Did you make a New Year's resolution to get fit? This two-month programme will get you started on your goal and get you fit.
8-week fitness programme
When we talk about improving fitness, we are talking about improving physical fitness in several areas. This programme focuses in particular on developing muscular and endurance fitness.
If you wish, you can take easy fitness tests before you start the programme and after eight weeks to get comparable information on your fitness progress. You can find the fitness tests at the end of this blog.
You can also continue with the programme after the last week. Don't increase the number of workouts any more, but focus on quality instead of quantity.
Weeks 1-2
The first four weeks focus on basic fitness. Keep the pace of your endurance training relaxed: the pace is right when you can talk to a friend during the workout. You can adapt the programme to suit your needs and change the location of your training days.
Muscle training:
1x full body workout / week
Choose from these:
gym or group exercise (e.g. pump) focusing on muscular fitness
Resilience training:
2x 45-60 min / week
Choose from these:
walking, cycling, swimming/water running
In addition: if you wish, you can also do a second muscle training session per week and/or one body care exercise (e.g. stretching, yoga).
Monday
Sustainability
Tuesday
Lepo
Wednesday
Muscle fitness
Thursday
Lepo
Friday
Sustainability
Saturday
Lepo
Sunday
Rest/muscle fitness/body care
Weeks 3-4
Basic strength training will continue, with a second muscle training session added to the week.
Muscle training:
2x full body workout / week
Choose from these:
gym or group exercise (e.g. pump) focusing on muscular fitness
Resilience training:
2x 45-60 min / week
Choose from these:
walking, cycling, swimming/water running
Plus: if you wish, you can do one body care exercise
Monday
Sustainability
Tuesday
Lepo
Wednesday
Muscle fitness
Thursday
Lepo
Friday
Sustainability
Saturday
Muscle fitness
Sunday
Rest/health care
Weeks 5-6
Over the next two weeks, the heart rate will start to increase. In endurance training, the pace may vary: sometimes the heart rate will rise, but also fall during the workout. You can adapt the programme to your needs and change the location of the training days.
Muscle training:
2x full body workout / week
Choose from these:
gym or group exercise (e.g. pump) focusing on muscular fitness
Resilience training:
1x steady-state training 46-60 min and 1x variation training 30-45 min / week
Choose one of these steady-state workouts:
walking, cycling, swimming/water running
Choose a workout with a variable heart rate:
interval training on an exercise bike or treadmill, skiing, a heart rate raising group exercise class (e.g. spinning)
In addition: if you wish, you can do one additional training and/or body conditioning exercise. The additional exercise can be a muscle conditioning workout or a low-impact endurance workout (e.g. walking).
Monday
Sustainability
Tuesday
Muscle fitness
Wednesday
Lepo
Thursday
Sustainability
Friday
Muscle fitness
Saturday
Lepo
Sunday
Rest/exercise/extra training
Weeks 7-8
During the last two weeks, the heart rate will be raised considerably. During high intensity training, you will sweat and breathe clearly. It is difficult to talk during exercise. You can adapt the programme to your needs and change the location of the training days.
Muscle training:
2x full body workout / week
Choose from these:
gym or group exercise (e.g. pump) focusing on muscular fitness
Resilience training:
2x variable intensity or high intensity training 30-45 / week
Choose from these:
interval training on an exercise bike or treadmill, cross-country skiing, heart rate increasing group exercise class (e.g. spinning), HIIT, Crosstraining
In addition: if you wish, you can do one additional training and/or body conditioning exercise. The additional exercise can be a muscle conditioning workout or a low-impact endurance workout (e.g. walking).
Monday
Sustainability
Tuesday
Muscle fitness
Wednesday
Lepo
Thursday
Sustainability
Friday
Muscle fitness
Saturday
Lepo
Sunday
Rest/exercise/extra training
Can't get started or need more specific training instructions?
Contact the personal trainer in your centre. With a personal trainer, you'll get a personalised training plan and by working out with a coach, you'll get started faster and easier. Read more about coaching here.
Fitness tests
Durability test
Test your stamina with an easy walking test. For more accurate results, use a heart rate monitor.
- Before starting the programme, walk or run on a flat route of your choice. A suitable length is between half a kilometre and two kilometres. Walk/run the route as briskly as possible, preferably as fast as you can.
- At the end of the route, write down your heart rate, time taken and how you feel on a scale of 1-10 (1=very light - 10=extremely heavy). (Without a heart rate monitor, only time and how you feel.)
- Repeat the test after two months. Walk/run the exact same route and keep the pace as brisk as possible. At the end, write down the same things: heart rate, time taken and how you feel.
- Compare the first and second time results. Your fitness has improved if any of the measures used have improved: your heart rate should be lower, the time spent should be shorter and/or the number of self-reports should be lower.
Muscular fitness tests
Test your muscle fitness with these three tests. The easiest way to do these tests is with a friend.
- Lower body muscle conditioning: do as many squats as you can in half a minute. In the up position the hips should be straight, in the down position the fingers should touch the sock arm. Repeat the test at the same depth for the second round of the test.
- Muscle conditioning for the core: do as many sit-ups as you can in half a minute. In the lower position, the shoulder blades must touch the floor and in the upper position, the torso must be in a sitting position. Hands move straight along the legs. The legs can be straight, hooked or supported, as long as you remember to perform the test in the same way the second time.
- Upper body muscle conditioning: do as many front leg presses as you can in half a minute. Do the test with your knees on the ground, in a continence position or with your knees in the air. In the up position the arms must be straight, in the down position the elbow angle must be less than 90 degrees.
Notkeus
You can also test your body's mobility and flexibility.
- Sit on the floor, back and legs straight. Reach your fingers as far as you can towards your toes. Do not pull yourself forward with your fingers. Make a mental note of how far you reached and repeat the tests after two months.
- As a second test, try a deep squat: keep the whole bottom of your feet on the floor, open your legs slightly and squat as deep as you can. The soles of your feet must remain on the floor the whole time.
