Improve the Quality of Your Life with Balanced Fitness Training

Why Should I Start Training now?

A balanced combination of endurance, strength, mobility and co-ordination exercise routines is very important in winter.

Balanced fitness training at this time will help to increase your resistance to illnesses.

Finally, you do not train to gain the admiration of other people for your body.

You exercise your body to maintain and improve your health and thereby improve the quality of your life.

« But to start a training program, surely spring would be the best time for me - it's the season everything in nature starts developing and bursting with new growth. »

When you commit yourself to a personal fitness training program is not the point - Getting started with a balanced combination of endurance, strength, mobility and co-ordination training is what counts.

I strongly recommend that anyone who wants to start exercising or any other physical activity e.g. jogging to improve their fitness, have a medical check-up before they join an aerobic training class or any other type of fitness training.

Once you the know results of your medical check, you'll be better able to decide what kind of fitness training is correct for you.

How do I Start Exercising and How often should I Train?

« What type of exercise should I start with as a beginner - strength or endurance? »

You don't have a choice between either strength or endurance training.

Your personal training plan should be designed to provide the right balance of strength, endurance, mobility and co-ordination exercises - you should not exclude any of the four fitness factors.

Only a properly balanced mix of these four elements will really help you to get fit and healthy.

Sounds complicated? In reality, a training program can be very simple to prepare e.g.:
A simple schedule of strength and posture exercises combined with spinning on exercise bicycles and stretching.

Always bear in mind that you do not have to achieve perfection in one day! Rome wasn't built in a day either!

« How often should I train? »

I recommend at least one day of rest between training modules in any exercise plan.

A training module can consist of strength training or endurance training.

Less is usually more for your results - over-training is always harmful.

Tips to Bear in Mind

« What's your tip for avoiding over-training? »

Listen to your body and learn to understand its signals.

However, bear in mind that a beginner might have problems accurately assessing their training needs, so it's better - and safer - to join a collective program in a fitness gym or aerobics studio.

Your fitness trainer will gladly help you to design and agree upon the optimum training program for you.

Most important is that you get to know your body and listen to it.

« Does that mean that you should train according to the “desire and mood principle”? »

Yes - as long as it's not an escape into the comfort of hardly ever exercising. If you enjoy whatever you are doing, you will do it regularly.

But that does not mean that you only do exercise forms that you are accustomed to or enjoy the most:
Dare to try new something new and different occasionally.

Your feeling of success will be the greater for it.

« Do you make a difference between men and women when designing training programs for your clients? »

No. It's very important that men also complete the training units which they tend to neglect, like mobility or co-ordination

Women, however, should not avoid completing strength and perseverance training elements.

Nutrition and Training - the Golden Rule

« What about nutrition requirements when training - are there any golden rules? »

Eat whatever you want - but in moderation.

N.B: I do not believe in strict diet plans.

The idea of forbidding any type of food for the people whom I advise as a nutrition consultant would just never occur to me.

I try to inform and teach my clients what reactions in the body are caused by different types of nutrition.

« Is that known as “you can eat what you like whenever you like?” »

Not entirely. Nobody should get a bad conscience just because they enjoyed eating something they liked.

It is always a question of the amount you eat.

I believe that everyone, actually, knows what healthy eating means - balanced, nature-based, varied, and low fat foods as much as possible.

Is there a Role for Cosmetic Surgery in Fitness?

« When the success that people are aiming for doesn't happen (quickly enough), more and more people choose to undergo cosmetic operations. What's your opinion on this? »

I am not in favor of undergoing plastic surgery with the sole goal of improving your looks to become more attractive.

On the other hand, I believe that cosmetic surgery is fully justified when used to correct conditions caused by e.g. an accident or illness.

« Then why are cosmetic operations for aesthetic reasons a fast-growing trend? »

Because nowadays almost everything must happen immediately.

Which often leads to a lack of patience and the will power to actually work on improving yourself physically.

Plastic surgery is not the answer to your prayers for the looks and appearance you desire.

You can achieve your dream figure with sensible training and self-discipline.

Why do you “Work Your Body?”

« So that's how you built yourself the perfect body. Why did you do it? »

Working with my body is a part of my daily life.

That has nothing to do with superficial things like appearance as far as I'm concerned. Rather I try to adapt my body to my inner self.

Clearly I like it when an audience cheers me. That is their acknowledgment of my performance routine or presentation.

The love of people who mean a lot to me personally is, however, far more important to me.

« How much longer do you plan to stay in the spotlight? »

I've been on this journey for six years now. That does not mean that I want to go on forever - I let life surprise me.

There are many other things in life that are more important to me. e.g. that my body and soul are in balance.

« Last question: You have achieved a great deal in life and were, among other things, twice crowned as the world's best fitness athlete. What does your audience mean to you on stage? »

I can give myself on the stage in such a way that I can be myself and communicate very well with the public through my performance routine too.

Seen this way, the audience gives me a platform to express myself.

• Fitness Athlete:
  • Tanja Baumann (26) is the most well-known Swiss fitness athlete.
  • Apart from numerous other titles gained in Switzerland and Europe, she became 1998/99 world champion aerobic fitness and won the Miss Millennium world champion aerobic fitness title in 2000.
• Occupation:
  • Tanja Baumann is a fitness consultant for private and corporate clients.
  • She works full-time as a teacher of aerobic and fitness classes, personal trainer and nutrition advisor.
  • Tanja is also a fitness model, a presenter of fitness and health lectures and has represented a wide range of companies for promotion and publicity engagements.