“Start where you are, do what you can, use what you have”

- Arthur Ashe

One of the first things I learned about health and wellness as a health and PE teacher was the FITT principle. (You may notice that mine says, FITTR principle...more on that soon) FITT is an acronym, for Frequency, Intensity, Type and Time. FITT applies to creating a workout and understanding the important factors in fitness.

I think the FITT principle helps guide people in formatting a strong workout, but it was missing a key ingredient that many younger (and older) women need. Rest. I believe rest is a critical ingredient in your health and the piece of the formula ignored most often. So I added it myself. R = rest.

In order to care for your body and strengthen it, you need to know the how and the principles. I want you to become empowered to do workouts on your own or with a buddy, which is more fun. If you utilize and gain some understanding on how to train your body in a safe and effective way as a teen girl, you will set a strong foundation for a lifetime of health.

So let’s break down the FITTR principle so you can begin your own training program with effectiveness:

Frequency - The number of times you will workout in a week. It is recommended to be active 3-5 days a week.

Intensity - How hard you workout. The lower your intensity, the longer the workout. The higher your intensity, the shorter your workout should be.

I tend to rate my intensity on a scale from 1-3. Level 3 being all out effort and 1 being more leisure effort. No need to spend more than 15-20 minutes at a level 3, with breaks built in. Expect to spend more than 30 minutes at a level 1-2.

Type - The kind of workout you are performing. It’s important to implement a variety of workouts into your week as to not “burn-out,” get bored, stuck on a plateau or injure yourself.

There are a variety of ways to workout: cardio, weight training, plyometrics, yoga, biking, swimming, walking, jogging, sprints, interval training, dancing, hiking. The list is only limited to your imagination and interests.

I encourage you to categorize your workouts into “training days” and “active days” Training days are more intentional workouts with a specific goal in mind (interval training, sprints, weight training, plyometrics, practice) Active days are for pleasure and movement for the sake of enjoyment. These activities tend to stay with you for a lifetime (walking, hiking, biking, swimming, yoga).

Time - The duration of each workout or exercise. Also, refers to the number of times you repeat an exercise, called “repetitions” or “reps.”

Many effective workouts can happen in as little as 15 min. “Training Days” and higher intensity workouts should be 15-30 min. Lower intensity workouts or “Active Days” can be 30 minutes-1 hour. When determining repetitions for an exercise, if the weight is heavy, the reps should be lower. When the weight is light, the reps can be higher. (Ex. squat your body weight = 20-50 reps. Squatting under a load = 5-8 reps). With the Inside-Out Strong workouts, we like to do exercises based on time or seconds of activity. We recommend 30-60 seconds of activity (high intensity) for each exercise with 10-15 seconds of rest (low intensity) between each. You can have a longer rest between circuits.

Rest - Taking time to recover. This is the most underutilized activity for everyone!

Your body (and mind) needs time to recover from the activity it’s asked to do. Each time you exercise, especially lift weights, your muscles experience microscopic tears. This is natural and healthy, but only if the muscle can heal and build back up to become stronger, hence “building muscle.” Your muscles and body need time (about 24-48 hours) to heal. This doesn’t on apply only to your body; think about your mind and spirit in the same way. When you rest and take time to heal, you get stronger.

• What activities do you participate in that shows you are taking good care of your body?

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• Make a list of the types of movement that you enjoy. Categorize them into “Training” and “Activities”

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• List and identify the roadblocks to consistent movement. How can you overcome those?

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Make a plan that works for your life following the FITTR principles. If you are an athlete in season, write a plan for what you can do in the off season to stay strong. Make an appointment with yourself to be active or train each day as you implement this plan!