Fitetics Training
For the past few decades, fitness training has evolved into many branches such as weight loss, wellness, cardio-respiratory (cardio) fitness, strength training, and fitness where the aim is to
embark into a healthy lifestyle. However, the fitness industry has constantly neglected to address an extremely essential aspect of fitness training, an area where most women have a great interest:
esthetic fitness, or Fitetics©, a term I’ll use in this website.
The main scope of Fitetics is to really sculpt your body, to shape-up specific areas of the body most women would adore to have; nicely curved legs, firm, more visible and rounded buttocks,
a slimmer midsection, such as abdominal muscles, and to fill-up the upper-body and shoulders with nicely toned muscles.
Throughout my life, I have been a great admirer of wonderful physical specimens, beautiful bodies, intelligent and strong minds, and elegant postures that always radiate a high self-esteem.
This is why I have decided to write this website, to assist both the fitness fans and fitness instructors in their quest to build great bodies, nicely curved legs, firm and rounded buttocks, and
trunks.
To accomplish this goal I have designed this website as a very practical “how to”. In doing so I’ll use some pertinent scientific theories and adapt some of the training
theories I have developed over the years to the needs of sculpting a great body utilizing a very specific strength training program. However, a major part of the book will discuss and illustrate
specific exercises, methods and training programs that everyone will be able to follow. From the vast amounts of exercises available, I’ll select only the most efficient ones and apply the
most beneficial methods that will improve your body esthetic and refine your natural qualities.
Since Fitetics incorporates a cardio element, there is a health benefit for everyone. Building a stronger and healthier heart results in a healthy lifestyle; a positive overall feeling of
your body and mind; an increase in your daily energy will allow you to enjoy your family and friends and an increase in your professional productivity. Being fit also means to have the freedom of
movement, independence, self-reliance, increased self-confidence, pride and self-esteem.
Gym workouts can often be boring for the simple reason that your training is the same, day in and day out. To overcome that, I’ll use a very successful training concept called periodization.
This method simply suggests that a longer-term training program can be broken down into specific phases or periods of time (therefore the term periodization), each phase having specific Fitetics
goals. An important advantage of using periodization is that you can organize and manipulate a fitness program to actually peak for specific date(s), such as holidays, wedding, shows, etc. Peaking,
in this specific case, simply means to follow some of the suggested training programs to look your best for an intended date.
What you should know before you start Fitetics training?
Every training program uses specific terms and methods that must be explained before you begin to train. They are simple terms, however, they need to be explained before you start the Fitetics training program intended to improve your health, be fit and improve the look of your body.
Load
The term load used for Fitetics training, refers to the weight suggested you lift in order to reach a given esthetic goal. Muscles adjust to a given load by slightly increasing their shape, firmness and muscle tone. All three elements of Fitetics training are essential to develop the type of body you want. Reshaping your legs and buttocks are possible only by using heavier training loads.
However, please do not be concerned that as a result of my program you will build big, bulky muscles! This is not going to happen. Beyond reshaping your legs and buttocks, and eliminating some fat from your waist, the exercises proposed for the arms and shoulders use lower loads that will make you look much healthier and leaner, definitely not big! My suggested program will positively affect your body by increasing the firmness and tone of your muscles, which is the most important addition to your overall body look.
Repetitions
Repetitions, or in short reps, refers to how many times an exercise is repeated before taking a break, or rest. The number of reps you may perform depends on your fitness level and the difficulty of an exercise. This difficulty depends on the weight, or load, you use for an exercise. If the load is higher, naturally, you cannot do too many reps. However, if the load is lower, the work is easier, and as a result, you’ll be able to repeat that exercise more times than if the weight was at a higher load.
To accomplish your goal of achieving the best physical look possible, the best curvature of your lower body, calf, thighs and buttocks (for women) the load needs to be slightly higher. Why? Higher loads stimulate, rouse, tone (firm and strengthen), and accentuate the muscles you want to target. This is why while performing esthetics fitness, the number of repetitions will be slightly lower while on the other hand training programs intended to strengthen a healthy heart, might be slightly higher. However, the term reps is also used to define the number of times a certain type of cardio work may be repeated so that bodily functions, especially the heart, will maximally benefit from the suggested training program.
Sets
A set normally refers to the number of repetitions you have to do before a rest is taken. The more sets you can perform per a given exercise the better the body will adapt, or adjust to the Fitetics training program. The more sets you do during a training session for your calf muscles for example, the better chances you will have to firm them up and develop their shape, the easier it will be to achieve the legs you have always dreamed of.
Considering the fundamental goals of our training program, most exercises for women are designed to target the legs and mid-section of the body. However, for the best overall development, to create the best and improved overall physical look, some exercises will also target the arms and upper body. This will allow you to have a better body harmony, an improved and balanced development between the lower and upper body.
As you follow the Fitetics training program, you’ll notice that compared to the upper body a higher number of sets will be suggested for the lower body. Why? Simply because the intend of the program is to develop the lower limbs (calf, thighs, buttocks) and abdominal muscles. The suggested number of sets for the upper body, especially for men will be adequate to maintain a good harmony between all body parts.
Rest interval
In order to eliminate the negative effect of fatigue induced by training, a rest interval is always suggested following each set. This is the time necessary to replenish the energy necessary to complete a set, to rest your muscles before you do another set. If the rest interval is well calculated, fatigue won’t set in and you will feel less taxed after completing a set. More importantly, the rest interval between sets will also help you save and use your energy more evenly for the entire duration of a training session.
Considering the scope of training and the loads suggested for some training programs, the suggested rest interval may vary between a minimum 1 minute and a maximum of 3 minutes. As you make the decision whether to take a one or three minute rest interval, you should keep in mind your fitness background and how you personally adjust to the proposed training programs. Similarly, at the beginning of a new training program, especially for those of you who haven’t done much physical training lately, you may feel a little fatigued.
As you approach the second half of the program your body and mind will be able to cope easily with the suggested work, a demonstration that your body has adjusted to the prescribed training, that your body has improved beyond the level you had in the past, and that it can tolerate a more challenging fitness training program in the future. As these body transformations occur, you’ll also notice that your body weight has decreased, you will feel better, you will have more energy during the day, your quality of sleep will improve, and you will be more confident in yourself.
The rhythm and pace of your weight and cardio training
Every time you perform Fitetics-specific strength training or cardio work, you should be concerned with the level of your body’s effectiveness. In other words, how easy can the body tolerate your daily training program? For instance, if you constantly change the pace of the repetition of cardio work you are doing, making parts of it faster and others slower, your body’s organs will have a hard time to adjust to that kind of work. Your heart rate will be higher for the parts with a higher pace and slightly lower for the slower parts. This is not an efficient activity. These ups and downs are more challenging and may even spend more energy to complete a repetition or the entire program for the day.
However, if the pace of the training is steady, the heart and lungs will adapt easily to the pace, helping your organs perform more efficiently. This may also mean that the body will spend less energy at a steady pace as opposed to a program in which the activity is constantly changing its rhythm/pace. Therefore, whether you are performing a set of weight training or repetition of cardio training, the pace should always be steady. Steadiness always ensures higher efficiency.
Training equipment
Since the scope of Fitetics training is to shape your legs, firm up your buttocks and thin your midsection, it is only possible by using the equipment available in most fitness gyms or having your own fitness equipment in your home. Therefore, the programs I suggest in this website, the implements you may use need to be dumbbells, gym machines and barbells. Please do not be intimidated by some of these machines. They are only as difficult as the load you use. This is why the Fitetics training program is designed to use very progressive exercises, loads, and training equipment. Those of you who might be intimidated by bodybuilders, how they train and their theatrics, my suggestion is to join a club where only fitness fans train.Exercise selection
To achieve your fitness goal, to change your body look, to improve your health, to create a new you, I have to select the best exercises possible. This exercise selection is crucial if you are to succeed to give your body new contours, a better curve of your calf, thighs and mid-section of your body, such as your buttocks, and abdomen. For the best benefit, the proposed exercises are specifically selected to target the muscles you want to increase visibly, increase muscle tone and muscle firmness.
If you are to maximize your free time and increase training benefits, the proposed number of exercises needs to be as low as possible and repeat them as often as possible. Why is this important? Let me explain. During training the body progressively adjusts to the specifics of a given exercise and training program. This in fact is a very important scientific concept called adaptation. If the training program is well suited to the goals you want to achieve, your body will adjust well and the expected improvements will be visible in a few weeks. If you follow a low demanding training program, where gimmicky equipment will be used (i.e. balance boards, too many exercises using stability ball, etc.) you’ll spend most of your time and effort without any visible benefits for your body’s esthetic.
The key to achieving your goals of an improved body esthetic and healthy lifestyle are not just the type and number of exercises, but more importantly, how often you repeat them. Therefore for superior benefits:
- Exercises have to be best suited to the muscles you want to target
- The lower the number of exercises the more repetitions you can do for the targeted muscles / limbs
- The higher the number of repetitions you perform for the selected muscles the better and faster the muscles will shape-up, burning more fat and build the visibility of your legs, buttocks and upper body
- This is why exercise selection will target mostly the muscles of the lower body and abdomen
Alternate exercisesTraining usually results in a certain degree of fatigue. To be able to do more work per muscle group, I normally suggest a rest interval, or a short break of a few seconds or
minutes, so that your muscles can rest before repeating another exercise for the same muscle group.
However, throughout my program I’ll use another effective method that can increase the duration of rest interval called alternation of muscle groups. You may start with an exercise
targeting your calf muscles, in order to do more sets you need either to take a rest interval or do another exercise before you return to calf muscles. There is a great advantage in alternating
muscle groups: while you may train say abdominal muscles, the calf muscles have a longer time to rest before you repeat another exercise for the same muscle groups. At the same time, as you
alternate certain muscle groups, organs of your body, especially the heart, are constantly functioning, burning more calories and fat for an improved body look.
ProgressionYou body’s adaptation to training does not occur immediately; it takes a couple of weeks to notice any improvement. When the body adapts to a certain amount of work you’ll
start to feel better and additionally, training will become easier. This actually means you have adapted to the training and that your body and mind have adjusted to the work performed in the last
few weeks. But improved adaptation also means improved fitness and your potential to do more work has increased as well.
For the best adaptation method, Fitetics training has a built-in progression. This actually means you don’t have to actually do any planning, just follow the program. I have created the
Fitetics training program around a very important training progression called step training (figure 1.1). This means that the first week of training is the easiest, the second is of medium
demand and the third is slightly more difficult. Therefore, every third week you have an easier week, when lower training demand will allow you to rest, regain physical and mental strength before
you start a slightly more demanding workload. As you progress from week to week, you will also notice that you’ll be able to do more work, and that your body will start to slightly change for
the better. Progressively you will notice your legs and upper body shaping into what you have always wanted: decreasing fat content, improving the natural curvature of the body, and developing
firmer muscles.
Figure 1.1 - A graphical illustration of step training, or how to increase the load in progressive steps
Most things in life do not occur abruptly, nor do they have an immediate result. In reality, from elementary school to college, we all are exposed to a long-term progression. The information we are exposed to is arranged methodically and in a progressive manner. This is also true for the program I have designed for you; everything will be progressively increased, following a step-type progression.There is an ancient story to exemplify progression. According to Greek mythology, the first person to apply progressive loading was Milo of Croton, a pupil of the famous mathematician Pythagoras (580-500 BC) who he himself was an Olympic wrestling champion. In his teen years, Milo decided to become the strongest man on earth. He embarked on this mission by lifting and carrying a calf on his shoulders every day. As the calf grew-up into a full-grown bull so did Milo’s strength, ultimately becoming the strongest man on earth.
Another element of progression I follow in this website is the number of training sessions per week. If you have never in the past been involved in any training program, your first week of training may have only two training sessions. As soon as you start to improve your fitness potential, meaning you’ll be able to do more work than in the first week, you’ll progress to do three strength-training sessions per week, and eventually one more for cardio. If your professional and/or family obligations restrict you from more than 3 days per week, you can do your cardio earlier in the morning, before, or right after your strength training program, or to plan a session for the weekend.
Planning
Planning is a way of life for most people, including those who are involved in fitness training. In your case, I would like to invite you to consider my simple training plans as essential elements to ensure your success in the Fitetics program. There are two types of plans I want to share with you:
1. A simple plan for the training session, or what many people call a workout plan. The duration of a training session is about 45-60 minutes long using a simple structure such as:
- Warm-up used mostly to prepare your body for the work planned on a given day. 10 minutes jogging followed by 10 minutes of a stretching exercise will allow your body to become prepared to do the daily training task.
- Do your daily training program immediately after the warm-up and after the actual program, have a short
- Warm-down. The aim of the warm-down is to bring the body back to a state of inactivity by using 5 minutes of light, relaxing jogging and a simple stretching exercise. The entire activity needs to be performed in a relaxing manner that does not represent any challenge for your body and mind.
Consistent training for maximum gaining
Every time a new idea or gimmick is promoted on the market, it triggers a new enthusiasm for fitness training. Millions would quickly commit themselves to the new trend, especially if is well promoted. In many instances, however, fitness fans may not immediately distinguish between an effective and an inefficient program.
However, my suggested training program will have the impact you expect simply because it will address the fitness elements that you and millions of other women are concerned with. The program will incredibly benefit your body and the way you look, improve your fitness level, lose extra fat, and improve your self-esteem. However, there are two very important training requirements you are required to pay attention to:
- Consistency is essential if you want to achieve what you expected from this program. Training three times per week at the beginning of the program only for a few weeks and than reducing it to two, or even one, will deny yourself the gains you expected from training. Consistency, therefore, is essential for constant improvement, be it in your profession or in your fitness program. Commitment and discipline, on the other hand, are essential factors for any success. Do you want to redeem all the benefits from my training? Commit yourself to do it at your own pace but regularly. You may either follow the proposed schedule with discipline or, alternate it, change it to fit your own professional and family conditions. In either case, you should try to follow your decided schedule with persistence and you’ll see what the program does for you: improved esthetics, posture, health, self-esteem and confidence.
- Long-term training. Now that you have decided to commit to a specific training schedule, for maximum gains and long-term benefits you must choose to follow that fitness training from now on, as a natural part of your lifestyle, to ensure all you have gained so far is maintained for the long-run. You have to always remember that what you don’t train will detrain. In other words, the benefit of short-term fitness training does not last for a long time. If you don’t maintain a specific training schedule, you’ll lose everything you worked hard for and your body shape will return to its pre-trained form. You’ll also notice some psychological benefits from training such as: discipline, determination, motivation, strong will, commitment, etc. These training benefits will always reflect positively on your personality, self-esteem, and what you represent for yourself and others.
A few thoughts before you start:
- “I have no time for training!” Excuses, excuses, excuses! Be organized and you’ll find more free time than you thought in your daily schedule.
- Attitude. “The most important ingredient in your gym bag is your attitude” (Anonymous). Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference!” (Anonymous).
- Motivation. “I realized you never get rewarded for things you intend to do!” (Anonymous).
- Commitment! If you doubt you have the physical ability to follow this program you are not alone! But the difference between you and everyone else is commitment! “No one can make you inferior without your consent!” (Eleanor Roosevelt).
- Effort. Your reward is proportional to your effort.
- Discipline. “Remember winners do what losers don’t want to do!” (Anonymous).
- Persistence. “It’s not whether you get knocked down. It’s whether you get up again” (Vince Lombardi).
- Goals. “Goals are dreams with deadlines” (Diane Shaft Hunt).
- Confidence. “They can do all because they think they can!” (Virgilius, a Roman poet).
- Character. “The test of any man lies in action!” (Pindar, ancient Greek poet and writer).
- Focus. “You always have to focus in life on what you want to achieve!” (Michael Jordan, basketball player, the best athlete of the 20th century).
- Strong mind. A strong mind is the quality of a strong person!
- Determination. “Never, never, never, never give up!” (Winston Churchill).
- Success. “Success doesn’t come to you…you go to it!” (Maria Collins). “The road to success is always under construction!” (Anonymous).
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