Physical fitness is important for many reasons. Being fit can make you more attractive, fight depression, improve self-esteem, and improve physical health. If you’d like to get fit but aren’t sure how to start, look no further! Read on for some easy tips to get started on fitness.
To stay fit, forget the phrase, “No pain, no gain!” This phrase is absolutely untrue! If you do a workout that causes you to suffer, you will be highly unlikely to continue to do it consistently. Instead of choosing exercise routines and forms of exercise that cause you distress, choose activities that you enjoy and want to do. Consistency is far more important in pursuing, attaining, and maintaining fitness than intensity.
Try to work out in the morning. Why? Anything can happen to you during the day that makes you tired, stressed and flat out reluctant to exercise. By starting your day with exercise, you get it out of the way and it’s done. You can go on with the rest of your day knowing you’ve already done something good for your body.
Be creative when starting a new fitness regimen. Many exercise forms exist that can give you a great workout with no gym membership required. You should find something that keeps you motivated and happy to continue with the activity.
Challenge yourself. Increase the amount of exercise that you do every day or every other day. You will eventually hit a plateau in your exercise routine and not be doing yourself any good when you get used to what you do normally. They always say ‘no pain, no gain’.
In order to achieve your fitness goals you should add resistance exercises to your workout regime. Types of resistance training include free weights, the exercise ball, exercise bands and workout machines. These types of exercises benefit your bones, boost your metabolism and increase fat loss. No fitness program is complete without resistance exercises.
You should change your fitness routine periodically so that you continue to benefit from exercising. If you use the same routine for too long your body becomes used to it and the benefits start to decrease. Adding a new exercise can also be fun and keep you from getting bored with your workouts.
Think outside the box when it comes to your weight loss and fitness goals. Instead of doing the same boring things like running, walking, push ups, etc. try something fun. Why not take a dance class? There are tons of fun classes you can take that will whip you into shape.
If you are walking on a treadmill for exercise, try not to hold onto the rails. You can touch them for balance but you should not have to hold on when walking or running. If you do have to hold on, you may want to consider lowering the intensity level as it may be too much.
If you are just starting out on the road to healthy living, avoid overdoing your exercising. Do not try to work out too vigorously. If you do, it will reduce your energy and may cause injury. Any exercise is an improvement to not exercising. So if you can only work out for 10 minutes, it is better than 10 minutes of not exercising.
If you are planning to track your consumption and activity levels throughout the day, you might consider downloading a weight loss app for your smartphone. Some apps offer calorie counting, nutritional value, customized meal plans, and other helpful tools that help you keep up. You can find hundreds of useful weight loss apps, many of which are either free or 99 cents.
Are you bored with your exercise habits? Try taking a social dance class. You’ll meet people and learn new skills while having fun and getting fit. Let your taste in music be your guide. Like country music? Go for clogging or square dancing. Prefer classical? Try English country dancing. Do you long for Latin music? Consider tango. Social dancing will banish your boredom!
If you have trouble with the word exercise and avoid it all costs, maybe you should call it something else. It could just be a psychological barrier that keeps you from reaching your full potential. So call it “mowing the lawn”� or “taking a breather”�, but whatever you decide to call it, it is sure to work.
Building forearm strength is easier than you might know and can be done almost anywhere. When you are finished with your newspaper, save a few sheets for working out. Place a sheet from the paper on a table or other flat surface. Simply start at one corner and crumple it into your hand, pulling the paper in as you go. Try to make this take about 30 seconds for maximum effect. Do this with both hands.
A great fitness tip is to make sure you’re breathing properly while lifting weights. A lot of people who are new to lifting weights don’t breathe properly. This makes them tired and clumsy. Always be sure to inhale and exhale properly whenever you decide to lift weights.
Remember that being fit does not mean having as much muscle as possible. It has been proven that having too much muscle actually causes harm to many organs including your heart. It is far more important to increase your overall body mass when considering fitness, and even with that you must be reasonable.
If you like running, but find yourself either bored or at a plateau, it might be a good idea to mix things up a bit. Try adding in a longer run to build endurance or change where you run to give you some different scenery to look at and make your run more interesting. If you run on a flat surface, adding some hills can also be nice change of pace, while adding some strength workout to your running.
Now that you know what you can do now to improve your fitness, the only thing left is to do it! Don’t let yourself forget about this article by tomorrow, start acting on what you’ve read now, and get into a habit that will improve your entire life! Good luck!