Boost your fitness

What is fitness?

Fitness generally stands for physical and, in part, mental well-being. Furthermore, the term is used for everyday performance and resilience.

Strength - strong muscles

Strength training cannot work miracles, but it offers great potential. As a central component of fitness training, strength forms the basis for movement. Our muscles are in a constant process of building up and breaking down. While breakdown happens naturally, building up requires active effort. In the past, this happened through heavy demands in everyday life. Today, this is more likely to be compensated for by targeted strength training. Effective muscle training requires fatiguing the muscles, i.e. training at the right intensity. This increases protein synthesis and leads to muscle maintenance or even muscle building. Relevant muscle groups can be trained in a targeted way, depending on your health conditions and training goals. Muscle training is ideal when you want to combat physical complaints. It is also suitable for weight reduction, body shaping or simply for a good feeling in your body. One thing is certain: if you don't train your muscles, you lose 1 percent of your muscle mass per year from the age of forty.

Endurance - keeping going for longer

Endurance training is a true all-rounder. Regular training brings many benefits:

• Increased energy expenditure
• Shorter recovery time
• Improved well-being
• Prevention of cardiovascular and lifestyle diseases
• Strengthening of the immune system
• Improved performance

To increase the performance of the heart, the type of movement is not of great importance. However, the condition is that the load on the cardiovascular system is sufficient. Endurance training on the bike, cross trainer, Helix, rowing machine, treadmill or in group fitness is successful when a maximum intensity is maintained regularly. Colloquially, this form of training is called HIIT (high-intensity interval training). However, if you want to train the muscles in a targeted way with regard to their endurance capacity, the form of movement plays a role. Here, only the muscles used for the movement adapt. The form of movement must therefore also stress the desired muscles optimally.

Flexibility - stretching

Lengthening the muscles beyond the full possible range of motion is a real treat for the body:

• Straightening of the body
• Releasing tension
• Increased mobility
• Reduction and prevention of back problems

Classic stretching, holding a stretch position, is no longer used as widely today. Gradually, it is being replaced by movements through the entire range of motion of the joint under load. An example of this is strength training through the greatest possible range of motion.

Coordination - control over movement

Coordination forms the foundation of movement. For example, it controls how the muscles are activated. Up to the age of 14, it is important to develop and promote this ability in a varied way. Coordination also forms the basis of sporting talent. In adulthood, the focus then shifts more towards maintaining coordination. Varied physical activity is generally sufficient for this.

Relaxation - loosening the muscles

Everyday life is demanding, hectic and causes tension. That is why it is important to pay active attention to recovery phases. Relaxation is experienced very individually. Therefore, no general recipe can be given here. Basic recommendations for promoting relaxation can be:

• Reading a book
• Enjoying quiet
• A conversation with trusted people
• A warm bath
• Going to the cinema
• Physical activity

Incorporating this relaxation deliberately into everyday life brings the best results. It helps to manage stress, reduce the effects of stressors and prevent illness.

Which training improves fitness?

Before the question of the effectiveness of sports arises, you should be aware that today any kind of movement is a gain. Since we generally move too little in everyday life, planning regular movement is a central factor. The more time is spent on it, the less relevant the training content becomes. If you want to proceed as efficiently as possible, you can look into how to achieve the most with little time investment.

Proven methods reinvented

Magazine reports promise new methods with which great success can be celebrated in a very short time. Similar trends keep reappearing under new names. For example, proprioceptive training became functional training. But despite all the novelties, one thing always remains proven: willpower, regularity and effort are needed to achieve the desired training success. It is important to have a goal in mind. Only then can you determine which training method is suitable in this case. If you study the many trendy reports in magazines, new methods constantly appear that are supposed to bring even better results, more variety and fun in an even shorter time. Over the years, many trends reappear in similar form under new names. For example, proprioceptive training, which mainly serves to promote coordination, became functional training. No saying fits better here than "new wine in old bottles". If a renaming increases motivation to train and leads to more active time, it may make sense. Whether you want to shape your body, lose weight (reduce fat mass), train for a competition or reduce complaints, the various sports and types of movement offer very different chances of success. Table: Effectiveness matrix of the different sports on fitness Have lots of fun with your fitness training.