_____Original Message_____
From: Bethany
Date: 2007-05-21 13:26:25
Subject:

Hi, John Allen,

I have been following ETL for a while, am 25 yo, female, sedentary lifestyle, 5′ 1 1/2", 13-15% body fat (per scales at night) and 95 -98 lbs.  I have a rather busy lifestyle with a full time job and daily commute of 1.5 hours as well as studying and taking the CPA exam.  My goals are toning and strength.

I have tried various exercise programs and have not found one yet that has fitted me perfectly.  I have just visited your site and really like the articles I have seen and the fact that you are an ETLer (that’s someone who has read and likes the guidelines of teh book "Eat to Live" by Joel Fuhrman M.D) Do you have any articles or books in which you recommend specific exercises?  One of these days I plan to have the money saved for your program.

Thanks in advance!

Bethany

Hi Bethany,

Bethany the only exercise or workout program that’s going to fit you perfectly, all the time, is the one YOU design. Workout porgrams and exercise programs are just "routines" that are created, given a name and sold. They have no magic power other than the power of the principles "in effect" behind the scene and the scope of movement that’s included. That’s where you want to focus.

That said, having some experience with commercial exercise programs is great because there are some pretty well designed routines out there, by some really experience people, and you can learn alot from them whether they fit you perfectly or not. They  help you break ground into new forms of movement. Once you get grounded in experience, you’ll be able to make up routines that incorporate these forms of movement into a Personal Fitness system, perfectly suited to you and your cirumstances.  

Essentially, once you are physically active on a regular basis, the result of a well managed lifestyle, you’ll want to include stability, strength and power training (muscular endurance or "cardio" training). This way you can move powerfully, free of risk of injury with well rounded fitness. Training and conditioning, though not mandatory for a long and healthy life, helps you look, feel and perform extraordinarily.  

Certainly as an ETL’er you have the food component of the Performance Lifestyle Formula really going for you. 

Personal Energy Management is where you need to focus (since you’ve been sedentary) and as you asked, getting good at adapting or creating exercise routines to fit you, your energy level and your readiness (the recovery factor) etc, anytime and all the time, is the skill you want to build.  

You will rarely find a book on exercise that will create a routine that will meet all those criteria. That’s why one of the concepts I teach at PerformanceLifestyle.com is "The Ultimate Trainer". The ultimate trainer is YOU, as you are the only person who really knows what’s best for you at any given time, when it comes to activity and exercise. You know you’re circumstances and you need to know them if you are going to have consistency working for you.

A couple good books, Core Performance, Outside Fitness, Functional Fitness, Body of Power… an of course The Healthy High Achiever - Unleash the Full Potential of Your Lifestyle, to Look, Feel and Perform Better (my book due out in another 2.5 months) where you’ll discover the Performance Lifestyle Formula.

You can also learn some at www.FitforPower.com for stability strength and more. There you’ll have links to great resources for creating a personalized fitness system that works for you anytime, anywhere, inluding links to "Workout Pass"… it’s fantastic!

I look forward to your participation in the Performance Lifestyle Training and Group Coaching Course to get the lifestyle formula working for you!

All my best

JAM