People are are working hard at exercise fitness workouts at my gym these days. Seems everyone outside of Florida or Southern California are getting themselves ready to throw on their swim attire and hit the pool and/or beach. The exercise workouts are getting intense and I’ve seen the same folks every year do the same muscle blasts for about 6 weeks to get in shape. They don’t maintain throughout the year but prefer to diet and exercise through April and May and sail on through the summer months with a fit body.

This exercise and fitness regimen does not do a lot for me personally. Exercise fitness workouts should be performed thorough the year. Find exercise classes that you can tolerate or even enjoy during the winter months and stay active. It seems crazy to me for folks to cram in a lifetime of fitness into a a couple of months simply because they want to wear a bikini for a couple of weekends. It’s much healthier to find exercise workouts that you enjoy that you can do the whole year.

Personally I like going to the gym. I’ve created year long gym workout exercises that coincides with activities that I do outside of the gym, particularly during the warmer months. I love to ride my bike, but during the winter months I will attend fitness classes or spin classes to keep my fitness and energy levels at full tilt. When the summer/spring/fall months are here I will ride my bike for cardio fitness but i will also get to the gym for weight training. I don’t lift weights directly before or after riding my bike, rather I will do the weight exercises during lunch four times a week and try to ride my a couple of times after work and then definitely put in a lot of miles on the weekend.

The point is I try to keep my exercise fitness workouts consistent throughout the year. My exercises include ab routines, lower body weight lifting and upper body weight lifting exercises. I do these year round. I also will end up using the BOSU or exercise ball for advanced core training. This tightens up my mid section and makes me stronger on my bike. Again I do this throughout the year.

Exercise fitness workouts have to include both a cardio and strength training component. I don’t think it matters much if you use weights or machines or resistance bands. I think you need to do strength training. It seems as though many people are not into doing both strength and cardio. And sometimes it seems as though it is split across gender lines. Many women do a ton of cardio, but they hardly ever strengthen their muscles. Guys love to build up the muscles but they hardly bother with cardio. The fit people are the ones that interest me. Not the ones with bulging muscles or spend an hour walking on the treadmill. No, I think those that are cyclists or runners that also do a few days worth of meaningful strength training are in far better health and shape.

I believe that an exercise fitness workout needs to be vigorous. I don’t believe in a relaxing walk in the neighborhood for fitness. Sure there are exceptions, but for the majority of people that are reasonably healthy, to get fit you have to exert some effort. I like to see people run, cycle, swim, row…it doesn’t matter, you just have to move, and move with a purpose.

I also believe that a good exercise fitness workout requires strength training. Weight lifting, exercise machines, resistance bands or even old fashioned physical fitness like push-ups and pull-ups are necessary for health and fitness. I much prefer a toned and fit body to one that is muscle bound.

Summer is almost here for most of the country. It is apparent that many people are hitting the gym. I think that complete and complex exercise fitness workouts are far better than spot training just to see if you can still fit in last years bikini.

Getting in shape this summer should be about fitness and health. Extend the workouts that you are performing for spot training to a year round exercise regime. I would suggest that it include rigorous cardio work like running, swimming and/or cycling along with a strength training workouts.