So, you want to get in shape?  Don't have any specific goals?  Do you feel as though you need to be better to your body?  Maybe someone you know is having a health 'scare' and you hear the warning loud and clear!  Whatever your 'call to action,' you're starting off on the right foot by learning the proper way to start and progress.  Until you have identified specific goals, a general conditioning program is your best bet.  This will help you to participate in several different activities that have different demands. 

The human body has a tremendous ability to adapt.  This ability is chronicled in the SAID Principle (specific adaptations to imposed demands.)  This simply means that as we impose any demand upon our body, it will react and adapt as long as the demand is imposed slowly enough so as not to overload and break down whatever is being targeted.  Beginning a running program by starting day one with a 12 mile run on a hard surface may cause a muscle strain or, worse yet, a stress fracture.  Raking the yard for 6 hours will result in blisters on your hands.  Raking for 30 minutes per day for a week will result in your body developing calluses, thickened areas of skin, where the rake handle rubs against your skin.

Starting slowly with 1 mile at a slow pace on a rubberized track and gradually increasing to 12 miles over the next six to eight weeks will impose demands slowly enough to allow the body to adapt and be able to handle the new demands.  As your body is able to handle the new demands you place on it, you can gradually increase the number or repetitions, the pace of a run, the length of a run or other aspects of your training regimen.

When developing a conditioning program, you should think about 5 main areas:

1)      cardiovascular – the heart,

2)      pulmonary – the lungs,

3)      muscular – muscle strength and flexibility,

4)      nutritional – what you eat and put into your body, and

5)      behavioral – your own ability to create a plan that is realistic and attainable for you, given your personality and motivation. 

Let’s take a minute to expand on number 5 because I think it is a very important concept that controls numbers 1 through 4.  Setting unrealistic goals that are too aggressive and too demanding will only produce poor results and create negative beliefs about your own ability.  Feeling like a failure makes you believe you have less potential and creates an underachiever mentality.  Setting realistic goals that are attainable and appropriate will give you confidence and allow you to successfully build on your successes slowly as you continue your pursuit toward your ultimate goal.