Frequently Asked Questions about the Fitness Exercise Plan

Q. How long can I stay on the Fitness Exercise Plan?

A. Give yourself a target of 4, 8 or 12 weeks. Then give yourself a break, where you do maintenance activity or some other exercise, and then go back to it if you like. The good thing about this program is that you are doing a wide variety of different exercises, but after a while the body becomes fitness tolerant, so if you let it rest for a while and then go back to the program, you should see other benefits.

The Ab Attack and Ski & Trek plans are designed to be done for 4 weeks only, after which time you can move on to a different plan. See how you feel and listen to your body- some people work best with a routine and other people will mentally benefit from changing their plan every 4 weeks

Q. Can I join the workouts together for one big workout?

A. You can't cram fitness like you can try to cram-study. If you do 2 workouts together you won't get twice the effect. These are designed to be intense 30-minute sessions and it's impossible to keep going at that intensity for an hour.

Q. Instead of doing a session of cardio workouts, can I swim, bike or row?

A. I think running is the best full body cardio workout around. However if you feel you are working at the same intensity and you are being true to yourself then you can change to cycling, rowing or swimming for running in the cardio circuit. This is more appropriate for people who are strong cyclists, swimmers or rowers- if you're a weak swimmer or have never had proper rowing training, it's unlikely you'll have the technique to work out at very high intensity.

Q. Can I do a class instead of an upper body workout, or replace a lower body workout with my Saturday football game?

A. At the end of the day you've gone out to do the program, you should be sticking to it as closely as possible. If you have a weekly event like squash or football, then take a rest day before it and after it and then go back to the program. The more you stick to the program, the better results you will see.