Are you happy with the results of last year's  fitness program? Regardless of whether or not you're pleased with last year's results - or even had a progam last year - most people are thinking about making changes and recommitting themselves to their health and fitness. January is a great time to take benchmark measurements, define goals, and set your plan in motion for the year- maybe for the rest of your life.

The first step is to stop and assess your overall health and physical condition, considering your goals, interests, the time available for exercise, and what you've been doing before. If you're new or returning after a long break - When I meet new clients, I first observe their posture and movements. If your body isn't properly aligned you cannot get the full benefit of exercises and may risk an injury.

You'll generally want to begin slowly, learning how to perform basic movements before advancing. Machine circuits like ExpressLine at NYSC can be a good place to start. After a few sessions, however, you'll want to step out of the machines and do exercises where your body isn't supported by a chair. Look at it this way: you sit all day, and when you sit, your core is relaxed because the chair is supporting it...so the last thing you want to do is sit some more when you come to the gym. At least not exclusively.

If you've been working out for a while - We'd probably need to have a more in depth conversation of your history and goals to get you into the right program. However, the basic principle of periodization applies: change your program every 4-6 weeks to keep your body challenged. This change should involve more than changing the equipment you're using. You can change the number of sets and repetitions, the tempo or time spent in each phase of the exercise (ie, try a 4-second negative or a 3-second isometric contraction), and/or vary the level of stability. Try compound exercises where you incorporate total body movements. The latter, shown in last newsletter as Holiday Survival Workout, not only burns calories quickly - it helps your train to stabilize the body through dynamic movements.

Here are the links to a few programs that I've shown in varying form before. I don't include a magic muscle building program because that's one of the easier ones to create. You've just got to do the work!. Try one or more of these, and feel free to let me know if you need any help or direction.
Program 1 - XpressLine
Program 2 - Introductory Strength Training
Program 3 - Unstable Exercises (incorporates Core Training)
Program 4 - Advanced Unstable Exercises
Program 5 - Total Body/Compound Exercises (the Holiday workout)