Fitness also involves an adequate balance of health objectives which include nutrition and hydration. The Special Olympics Fit 5 Program is focused on the basic concept of performing 5 days of exercises weekly, eating 5 servings of fruits and vegetables daily, and drinking 5 glasses of water daily. Click here for the complete Fit 5 Guidebook and additional videos and resources or click below for the Fit 5 levels of exercise so you can start on your home program today.
Fit 5 is a series of standardized goals that are set in place to ensure athletes and coaches are receiving the maximal amount of nutrition and fitness out of a daily and/or weekly schedule. Exercising on a regular basis will keep your muscles and bones strong. To properly stimulate the body you will need to hit all 4 components of exercise: Endurance, strength, balance and flexibility.
How you choose to exercise is entirely up to you, but having the proper knowledge is important and can give you a head start on making your workouts efficient and effective. An athletes work is judged based off the actions done outside of normal practice, so go out on your day off and run or walk for 30 minutes or find a full body circuit you enjoy. The expected amount of endurance type exercise based on the fit 5 model, is about 30 minutes a day for 5 days out of the week, this exercise requires some type of cardiovascular activity. It is also important to practice achieving proper balance and flexibility, a dynamic warm up and cool down will tackle both of these categories. As an athlete, strength is one of the most important aspects of your game, remember to safely lift weights and or do a full body strength workout for at least 2-3 days out of the week. Use one of our weekly or yearly trackers to keep up with your fitness.
There are different intensities to which exercise can be performed. Remember to use the level that properly challenges your level of fitness.