INSIGHT Magazine March 2014 | Page 14

Health INSIGHT Components of General Fitness by Terry L Gray, CPT I would like to welcome subscribers of Calhoun County Insight to this first monthly column having to do with the many varied interests readers may have concerning fitness, exercise, and overall wellness. It is my goal to provide you with timely and useful information that will inspire and motivate you to either begin or to continue on your path of health and fitness. First, I am a Certified Personal Trainer (CPT) through the National Federation of Professional Trainers (NFPT), one of the premier CPT-certifying organizations in the nation. Also, I am proud to be the new regional trainer for HomeFit Consulting, LLC, headquartered in Birmingham. We specialize in bringing fitness coaching to you, through either live personal training in your home/ office or through online training. As this first column is being published on the heels of one of the coldest winters on record for this area, it is important to get back into the routine now that spring is just around the corner. If you have lulled a bit during this frigid weather, then you may wish to evaluate your fitness-related goals anew as you prepare to kick things back up into high action. 14 As most readers are probably not professional or collegiate athletes who are attempting to maximize a particular sport or athletic endeavor, it is a pretty good bet that a good general fitness routine would be of the most widespread value. Hence, this first column will be devoted to a basic discussion of what constitutes an adequate general fitness routine. Subsequent columns will often delve more deeply into various specifics and/or seek to answer readers’ questions and concerns. In harmony with NFPT recommendations, your general fitness routine should consist of four basic parts: cardiorespiratory conditioning, muscular endurance, muscu- March 2014 INSIGHT