Achieving and maintaining good health is largely due to our physical activity. But what kind of exercises should we be doing? How often? Is weight lifting an absolute necessity? Personal trainers can provide the answers to these questions and more.

Kelly Turner, an American Council on Exercise (ACE) personal trainer, does just this by offering her knowledge and advice on her blog.

Supplying health and fitness information to those who do not have the financial means of accessing a personal trainer, Turner responds to reader’s questions with answers tailored to the personal needs of each individual.

For busy university students in particular, she suggests that you, “make incidental exercise a big part of your day.”

“Walk whenever you can, sneak in crunches and push up breaks during your study time… it quickly adds up without having to block out a huge chunk of time for a workout.”

Turner suggests that we focus on the immediate positive aspects of working out because “a long-term goal such as weight loss takes a while to develop, which means you can get discouraged and start to skip your workouts.”

“Focus on the benefits you receive immediately from exercise, like increased mood and energy, stress relief and better sleep to motivate you to work out each day.”

“ The last rep you do of each exercise should be the last rep you can do with proper form.

Kelly Turner, personal trainer

Figuring out a workout plan is the next step.

Healthy adults should strive for “20 to 60 minutes of continuous or intermittent cardiovascular activity five to six days a week, one set of eight to ten exercises that conditions the major muscle groups two to three days a week for strength training, and stretch the major muscle groups a minimum of two to three days per week for flexibility.”

Turner encourages strength training for everyone because it “reduces body fat, increases lean muscle mass, and strengthens your bones.”

She advises women in particular to not be afraid of bulking up.

“Women who replace body fat with lean muscle not only drop inches, but they have a higher metabolism, which can aid in weight loss.”

Although it is difficult to determine exactly how much weight is appropriate to lift, Turner recommends a simple way to know when we are lifting too much or not enough.

“The last rep you do of each exercise should be the last rep you can do with proper form. Once your form starts to slip, you are recruiting other muscle units which is ineffective and, in some cases, dangerous.”

Performing over 25 reps with good form is an indicator that you should increase the weight.

Warming up and cooling down before and after a workout is essential to prepare your muscles for activity and to avoid injury.

Stretching is also an integral part of the workout.

“You should always stretch your major muscle groups to maintain or increase your flexibility, making sure to hit hamstrings, glutes, quads, back, chest, and arms,” added Turner.

If you start to lose interest in your workout, switching it up every four weeks can increase your enjoyment and create muscle confusion for better results.

Published in Volume 63, Number 22 of The Uniter (March 5, 2009)