What to do to get in shape?

What is in shape?

Here comes a pretty standard answer from me. If you have read some of my other blog posts you will recognize it. It depends on what you want to get in shape for. It’s not the direct answer most want but there is none I’m afraid. 

For example if you are looking to enter a running event then what you need to do is different to if you wanted to lose a bit of weight and get a bit stronger. You get the point, it will be different. Part form that, we have to consider past and current training experience, past and current injuries and niggles and everybody responds differently to training and physical activity.

So what to do then?

 Well whatever your goal is, consistency is key, the body needs time to adapt. If you keep changing from one thing to another each session then your body will get a workout but it wont adapt quite as quick. In my experience your body is reacting to muscle memory a lot and to build that up it needs repetition. Also if you change things up constantly it will be harder to notice any progress. However if your goal was to just move more from being sedentary then go ahead and just do whatever physical activity you feel like doing.  After all you might be looking at how many times in total you have been involved in some form of activity during the week, rather it being 0 you want the number to be 1+ to begin with, this will probably change with time as you progress. 

How much does consistency matter when getting in shape?

We need to be consistent long term, if we can only manage to do our routine for 6-8 weeks then I would say it’s not balanced and achievable and most likely we are in a  stop start cycle. Scale it back to what is realistic for you to maintain long term and by that I mean ideally the rest of your life. Sure, things probably will change naturally such as goals, intensity, type of  activity etc throughout the years. If you work with a personal trainer or a coach they will most likely plan your program so that you get the right intensity and will change that accordingly as you progress and become more accustomed to the activity.