Customizing Your Fitness

The more I observe people trying to stick to a fitness program, the more I realize how important it is to customize a program to one's level of commitment, fitness level, age, budget, and available time. 

I get a kick out of the saying "you are unique... just like everybody else", but it is true that we all are unique in that we all have different goals, abilities, and preferences. Unless we take these differences into consideration when developing a fitness program, we are setting ourselves up for failure.

I compare fitness to a color wheel where we sometimes fall into the trap of thinking there are only about 10 colors to choose from when there are actually thousands of variations.

If Bruce Lee could make up his own martial art of Jeet Kune Do which was a hybrid of other marital arts based on his personal philosophies, then we should be able to do the same with our fitness too. I don't have as cool a name for mine; I just call it customized fitness.

When it comes to nutrition, there are many many different eating styles and some of them are in direct conflict with each other yet there are people who have had good results doing each of them. I can see advantages and disadvantages to following traditional, raw, keto, paleo, or vegetarian diets. I've adopted aspects of various nutritional philosophies that sometimes contradict one another and I've applied them in a customized way that works best for me. What works for one person may not work for another. There are multiple ways to get to a desired destination.

I follow this same concept when it comes to exercise. I enjoy traditional sports but also appreciate aspects of Crossfit training as well as lifting weights in a traditional body building type of program. I've cut back on my long distance running due to injuries and prefer shorter 5K races that don't take such a toll on me. I love playing basketball, and I could easily play a couple hours every day if I had that much free time. Since basketball is my favorite activity, it is at the center of my work outs, and I schedule other cardio and resistance training activities around it throughout the week.

Is there a specific sport or activity you really enjoy? Even if it is not recognized as the greatest all around work out, I'd still encourage you to stay active by doing what you love and then trying to incorporate other conditioning aspects you may be missing into your routine. I still think someone who gets out and walks with friends everyday will have greater success in the long run than someone who attempts a more comprehensive program if it is going to be too difficult or complicated for them to stick with over time.

There are many different philosophies out there when it comes to exercise, nutrition, and fitness. I try to incorporate as much truth from each one of the various disciplines that I can. I adapt them to my personal circumstances and make modifications when necessary. If you are concerned about starting a particular program because you don't think you will be able to stick with it, then it is important for you to customize it to your unique circumstances in order to persist and get long term results.