'I'm a personal trainer. If you're working out from home, you need to know these rules.'

The following are general rules to ensure that your fitness regime is the benefit it’s supposed to be and not the fire-y lung combusting downfall that it’s not.

And while yes, these rules can absolutely be broken, they are deliberately conservative in nature in the absence of professional advice and supervision. (Side note: seek professional advice and supervision.)

Watch: The Horoscopes working out. Post continues after the video.

General rules of cardio.

Feeling like your lungs are going to internally combust at any moment is not the marker of a good cardio workout. It is preferable, more effective and much more pleasant to allow your heart rate to recover between bursts of higher intensity efforts. 

For example, if you are going for a walk, walk for 1 minute at a faster pace than you normally would that leaves you a little breathless, followed by a period of recovery of say 2 minutes to settle your breathing before repeating these efforts.

In regards to the type of cardio you should be doing, there is no right or wrong – as long as the exercise raises your heart rate and gets you breathless. Something to be mindful of, however, is impact and repetitive movements that over time can cause overuse injuries. 

Be mindful of mixing up your modes of cardio - for example running and riding; or a Body Attack class and swimming.

The Australian Government guidelines recommend a combination of moderate and vigorous activity, so be sure to mix up the intensity of your cardio sessions from day to day.

General rules of weight training.

The majority of technique rules in weight training pertain to alignment. When you squat, do your knees follow the direction of your feet? When you are doing a bench-press, does the bar line up with the middle of your chest? When you deadlift, is the bar travelling in a vertical line?

In regards to range-of-motion (e.g how deep you should squat), generally keep the movement in a range that you have full control of, without losing muscle tension and without pain.

When it comes to your weight selection and how many repetitions (and even recovery periods between sets), that is dependent on your goals – as manipulating these variables will achieve different outcomes. 

However, if you are weight training for general strength gains, the guide is a repetition range of around 12–15, choosing a weight where you can finish your set with good form but without too much juice left in the tank at the end of the set.

In regards to exercise selection, again, this depends on your goals. However if you follow the Australian Government ‘guidelines for physical activity for adults’ (outlined at the end) – the recommendation is muscle strengthening activities at least 2 times per week. In this case, you want to do exercises that target your entire body.

Think upper body and lower body. Front of your body and back of your body. And if you need to prioritise due to time constraints, go for exercises that move more than one joint at a time (i.e. working more muscles at the same time).

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Marie Anagnostis (@marie_anagnostis)

General rules of stretching.

Stretching should never feel painful. You should feel just the “edge” of a stretch.

Make sure you breaaaaaathe while you stretch. Holding your breath will generally contract your muscles, which is precisely the opposite of stretching. 

Hold stretches for a minimum of 30 seconds.

Save stretching for the end of a workout. At the start of a workout make your warm-up more dynamic (continuously moving, as opposed to holding).

In conclusion.

If we are to wrap up all of the above into a neat little bow, the overarching rule to stay safe while exercising is that you shouldn’t feel like you are going to explode, implode, melt, burn, snap or anything that you have in common with a house fire. 

Australian Government ‘guidelines for physical activity for adults’.

Adults should be active most days, preferably every day. Each week, adults should do either:

• 2.5 to 5 hours of moderate intensity physical activity – such as a brisk walk, golf, mowing the lawn or swimming
• 1.25 to 2.5 hours of vigorous intensity physical activity – such as jogging, aerobics, fast cycling, soccer or netball
• An equivalent combination of moderate and vigorous activities.
  
  
• Include muscle-strengthening activities as part of your daily physical activity on at least 2 days each week.

Read more from Marie:

• 'I'm a personal trainer, and these are my biggest pet peeves with clients.'
• 'I own a fitness franchise like F45. This is what I want you to know.'
• 'I'm a personal trainer. These are my 3 golden rules of fitness.'

Marie has been a fitness industry professional since 2005. Her book, “12 hours in the life of a fitness professional (because I’m too tired for the other 12)” can be pre-ordered now. For more from Marie, you can follow her on Instagram.

Feature Image: Getty

Are you actively taking steps to improve your health and general wellbeing? Take our survey now to go in the running to win a $50 gift voucher.