Cardiovascular fitness is the cornerstone of any fitness program. These aerobic workouts burn fat, increase the flow of oxygen to the body's muscles and vital organs, reduce stress and help protect you from heart attacks and many other degenerative diseases. Cardiovascular fitness can be achieved through any activity that involves continuous and rhythmic movement of large muscle groups at an intensity sufficient to elevate the heart rate to approximately 60% to 85% of your estimated maximal heart rate for prescribed lengths of time. This should be done from 3 to 7 days per week. The intensity, frequency and duration of the activity will be defined according to the activity, your initial fitness level and your rate of progress.

Contrary to popular belief, resistance training is not mindless, unfocused activity. When performed correctly it is a concentrated, focused, aesthetic effort. Resistance training, in fact, is a true art form that uses the body as it's canvas. Many people are reluctant to train with weights because they mistakenly believe that toned muscle will turn to fat if they were to stop their program. This is simply not true. Just as a broken leg will atrophy while in a cast, a muscle that is not worked will shrink, not turn to fat. Others don't want to lift weights because they are afraid of bulking and looking muscle bound.

The average woman will never look like that from weight training because hormonal balance prevents her from building excess bulk or size. Both men and woman can prevent the overdeveloped look by structuring their strength-training program correctly. We will develop such a program. You will learn to concentrate, isolate muscle groups, and appreciate the changes in your body. Michelangelo used to say that inside every piece of marble was statue waiting to be uncovered. You will feel the same way about your body, as it starts taking on the shape it was meant to have. Before long, you will give it the same due you would to another valuable work of art.

Like the other aspects of fitness, flexibility can be misunderstood and pursued improperly. Although people know that they should stretch and do so with the best of intentions, they sometimes stretch incorrectly and occasionally injure themselves. While people often blame running or some other activity for their back problem for instance, the real culprit may be the stretches they do before the activity. Similarly, hard to hold stretches where joints are forced beyond their normal range of motion do not always result in increased flexibility but can cause damage and injury. You will learn to move a joint further than you can actively control it. Otherwise you may be overstretching muscles and ligaments around the joint, which can be as harmful as not stretching at all. To prevent that, we will develop a dynamic range of motion and your ability to actively control the joints through regular and relaxed stretching.