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“Practice Makes Perfect”----Or Does It?

By Bob Mittleman

If your dad was like mine, he tried to help you understand that practice does not make perfect. “Only perfect practice can make you perfect,” he’d say. His point was that practicing wasn’t enough. I had to practice in such a way that it was effective in helping me improve.

Exercise is the same way. Have you ever noticed the neighbor who faithfully jogs but remains overweight? Or the friend who has been going to the gym for years but hasn’t really improved his fitness level? They have been exercising, but their efforts have not resulted in the desired improvement.

To understand why, you must first understand what happens to your body when you exercise. Don’t worry, I’m not going into a technical exercise physiology lecture. It’s quite simple, actually. When you subject the muscles, bones and connective tissues of your body to the stress of an exercise routine, they have to adapt to that routine. You don’t just recover from exercise, you improve to be able to deal with that exertion better next time. If you exercise consistently, that adaptation generally takes five to six weeks and is what makes you stronger, more flexible and increases your stamina. After that six weeks, though, if you stay with the same routine, your body doesn’t need to change anymore. It has already adapted to that stress and you plateau.

You see, the desired weight loss or stamina or strength increase that you do exercise for in the first place really comes as a result of your body adapting to the stress of exercise. So to keep progressing, you have to change the stressors, the exercise routine, every five or six weeks. That way your body will continue to adapt and improve.

So now you know that you need to change your routine regularly, but how? That depends on what your goals and needs are and on how your body adapts to each new routine. I know, sounds technical again. The key is, change what you are doing every five or six weeks. If you have been walking or running, then ride a bike or swim. If you have been doing weight resistance exercise, change to different weights or machines and change the number of repetitions. If you have been doing circuit weight training, change to straight sets or super sets.

Once again, exercise is like any other discipline you may choose to practice. In order to really improve and meet your fitness and wellness goals, you need a good coach, a personal trainer, to design the routines that will meet your needs. Since none of us can achieve the “perfect practice” my father told me about, we need an expert to help us be truly effective.

About the Author:

Bob Mittleman is the former coach of the Greater Long Island Running Club Men and Women’s racing teams. When not coaching, he is the owner/operator of Fitness Together in Woodbury, NY, part of the Fitness For Life Franchise Corporation.

His approach to fitness combines extensive knowledge of physical training, nutrition, and motivation to ensure success. He has been quoted in the Wall Street Journal, Long Island Business News, Southampton Press as well as being interviewed on WLIE 540AM. He was recently involved with the development of “How to feel great at work everyday” authored by Deborah Brown, PCC. His website is www.ftwoodbury.com.