Whether you are just starting out on your personal fitness program or already deep in a fitness routine that works for you, you can always learn a little more about how to get fit and stay that way. Novelty is a big asset in fitness; finding new exercises and tricks can keep you from getting bored. Here are a few ideas for you to consider:
When you are weight lifting to increase fitness, it is always preferable to use free weights, not machines. This is because the free weights will allow you to build up the supporting muscles around the major muscle groups. Machines, instead, focus on very specific areas. You will see an increase in the amount of weight you can lift on the machine, but not as much strength as if you used free weights.
Stretch after you workout. Most people know to warm-up before they start their workout. Less know that you need to stretch afterwards as well. Resist the urge to leave the gym or just sit down and relax once you’re finished. Taking the time to stretch will keep you limber and maximize the effect of your workout.
Keep your neck safe when you are doing crunches by sticking your tongue to your upper palate. It also helps if you look at the ceiling instead of at your legs. This helps you to focus energy on those core muscles that should be getting the workout, not your neck.
When lifting weights, start off by working smaller muscle groups at the beginning of your workout. Small muscles wear out before the big ones, so you should start small. By doing this, your smaller, more delicate muscle groups can rest while you work out your larger muscles.
Buy several sets of exercise clothes making sure one item matches all of the rest. Why spend time searching through your closet and drawers for something that matches when you could be using that time to exercise? No one really cares what you are wearing so base your exercise clothing choices on convenience rather than vanity.
Use the stairs instead of the elevators whenever you can. Stair climbing is a great way to get a little exercise during the day. A few flights of stairs can give you a good workout for your heart and legs. When you do this throughout the day at work, you would be surprised at how much exercise you are able to fit in by the time you leave for home.
Instead of only doing seated calf raises or only doing standing calf raises, mix it up! Calves are actually made up of two separate muscles. By doing both straight-leg reps and bent-leg reps, you are ensuring that both muscles in your calves are getting a proper workout. This will allow you to see noticeable results much sooner.
By making a few minor modifications to your bench pressing routing, you can target different areas of the body. To focus on your chest muscles, try to squeeze the bar inward. You can switch the focus to your triceps by performing close-grip reps while squeezing the bar away from you or outward.
Don’t just focus strength building on machine weights. It takes a couple of years to actually see an increase of strength on these types of machines. Studies also show that many older adults who rely them had a 3.5% loss of strength in everyday activities.
To get the most optimum weight workout possible, keep your sessions to sixty minutes or less. If you continue your weight workout past the hour mark, your body actually starts creating more cortisol, a stress hormone, which can block testosterone and actually waste your muscles instead of building them.
When you are performing leg presses, push off with your toes instead of your whole feet. You will be working your legs much harder than usual, and results will appear much quicker. Using your toes exercises muscles that usually do not see too much action, so they are quicker to react than others.
Making exercise a priority is one of the main ingredients of a successful exercise program. It is just too easy to rationalize putting exercise off. When one thinks about it as there being numerous tasks we have to complete during the day and we can always exercise afterwards, this results in exercise being put off indefinitely and a failed program.
If you are looking to build the quadriceps muscle, a great choice is leg extension exercises. An easy exercise that most gyms have at least one or two of is leg extensions. To use these machines, you just push your legs upward when you are sitting.
In order to work out the best, you should have energy. Eat foods daily that are proven to give you energy. This will increase the amount of time you want to workout. Over time, you should gradually increase the amount of time you workout from 20 minutes to an hour.
For large arms, perform bicep curls and triceps extensions. Biceps and triceps make up the majority of arm mass and can be easily worked out with curls and triceps extensions. Using preacher curls, an exercise where you hold a barbell very close to the middle and curl it as you would a dumbbell, are very useful for establishing forearm strength as well.
Exercise is a wonderful way to enhance flexibility, mobility, strength and balance. In turn, this helps to improve posture, balance and coordination. Also adding in strength training can help to alleviate symptoms of some chronic conditions like arthritis. Being a stronger, more flexible person can help anyone to live a more productive life.
Hopefully these tips have given you some fresh fitness ideas to chew on. Looking out for your personal fitness is a process that goes on forever. Far from being a bad thing, this means you can always be a little more fit! Take the ideas from this article that you think will work for you and enjoy your regime more than ever.