What’s Your Summer Fitness Plan?

Author: Shannon Miller Lifestyle

Have you made a summer fitness plan, to help you stay healthy through the summer?

We like having a schedule and a plan at the beginning of a school year or the beginning of a calendar year, but at the beginning of a summer, schedules are thrown out the window.

  • Get up early? Forget it!
  • Workout past 5? No way! I’m on vacation!

When you lose control of your schedule, you lose control of your health. Fitness, health, and wellness are dependent upon schedules and planning. Sorry. You could spend your summer saying “I’ll do something when I have time….” (ie. NEVER), or you can plan on it and actually improve your fitness in a reasonable amount of time every day!

Ok, so you are thinking “when am I going to squeeze this in?” You CAN squeeze fitness in to just a few minutes per day, but make sure you are focused and ready to work. Don’t just haphazardly jump on a cardio machine. Make a deliberate plan.

Making a Fitness Plan begins this way:

  • Where is my fitness level currently?
  • Where should it be in 8 weeks?
  • What improvements do I need to make in order to get there in 8 weeks?
  • Who can be an accountability partner in reaching these goals?

If this kind of fitness planning is hard for you,  you may need the help of someone else.

A friend, spouse or significant other, or a fitness professional can be a great accountability partner.

First, be sure to discuss your personal goals with your accountability partner. Your training should NOT just be a cookie-cutter program, but should be a system specific to the goals you are trying to reach with realistic 8 week goals.

  • If you decide that your goals are connected to weight loss, your fitness plan should gear toward a great cardio program and resistance exercise.
  • If your goals include toning and developing muscles, you should be focused on weight training and cardio conditioning.
  • If you are an athlete, now is the time for drills and difficult performance-boosting exercises.

Every program needs balance and needs development. If your goal, for instance, includes learning to run 5K’s, you should not jump up and try to race the whole thing on the first day. You start with an interval program and develop it over time. The same thing happens with cardio conditioning. You will not be able to do perfect push ups and pull ups on the first day; this skill takes development.

Your summer fitness plan needs to have a way to start, a way to ramp up, and a goal (a level of fitness to achieve) in 8 weeks. Many programs now are 10-30 minutes in length, so you will not be spending your whole summer in training mode. Yes, you can do a lot in a little time, with a bit of focus and planning.

Just like with concerns about your health, when in doubt, ask a professional.  Fitness professionals are trained how to help develop a fitness program and in fitness goal-setting.

Find a fitness professional near you or email Carrie Harper at [email protected]

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