Kenneth Gardner

Many of our readers who exercise regularly are concerned about their lack of progress in a variety of areas such as managing their weight, high blood pressure and high cholesterol levels.

The lack of progress could simply be a lack of 'progression' in the programme. Any good exercise prescription should be guided by the progression principle. An exercise programme should be done based on how well the individual is responding to the demands of the programme based on his or her current health, fitness limitations and goals.

Add challenge

We adapt to the demands of our exercise prescription based on improvements in areas such as energy level, weight, endurance, blood pressure and mental satisfaction. Too little exercise may not improve fitness or even health while too much could cause injury. Exercise routines should involve some level of challenge that will improve our response to the activity. The exercise routine should be progressive so that some level of challenge is maintained to help us make the necessary changes to achieve the desired improvements.

Progression can be achieved quite simply by identifying any fitness area of interest and establish a set number of repetitions and a fixed workload to be done over a period of time. After a few weeks, the routine should feel quite easy because of the overall improvements which you should have achieved. These improvements will eventually level off then stop. If greater improvements are to be made, you will need to increase a number of things such as the number repetitions, the number of sets, the amount of weight, the length of time or the distance over which you have been exercising or jogging. After you have been exercising at a given rate for some time, you will adapt to that level of stress.

For additional improvements to take place, the exercise must be increased in its degree of difficulty, repeated challenges should then take place until the desired improvements are realised. Moderation is prudent at the inception of any change in the exercise prescription. Small increments of time, weight, distance or repetitions are recommended to make us experience progress safely and efficiently.

Maintain your goals

Beverly 'Dynamo' McPherson, a healthy lifestyle coach, shows a client the proper way to lift weights during an aerobic weight-loss class at the Body Dynamics Gym on the Port Henderson Plaza in Portmore. - Anthony Minott/freelance Photographer

Depending on your progress, adjustments should then be made to the exercise prescription so that additional improvements can be experienced to motivate you to adhere to the exercise programme. If your desired goals have been achieved, the prescription that follows should then be adjusted to maintain your goals.

In weight training for example, the programme should be so arranged that there is a progression in the use of the muscles; the sequence of your workout should start with the larger muscles and the routine should be completed with the use of the smaller muscles. The smaller muscles tend to become fatigued more quickly and easily and this limits how much work the larger muscle groups can accomplish.

People who jog, could jog for 20 minutes on Monday, 25 minutes on Wednesday and 30 minutes on Friday or try to jog a little farther each day within the same time span; likewise, jogging could lead up to running followed by sprinting. Similarly, abdominal exercises could be initiated by tightening the abdominal muscles, followed by modified sit-ups, full sit-ups then full sit-ups with added resistance.

Dr Kenneth Gardner is an exercise physiologist at Holiday Hills Research Center; email: yourhealth@gleanerjm.com.