Everyone knows staying fit is important, especially with obesity rates in America rising quickly. Want to work out, but don’t have any good ideas? There are many ways to work on your personal fitness, and this article describes some great ways to have fun while working out and staying healthy.
While exercising, find something that will take your mind off of the physical activity you’re doing. The reason people listen to music or watch television while working out is that it tricks your brain into thinking the time has flown by. Find a playlist you enjoy, or bring a book with you while on the treadmill.
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.
Don’t put all of your efforts into doing only crunches when working out abdominal muscles. A well-known university study found that only one pound of fat is burned after 250,000 crunches. Therefore, you are not maximizing your time if you are strictly doing crunches. Find other ways to exercise your abdominal muscles so you achieve the results you really want.
You should always work out with a partner. This is because they will give you motivation to actually go to the gym regularly. It is also important to bring them because they will spot you on things like a bench press so you do not end up hurting yourself.
A great fitness tip is to strengthen your abs. To do this, you do not need to work them out every single day. Abs are like all the other muscles of the body. They need recovery time. Therefore, you should aim to train your abs around two or three times per week.
If you are trying to exercise more ,you do not have to spend hours on the treadmill or elliptical. Try a new sport or brush up on unused skills. You could take tennis lessons, join a community softball team, or take up swimming. Not only will you learn something new, but your fitness level will increase and you may get social benefits as well.
Although wearing a weight belt is ideal during overhead presses, squats, and other maximal lifts, it should not be worn all the time. By training regularly while wearing the weight belt, you might actually decrease the effectiveness and tone of your abdominal and lower back muscles, therefore sacrificing your hard-earned muscular strength.
Don’t attempt to maximize your overall weight limit by adding a whole bunch of weights at once, without testing it. Try adding about 20 to 30% more than what you usually lift and then test, to see if you can handle that first. Start by lifting it off the rack and then holding it for a couple seconds and then placing it back onto the rack. After about 3 or 4 minutes, try your max and it should feel lighter than before. Never attempt this without a spotter, though.
If you change your grip methods when working on bench-pressing, lighten up! Decrease the weight you are using so that you do not inadvertently injure your shoulder muscles. Your muscles need time to prepare for extra weight, so work your way back up to the max every time you make a change.
Cut your running schedule in half occasionally. Overdoing it is never a good idea for your body, so every few months, take an entire week to halve your running schedule. You will give your body ample time to recover without losing any of the endurance or speed you gained earlier.
Get your whole family involved in fitness by having a family fitness day once a week. Go for a hike, swim or bike ride. Get involved in a football, baseball or soccer game with other friends and neighbors. Just make sure that you and your family take a day off at least once every week to have fun and play hard.
Many local colleges offer fitness programs, from yoga to aerobics, so give them a call to see if you can join. They are often offered for free or at a discount for students, but it might even be cheap enough as a non-student or alumni that it’s a better deal for you than at a local gym.
Try keeping a journal of your workout progress to help motivate yourself. For example, keep track of how much weight you can lift, how long you can run, or how fast you can run a given distance. Each session, focus on beating your previous bests. This is a great motivational tool that stops your workout from becoming stagnant.
Work out with someone who is at the same fitness level as you. It might be tempting to work out with your spouse or friend, but sometimes, if they’re far behind you, they can slow you down or possibly will end up not working out at all. It’s good to encourage other people to work out, but oftentimes, they won’t be at the same fitness level as you.
Jogging is a great way to build up stamina as you exercise. You must start slow and then gradually build up when jogging every week. Try to keep your heart rate at around 75% of your max, which is typically 120 to 150 beats per minute depending upon your age.
Increase your bench press by looking at your dominant hand. Studies have shown that you can actually bench press more if you look at your dominate hand, while keeping your head straight of course, as you perform the exercise. This doesn’t work for everyone, but it is worth a shot.
Staying fit can be difficult until you get in the habit of working out, but if you stick with it you will be rewarded with a great looking body. Hopefully you now have some great fitness ideas and are eager to apply them to your next run around the block or trip to the gym.