelling in all areas of training.
Always take at leas one full day off from structured training.
Intensity
Research has proven over and over that shorter bouts of high intensity exercise have a greater impact on your fitness level and overall health than longer, lower intensity, distance type workouts. Training with short duration, high intensity exercise rapidly develops your ability to perform more work in less time while simultaneously benefiting your endurance level. Max levels of athletic power are developed during short intense sessions. It also boosts your metabolic rate allowing you to burn more calories in the course of a day melting away stubborn body fat.
Low Intensity, long duration = Low Results
High Intensity, short duration = Max Results
Variety/Function
Using movements that benefit athletic performance and our daily lives is our focus. Because your body works as an entire unit to perform functional movements, selecting exercises that train your body in this way is crucial. We will seldom use exercises that train one muscle only. Biceps Curls and Leg Extensions are examples of poor exercise selection. Burpees, Clean & Press, Renegade Rows, Thrusters are examples of wise selections in terms of function.
Keeping your routine full of variety not only keeps you from getting bored, but also more importantly helps keep you from getting injured. At the same time Variety maximizes the way your body responds to exercise by keeping it in a constant state of adaptation – maximizing results.
Eating Properly
How you eat is how you are going to look. Eat Jelly doughnuts = look like one.
Proper nutrition is crucial to how your body responds to exercise. It is the determining factor on how your body burns fat, builds lean muscle, and performs during high intensity exercise.
You should eat just enough healthy foods to support your athletic performance but not enough to support body fat.
Each meal should contain each of 3 macro-nutrients, balanced properly.
40% Carbohydrates (Fresh Vegetables/Fruits)
30% Lean Protein (Lean Protein)
30% Healthy Fat (Nuts/Seeds)
When creating your portions keep in mind that Fat contains over 2x the calories per ounce as carbohydrates and proteins.
Carbohydrates = 4 Cal/gram
Protein = 4 cal/gram
Fat = 9cal/gram
Things to stay away from
No pre-packaged foods
No Sugar/Starch
No Sodas / Sugary Drinks
Minimize Bread/Rice/Pasta Consumption
Cheating
It is important to aim to eat perfectly 95% of the time. On occasion you may indulge in moderation. Depriving yourself indefinitely will cause you to crash and burn and binge.
Water Consumption
Staying hydrated is critical to your health. Dehydration leads to lower blood volume, which increases your chances of heat related injuries. It also hinders your system from delivering nutrients and oxygen to your muscles and removing waste products caused by exercise.
The general rule is to take your bodyweight and divide by 2. This is your daily amount of water that you need to consume in ounces.
Bodyweight of 200# / 2 = 100oz Daily
You will add additional water if you are training hard or the climate is hot. I recommend purchasing a 3-liter jug for measuring your water consumption. Having a larger jug that you fill once a day is easier to keep track of.
Recovery
This is an area that few people think about as important in terms of fitness success. How you handle recovery is just as important as the training itself – Possibly more important.
The human body is quite an amazing machine. The way is manages it’s internal systems is simple but very complex at the same time. Your body is always trying to find a state of homeostasis (physical equilibrium). In terms of fitness – this is where the “use it or lose it” phrase comes from. Your system will adapt to the stress or lack of stress placed on it.
When you create stress on your body (Lifting Weights, Sprinting, Circuit training, Etc) your body will modify its internal systems (nervous system, increase muscle mass, etc.) so that it will have to exert less energy next time during that exercise.
For example – if you lift heavy weights often your body will make you stronger. If you sprint often you will get faster. This is your body’s way of finding balance.
It is important to remember that your body grows stronger in the hours/days following the stress that has been placed on it not during the stress of training.
Sleep
Getting enough rest in addition to eating well are the most important ways to aid in recovery. Some people can function on 6 hours of sleep but 7-9 hours is recommended. The harder you train the more time your body needs to heal itself.
Post Workout Stretching / SMR
Keeping your muscles flexible and your Range of Motion thorough will help in preventing injuries. If you are only training 3 days per week you should still be working flexibility daily – especially if you have chronically tight areas. Using the foam roller on sensitive muscles cannot be overstated. The foam roller is one of the most important tools in injury prevention by relieving adhesions between the muscle and fascia. This aids in lengthening your muscles back to a normal state.
Some other ideas for off day therapy are to get a massage or do Yoga.
Here is a stretching guide if you are not sure which stretches to do daily:
If you sit a lot: Hamstring Stretch / Hip Flexor Stretch
If you wear shoes with raised heels: Calf Stretch
If you work on the computer daily: Chest Stretch / Trap Stretch / Lat Stretch
Training & Nutrition Log
My personal recommendation is for everyone who is serious about training to keep a training journal and nutrition log. This will allow you to monitor your program and identify flaws. By identifying flaws you can adjust your program to maximize results.
You can create a log on my forum http://www.warrior-fitness.com/community
If you prefer you can also purchase a hard cover notebook and log each days activity and eating. I believe this is a must for accountability and anyone who is serious about training.
Summary
Adhering to the acronym F.I.V.E.R. will maximize your success in becoming a High-Performance Athlete. Stay dedicated, stay motivated, stay healthy.