health

For Cardio Exercise:Type

Any activity that gets your heart rate up counts as cardio - Running, walking, cycling, dancing, sports, etc.

Boredom

Doing the same workout for weeks or months on end can get old, eating into your motivation to exercise. It's at this point you want to manipulate one or more of the F.I.T.T. Principles such as adding another day of walking (changing your exercise Frequency), walking faster or add some running (changing the Intensity), walking for a longer period of time (changing the Time) or trying something different like swimming or running (changing the Type).

For Cardio Exercise:Frequency

For Cardio Exercise: Exercise Guidelines suggest moderate exercise five or more days a week or intense cardio three days a week to improve your health. For weight loss, you may need to do up to six or more days a week.

For Strength Training:Time

How long you lift weights depends on the type of workout you're doing and your schedule. For example, a total body workout could take up to an hour, whereas a split routine could take less time.

For Cardio Exercise:Time

The exercise guidelines suggest 30-60 minutes of cardio (or working your way up to that). How long you exercise will not just be dependent on your fitness level, but also your intensity. The harder you work, the shorter your workouts will be.

For Strength Training:Intensity

The exercises you do (at least 8-10 exercises), the amount of weight you lift and your reps and sets determine the intensity of your strength workouts. In general, you want to lift enough weight that you can only complete the desired number of reps (around 1-3 sets of 8-16 reps of each exercise).

For Cardio Exercise:Intensity

The general rule is to work in your target heart rate zone and focus on a variety of intensities to stimulate different energy systems.

Your body becomes more efficient at exercise

The more you work out, the easier it is to do the exercises, causing you to burn fewer calories than you did when you started.

For Strength Training:Frequency

The recommended frequency here is 2-3 non-consecutive days a week (at least 1- 2 days between sessions.

For Strength Training:Type

This pretty much includes any exercise where you're using some type of resistance (bands, dumbbells, machines, etc.) to work your muscles. Bodyweight exercises can also be considered a form of strength training, as well, although building strength will likely require more resistance. The F.I.T.T. Principle is important because it outlines how to manipulate your program to get in shape and get better results. It also helps you figure out how to change your workouts to avoid boredom, overuse injuries and weight loss plateaus. For example, walking three times a week for 30 minutes at a moderate pace might be a great place for a beginner to start. After a few weeks, however, your body adapts to these workouts and several things may happen:

Weight loss

Your new workouts may cause weight loss which, of course, is a good thing. The downside? You expend fewer calories moving that new, smaller body around.