The continuous goals are I set myself are, Body fat percentage (lower is better... some exceptions), dead lift weight (higher is better, obviously), 100m sprint (faster is better), 100m lap score (more is better), and finally push-up/squat/sit up/chin up score (more is better, but I switch between them constantly for better rounding of muscle).

Another goal (although easily achieved) that should be foremost in your fitness is diet, because diet is obviously the single biggest factor in determining overall health and fitness.

That's just the exercises I do, but it's probably better that you find a routine that suits you, and don't just work at a few muscles, else you'll look silly =P

That's just the program I use though (I'm not going into boring details, obviously)... any comprehensive program would NEED to have clear instructions regarding proper form. You'll just hurt yourself. =\

for me atm:

1) body weight (higher is better)
2) 40m sprint time (lower better obv)
3) squat (higher = better)
4) deadlift (higher = better)
5) vo2 max (higher is better)

How do you train vo2?
Furthermore, how do you test how successful you are?

Not criticising, just curious.

I am going to be doing strength training. So my goals are basically just increased muscle mass and strength. After new years I will also try to get very little BF% and look trim.

VO2 max is your maximal rate of oxygen consumption, it is a measure of your capacity to generate the energy required for endurance activities.

you can increase it by increasing the volume or intensity of your aerobic exercise.


theres tonnes of ways of testing it, bleep test's, timed run's, timed cycle's, whatever means it's going to be your oxygen intake (or lack of) that lets you down and not your muscles just fatigueing. for example if your a rower, cycling may not be the best way to test your vo2 max. you have to keep running untill you can not physicaly keep up with the pace anymore, if you dont push yourself to failure the test was a waste of time. giving up because it hurts is a prime example, but i suppose it still gives a fair representation because if you arent willing to push yourself to your limits whats the point in knowing them?

for me its more a case of maintaining it as much as possible because im trying to gain weight and not doing enough cardio atm so im not really increasing, just cutting my losses.

last time i tested it was a coupla months ago and via a beep test and i scored 57.4 ml/kg/min. the best ive seen done was about a 65 ml/kg/min and that extra bit is a seriously major amount. thats running into the 15's on a beep test, i doubt ill ever be able to do that, god knows how some pro athletes get into the 90's, thats just freakish.

that reminds me of something my friend said to me actually, hes a top notch road cyclist. i qoute: " to be the very best, you have to be born a freak, you have to be a mutant, you CANT train yourself to be the best, no matter how hard you train, your never going to beat someone who trains like you and has a genetic advantage." he also said something about it being unfair but w/e.

any program should probably have the following;

1. Squat
2. Deadlift
3. high protein intake
4. dedication
5. goals that you want to aim for (strength, mass, size)



After soccer season my goals will probably be something like this;

1. Get my OH Press higher
2. start doing more power cleans again
3. being able to squat without quad pain (mad stretching)
4. incorporating more DBs into my routine
5. increase my protein intake
6. for some exercises, increasing my rep range (currently 5-8 for all major ones) to 8-12.

vo2 i think is cardio work outs? Doing 60/120's is a really good way to build cardio. 60 seconds sprinting, 120 seconds jogging. Great way to get it up. Did that a lot this summer.

sounds like HIIT

goals=

mass
strength
feel/look good