4 Ways to Get Results from Any Exercise Program

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Four Ways to Get GREAT Results from ANY Exercise Program 

By Fernando Paredes 

Get GREAT result from ANY exercise program. Sound too good to be true? I can understand you being skeptical. You should be. The fitness industry has been overrun by unscrupulous, quick-fix marketers who take advantage of your lack of knowledge for their dishonest gain: greedy people only interested in promoting flashy programs that sell, instead of programs that actually work for their customers. I hate those cash-grab fitness marketers. They took advantage of me years ago when I was trying to get in shape. This led to years of wasted time and effort, and a lot of frustration. It’s the reason why I became a professional trainer: to show people the RIGHT way to get in-shape and achieve their goals. I only teach people what works based on my 40 years of personal study on the human body, 25+ years of in-the-trenches experience as a professional trainer, over 35,000 hours personally training people of all fitness levels from beginners to elite athletes, and my own trials of getting in shape. And in this article, I will show you four simple ways of making any program work! 

 

How to Make Any Program Work for You 

There are so many types of exercise programs out there, promising fat loss, fitness, and a new body: CrossFit, P-90x, various bodybuilding systems, bodyweight training, circuit training, fitness classes, etc. Are some programs better than others? Yes. Which one is best for you? I don’t know. Without knowing your full health history, exercise and lifestyle history, fitness level, personal needs, and goals, it would be impossible for me to say. But after I show you the four ways to get great results from any program, in time you’ll learn which type of programs are better for you. 

 1 – Modify for Your Body Type

There are three main body types: ectomorph, mesomorph, and endomorph. All will respond to training differently. Each has unique skills and abilities that make some programs better or worse for them. Here’s a brief breakdown on each. 

Ectomorph: The classic ectomorph has long arms, long legs, a short torso, and lean bodies with little body fat. Below are some unique training tips for the ectomorph. 

• Exercise: Moderate to high intensity with less volume, duration, and frequency. 
• Cardio: Not critical for fat loss, only for conditioning. You need to limit it if muscle gain is your primary goal. 
• Recovery: Typically, slow for muscle gain, normal for fitness gains. Critical for success. 

Mesomorph: The classic mesomorph is thickly muscled; more of the stocky type, typically with low body fat and more on the athletic side. 

• Exercise: Will respond to high intensity or high volume. Sometimes high volume is better. 
• Cardio: At times needed for fat loss. 
• Recovery: Typically, very quick. 

Endomorph: The classic endomorph has a round, soft body and easily accumulates body fat. 

• Exercise: May need low to moderate intensity with high volume and frequency. 

• Cardio: Critical for fat loss. 
• Recovery: Depends on the person. It can be slow, moderate, or fast. 

Compare these recommendations to the exercise program you are on to see if it fits your body type or if it’s working against it. Making the needed adjustments could mean better results for you. 

 

2 – Modify for Your Body Structure 

Like body type, body structure has to do with your anatomy: height, shoulder width, torso length, arm length, and leg length. Biomechanically, certain exercises are better suited for certain body structures. The right exercises for you mean less joint stress and better results. Here’s a brief breakdown of the most common problems and how to modify for them: 

• Shoulder Structure: If you have narrow shoulders, you usually need more side-deltoid, upper-lat exercises and fewer overhead presses and trapezius exercises. Wide structure needs the opposite and more rowing exercises. 
• Arm Length: Naturally, long arms tend to take over so you’ll make little progress on chest and back exercises. To combat this, it’s better to do some single-joint exercises prior to the multi-joint movement. For example, doing flys before chest press and straight-arm pulldown or bent-over, bent-arm laterals prior to rows or pulldowns. This will force the chest/back muscles to activate to get a better workout. Shorter-armed people should use multi-joint movements first. 
• Leg Length: With long legs, bad leverage is usually an issue, making traditional exercises like deadlifts, squats, and front lunges a problem. Trap bar deadlifts, front squats, and back lunges are better choices. Also, most times it’s better to do some isolation-type exercises (leg extension, leg curls) before compound movements (squats, deadlifts, lunges) to maximize results and minimize joint stress on knees and spine. Shorter legs can usually continue with traditional versions of deadlifts, squats, and lunges. If you have short legs, you can usually do your compound exercises first without increased joint stress.

 

3 – Do Less for More Results 

Most people fall into the trap of believing that if they do more training, they’ll get more results in a shorter amount of time. For example, a person who has a lot of weight to lose starts to think “I need to do a lot of exercise to lose all the weight.” So they go from doing nothing every day to doing 5-6 days of exercise a week. After the initial two weeks of change, all they end up with is a burned-out body shocked into stopping all progress. The flashy, quick-fix, cash-grab marketers spend a lot of money getting you to believe all this nonsense.  

• Beginners: Start with 15-20 minutes, 1-2 days a week, and build from there. It’s easier to slowly add and build to your program than it is to stop all training to rest and reset your overworked, burned-out body. Or worse, you get injured due to the overwork, stop exercise altogether, and gain more weight as you recover from your injury. 
• Experienced Trainees: If you’re already on a program and your results have stalled, cut everything in half and do 50% less for 3-4 weeks. After this 3-4-week unloading phase, reassess. Didyour results resume? Feeling stronger? If you are getting better results doing 50% less, why add 50% more training for a 0% return in results? Stick with doing less. If you feel you can handle a little more, add 10-20% back in for 3-4 weeks and reassess again. Getting results? If not, drop back down to 50%. If so, stick with the 60-70%. 

 

4 – Listen to Your Body 

Listening to your body’s response to training and nutrition is one of the best skills you can ever learn. Look at all the other factors that lead to your results: mindset, nutrition, recovery, sleep, and supplementation. Here are the questions you should be asking yourself: 

• Am I feeling the exercise in the right area? 
• How long does it take me to recover from my workout?
• How is my body responding to my exercises, routines, schedule, and program? 

• Which foods make me feel strong and energized? 
• Which foods make me feel sluggish and not well? 
• Based on my overall food intake, do I have any deficiencies I need to supplement for? 
• Is it easy for me to think positive or negative thoughts? 
• How many hours of sleep do I need to feel rested? 

• Can I tell the difference when I am properly hydrated or dehydrated? 

People who have learned how to listen to their body know the answers to all those questions. Spending time listening to your body will help you understand what your body will respond best to. Once you figure that out, just do more of the things your body likes and less of the things it doesn’t. 

 

Make It Fit Your Body to Get Better Results! 

As you can see, personalizing a program and making it work depend on the individual’s response to exercise. And since people vary, their responses to exercise will vary, making their program uniquely suited for each person. The four techniques I outlined will give you a start on personalizing and improving any program you try. Put these into practice and in time, you’ll figure out which type of exercise program is best for you. If you want to speed up the process, working with an experienced coach will help you figure things out and map out a plan that will get you better results in less time. 

 

Fernando Paredes, NASM-CPT, CES, PES, FMS, a 25-year veteran of the fitness industry, is a sought-after health, fitness, and performance expert in the Bucks/Philadelphia region. He has been featured on Comcast Network’s “Your Morning” show, “It’s Your Call with Lynn Doyle,” WFMZ Channel 69 News, CBS/CW Philly and The Philadelphia Inquirer because of his innovative Core-to-Strength Training™ approach. Fernando owns Fusion Fitness Studio, a personal training facility in Doylestown, Pa. Visit him online at www.fusionfpstudio.com.