The Basics of Fitness

Consider this your get-fit trifecta. All you need get fit is a smart combo of these three fitness fundamentals.

CARDIO
Pretty much any activity that gets your blood pumping is cardiovascular. When your heart rate rises, muscle cells break down sugar and fat for fuel, burning calories. Clearly there are a ton of ways to do this, but exercise physiologists lump cardio into three buckets -- long, slow distance (LSD), medium hard (tempo) and high-intensity interval training (HIIT). What's what:

LSD: These sessions are long (45 to 60 minutes) and slow; you're moving at a pace that you can easily sustain. The whole point is to increase your endurance, so you can build a solid foundation to prep for shorter, higher intensity sessions.

Tempo: In these more challenging 20 to 30 minute workouts, you'll close in on your anaerobic threshold, the sweet spot where your body shifts from burning a higher percentage of fat to more carbs, which are easier to access for energy. The upshot: Calorie-burn spikes.

HIIT: All out effort, recover, repeat, repeat. On/off bouts like this, lasting 10 to 20 minutes, activate fast-twitch muscle fibers, making you stronger, and create a huge metabolic demand on your body, burning tons of calories.

So How Much Cardio Do I Need To Do?: 150 Minutes
That's the bare minimum for general health. Bump it to 300 if your goals are weight loss or improved fitness. Mix up your LSD, tempo and HIIT but do no more than two HIIT sessions a week.

BLOCK 2: STRENGTH TRAINING
The fitness 101 definition: a muscle contracting to resist a force. After a couple of reps, muscle begins to break down; your body heals and strengthens that tissue, creating lean muscle mass. this repair process requires energy which means burning calories and boosting your metabolism, even when you're at rest. This is why strength training is the secret sauce in body transformation.
What does a solid routine look like? Include exercises that intergrate the following movements.


Squat: Bending and lifting recruits the glutes and thighs -- big muscles, which burn big cals.
Lunge: Another lower-bod pleaser. Switch them up -- forward, reverse, side, curtsy -- to sculpt and firm from every angle.
Push: Pushups, overhead presses, arm raises.
Pull For every push, add a pull to create balance. A few go-to upper-body firmers: rows, chin-ups and rope pulls.
Rotate Twisting your trunk (wood chops, punching) activates abs and obliques.

So How Much Strength Should I Do? 2 or 3 Total-Body Sessions
Your mission is to squat, lunge, push, pull and rotate. Choose five to eight exercises, and as long as they include these movement patterns, equipment is purely preference. Do two or three sets of 12 reps on nonconsecutive days. It'll take you about 30 minutes.

BLOCK 3: FLEXIBILITY
This block is your TLC, a big thank-you to your body for putting up with all of that hard cardio and strength work. Two options:

Stretching: Try to target muscles in pairs. Paying equal attention to opposing muscles keeps your body balanced. You want to hold each stretch for 10 to 30 seconds. It takes at least 10 seconds for muscle fibers to relax and lengthen. Finally, make sure you focus on all of your muscles -- not just the obvious areas -- for total flexibility.

Myofascial Release: Just a fancy word for massage, and it's easiest to do with a foam roller. Using a roller for 10 minutes after a workout reduces inflammation and triggers the production of new mitochondria, the power plants of your cells. Do small, back-and-forth movements over tender areas for 30 to 60 seconds to smooth knots and realign elastic muscle fibers.

So How Much Flexibility Should I Do? 2 Mini-Sessions
Squeeze in 10 minutes of allover foam rolling and/or stretching post- or pre-workout, during commercial breaks, anytime, to fulfill your TLC.