Having spent the past few days on my holidays around Ireland, surfing on the wonderful Inch strand, mountain running around the mysterious caragh lake near Killorglin and mountain biking through the black valley into the gap of Dunloe, my girlfriend and I were blown away by the amount of people who are out exercising, its astonishing to see that people are beginning to realise just how much Ireland has to offer interms of sports, even in the lashing rain there were so many people out having fun and enjoying the spectacular scenery that this country is blessed with! Everywhere we went we were quizzed by people looking for tips and hints about their fitness and health, from bikini tips to opinions on various exercises, there were some great chats had, one of which leads me to today’s column, where more and more people are creating their own exercises, programmes and sessions,what is the best way to design your own programme? How do you know its effective? Is it safe? Just because a programme works for your friend doesn’t necessarily mean that it will work for you. With many bootcamps and cross fit centres setting up all around the country, more and more magazines launching each month on fitness and health, bringing new exercises and techniques to the floor, are they going to work for you? I love seeing new and creative ways to get fit, I love trying them, adapting them and seeing what I could learn from them. So many fitness professionals are closed to trying new things, believing that their way is the only way and criticising everything else. I feel that there is so much to be gained from seeing whats new on the market, from filtering it and using what will work for me and my clients. If you have quit the gym are are sitting at home looking to get in shape by putting your own programme together like so many people are doing now, there is a method that you can use to ensure that you are getting the best out of it, no matter what form of exercise you are using: Specific: Are you building a programme that is actually for you or are you using one that your friend gave you? Remember everyone is different and has different needs, so your programme should reflect this. If you have injuries or weaknesses in certain areas then your programme should reflect this, maybe you need to strengthen your upper body more than your lower body?Or is your weakness your flexibility?Make a simple list of your strengths and weaknesses and then make a note of what you are aiming to get out of the programme,these will act as your base and criteria for creating it, now work from there and you should get a real programme that will work for you , Measured: Many people often neglect this part, measuring your success or failure. You are building a programme for a reason, to get results. At the very start, measure your set criteria. These can be weight, inch loss, body fat, muscle or your metabolic age. The more complicated it gets the greater the chance you will need expert help. Many cheaper alternatives such as scales and hand held devices that measure body fat are useless and inaccurate. Most professionals use expensive equipment to measure these things using scales etc that cost from four to ten thousand, unfortunately I am yet to see an accurate scales for under 500 euro that will measure more than weight. A body fat calipers will be the best option for those looking to measure bodyfat cheaply and accurately. Realistic:Are you building a programme for an olympic athlete or for yourself? I often fall into this trap myself, building amazing sessions that would work great if I were a fulltime athlete and not working so that I had the time to recover. You need to ensure that the programme you build can fit into your daily schedule, your life and your sports. If it doesn’t then the chances are that it won’t last long term and you will give up after a few weeks or so. Timed: Set a time limit on this plan and aim to change every 4 to 6 weeks or so. Change in your workouts will result in change in your body. Your body adapts to the environment that it finds itself in, so by constantly changing it you will get the best results possible. This will also force you to change your programme a lot, furthering your knowledge in the exercises that you are putting together. Warm up/ Cool Down: No matter what exercises you are using, ensure that you have scheduled in plenty of time to warm up at the start and cool down at the end. Generally I use a 10 minute warm up and a 5 minute cool down with my clients, this allows the muscles to warm up safely and cool down nicely , letting the blood vessels contract slowly. The whole purpose of a warm up and cool down is to avoid injury, keeping you away from the physio and keeping you healthy for longer Rest: You certainly don’t want to overtrain, by pushing yourself too hard! The easiest way to ensure this is by getting at least 1 day per week that you put your feet up and stay away from exercising! This day will let the muscles repair themselves and let your mind recover, keeping you fresh for the following weeks workout> These guidelines will keep you on the right track when building your programme, remember to always exercise on the side of caution , if you aren’t comfortable doing an exercise then don’t do it ,seek out an experts opinion until you feel comfortable that you know what your doing, stay fit and healthy !