Do you ever feel as if you never get any closer to fulfilling your exercise goals? Have you been exercising forever and still have ten pounds to lose? Are your arms still wimpy, even after a thousand whirly-bird arm circles? Before you give up and throw in the sweat towel, be sure your exercise program is living up to your exercise expectations.

If you want to lose fat, does your exercise routine maximise the burning of fat and calories? If muscle development is your goal, does your program offer the resistance you need? How do you know? Here are a few fitness facts you can use to determine if your exercise program meets your needs.

Fat Loss

Here are two ways to exercise away excess fat, provided your diet is sensible in terms of caloric and fat content.

If you have time to spare, try the low-intensity long duration approach. You should perform aerobic exercise at least three to five times per week at a low to a moderate intensity.

Ideally, your workout should last 30 to 40 minutes or longer if possible. The combination of low intensity and long duration allows your body to use fat as its primary fuel source.

If time is of the essence and you have only 20 to 30 minutes to spend on the aerobic portion of your program, focus on maximising your caloric expenditure. You can burn extra calories in a short period by working "somewhat hard" to "hard" in terms of your perceived exertion. Pick up the pace to a level that will allow you to exercise for 20 to 30 minutes without becoming breathless.

Even though exercising at a higher intensity causes your body to use a larger percentage of carbohydrates rather than fats as fuel, you'll still end up burning more calories for the given amount of time.

A word of caution

As the intensity of your workout increases, so does the risk of injury... so, if exercise is new to you or you have physical limitations, start off slowly and allow yourself at least four to six weeks to work up to an increased pace.

How soon does the body's fat content begin to change? That varies from one individual to the next. Basically, you lose fat when you expend more calories than you consume. Therefore, much depends on the balance of exercise and adequate diet.

Muscular Strength

If you wish only to enhance your muscular strength and endurance, simple calisthenic exercises like push-ups, sit-ups, and leg lifts will certainly do the trick. However, if significant change in your muscle size and strength is your goal, then you need to undertake a progressive resistance-training program that utilises free weights or weight machines.

Most aerobic programs do not offer the resistance necessary to effect these increased changes in the muscle. Keep in mind that the degree to which a muscle can develop in size is largely determined by heredity.

Cardiovascular Fitness

Most exercise enthusiasts are interested in the physiological benefits regular exercise brings - increased stamina, decreased blood pressure, and a lower resting heart rate, to name a few.

With as few as three aerobic-exercise sessions per week, each lasting a minimum of 20 minutes at a moderate intensity, you can achieve these positive changes in your body in about six to eight weeks.

Flexibility

 To improve your flexibility, you should do stretching exercises regularly - before and following vigorous activity. Your stretching routine should be consistent and progress properly, taking each stretch to the point of tightness without discomfort. Each stretch should be slow; sustain it for at least 30 to 60 seconds, to allow the muscle to relax and lengthen. With such dedication, you can expect to see an increase in your flexibility in four to six weeks. With an improvement of only 1/100 of an inch daily, you could gain one inch in range of motion in about three months.

Assessing your exercise needs and evaluating your exercise programme are essential to achieving your goals. Once your program components match your expectations, the desired results are sure to follow!

One of the most effective ways to get into an exercise routine is to frequently bombard your brain with behavioural cues and prompts to exercise. Think about the method used by TV advertisers. They bombard you with the same ad over and over hoping that the message will sink in and motivate you to buy.

Take this same approach with your fitness. Make your personal messages to exercise so pervasive and powerful that you just can't avoid thinking about working out.

Try these 10 tricks to bombard yourself with exercise cues:

1.      Put your walking shoes next to the bed so that you step right into them when you wake up.

2.      Put your gym bag in a place where you bump into it throughout the day.

3.      Leave a spare pair of shoes, shorts and a t-shirt in your car so that you’re ready to go at all times.

4.      Put up notes in the house or send yourself an e-mail to remind yourself to exercise.

5.      Give your friends permission to remind you to exercise.

6.      Set an alarm clock to remind you it's time to exercise.

7.      Set up a workout appointment with a buddy who is a committed exerciser.

8.      Get a personal trainer who will hold you accountable for your exercise schedule.

9.      Provide yourself with options for exercise so that if one choice is undesirable, the other is acceptable.

10. Write up your exercise plan for the week and put it on the fridge, in your calendar and anywhere else that you can’t avoid!