When engaging in any fitness program whether it be a fast weight loss program or a body building program you need to keep in mind that if you don’t use it you loose it. This can be kind of frustrating and make it seem like you are being counter productive. Don’t loose focus of the fact that if you are working towards an ultimate goal setbacks in one area may mean regressions in another but as a whole you are moving forward.
I like to look at fitness as kind of a rotational system. It is impossible to do it all, there isn’t enough time in the day and even if we did hit all aspects of fitness everyday we would never be able to recover. This is why it is important to rotate through different aspects of fitness.
To make this a little more clear let me explain a little further. It is really pretty simple, rotation just means that during a short period of time, usually 4 – 6 weeks you should choose a focus. This could be hypertrophy, strength gains, losing weight fast, flexibility, or any other area that you want to focus on. There are lots of different areas and niches within the realm of fitness, so choosing one means that you are going to have to neglect another.
I don’t see this as a big deal because most areas of fitness complement each other pretty well. Sure if you are doing a power lifting workout you will be negatively effecting your marathon running ability but in the long run you will be stronger and better adept at running a marathon.
Use it or loose it is a simple concept that when embraced can open your eyes to the necessity of needing to vary your training to develop the full package. I am sure you have all observed people in the gym that never seem to make any progress. This is usually due to the fact that they are not making any adaptations or changes to their workouts.
It doesn’t matter what your goals are you need to learn to rotate your exercises as well as your diet for optimal gains. You may be getting ready for a fast weight loss plan but this does not mean that you shouldn’t be looking further down the road.