While we do have a sea of knowledge at our fingertips these days, I often find that we are drowning in information. What I mean by this is that there are so many books, articles, videos, and tips floating around the internet we often do not know which information is scientifically accurate or even where to begin looking for what we need. This lack of direction is especially true when it comes to exercise. So, in order to help you responsibly begin an exercise program, I have determined that everything can be boiled down to two main concepts.
The first is called Progressive Overload. It simply means that in order for you to realize progress, you need to gently nudge your body beyond what it is used to.
The second main concept when considering an exercise program is commonly referred to as the SAID Principle. This stands for Specific Adaptation to Imposed Demands. It basically means that your body adapts specifically to the stresses you place upon it. In other words, you get what you train for.
The concept of Progressive Overload has been around for thousands of years. Legend has it that in the 6th Century B.C., Milo of Crotona, a city in what is now Southern Italy, came up with a simple yet ingenious system for achieving strength and power. Milo would pick up a calf and carry it on his shoulders the length of a field. As the calf grew in size, the demands of the already heavy load increased. Milo was able to adapt and grow stronger. Progressive Overload is simply a fancy way of saying that you must do more work over time. That little bit more that you did yesterday, combined with the rest of today, will start a biochemical chain reaction. The end result of this biological process is adaptation, aka — progress.
So, if you decide to do ten push-ups every day, it might be hard at first. Over time, it becomes easier to the point of not being challenging at all. Eventually, your body becomes so well adapted to this exercise that it becomes bored, and the push-ups become harder to do. The key to continued progress is to gradually challenge your body so that it has a reason to adapt and become more fit. Another way to think about Progressive Overload is that it is your body’s way of adapting to its environment to improve your chances of survival. In the case of push-ups, you could change the style of push-ups, try different set and repetition schemes, add some sort of resistance, etc. This does not have to be every day, but there needs to be a general trend of increased difficulty.
The second key principle in achieving and maintaining progress with your exercise program is the SAID Principle. While this principle has been debated to some degree in the past few years, it still has merit when it comes to a basic understanding of exercise programming.
For example, if you want to improve your aerobic system, you generally need to exercise aerobically (with oxygen as a fuel source). This would be an activity that is of moderate intensity where you are breathing a little more heavily than when at rest, but you can still talk, and your heart rate is slightly elevated. (By the way, the American College of Sports Medicine recommends that you get 150-300 accumulated minutes of this type of activity each week.)
If you want to improve your anaerobic systems, you need to train anaerobically (without oxygen as a fuel source). This type of activity would include exercise at a high level of intensity for brief periods of time. In this case, your breathing would be significantly heavier than when resting, you probably cannot hold a conversation, and your heart rate would be very elevated. In practical terms, this could translate to: If you want to get good at hiking, you need to go hiking. If I want to get good at push-ups, you should perform push-ups regularly.
Before beginning any exercise program, assuming you are healthy, first consider what outcomes you want to achieve, then set realistic goals. Beyond goal setting, you will then need to consider the two basic concepts of Progressive Overload and SAID. “Practice” the type of activity you want to improve, whether it is strength training, walking, swimming, etc., or a combination of things. This will address the specific adaptation component of your exercise program. Then, over time, gradually make your program more challenging as you become more fit. Do NOT do the same exact thing every day. This does not mean you need to exercise in a random fashion without a plan. It just means that you need to add a few minutes here, a rep there, occasionally add some weight, or change up your routine over time.
