The word fitness actually includes several different major ideas. These are exercise, nutrition and overall well being. You can not only focus on one of these areas while neglecting the others and expect to be completely fit. This article will present you with some ideas on how to incorporate all three topics and be in the best shape of your life.
Give yourself the gift of accountability by signing up for a fitness class at your local gym. By having a place, time and people who you can count on, you will be more likely to stick with it. It becomes something that you look forward to and have fun doing.
Before starting your workout, always remember to warm up, as this will prepare your muscles for physical activity. Spend five minutes performing a low intensity version of your main workout, and incorporate stretching exercises. This will increase your body temperature, and increase blood flow to your muscles, making them much more flexible.
Keep track of your workouts. Keeping a daily or weekly log, tracking all of your workouts, ensures that you are making progress in your exercises and it will help hold you accountable. Write down things, such as duration, frequency, weight sizes and sets, reps and how your workout made you feel.
It is very important to align your neck when you do crunches. In order to make sure your neck is in the correct position to do sit-ups or crunches, place the tongue onto the roof of your mouth. Placing your tongue in this position will help take the strain off of your neck.
If there are some exercises you don’t enjoy, make sure you push yourself to get them done. People sometimes avoid working their weakest muscles, because the exercise is harder. Conquer what your weakness is in exercising, incorporating those exercises into your workout routine.
Keep your body measuring on a regular schedule. You need to keep track of your progress after a set amount of time and keep doing it to see what is working and what is not. It is recommended that you measure every four weeks or so. Take measurements of waist size, body fat, etc. Seeing these numbers will give you motivation to stay on track and achieve your goals.
Think like the tortoise and not necessarily the hare! For some people long periods of slow low-intensity exercise can be more beneficial than short bursts of activity. Take a long walk with your mate in the evenings, play a game of croquet, or show your stuff in a game of horse shoes. Do something that relieves your mind while slowly exercising your body.
You should consider cardio fitness exercises as part of your training. These exercises refer to one of the most important organ systems of our bodies: the heart and the blood vessels. Cardio fitness training helps to keep a healthy weight and reduces the chance of chronic diseases by temporarily increasing the body’s need for oxygen.
You will not lose fat by only working out your abdominal muscles. Studies have shown that it takes around 250,000 crunches to burn just one pound of fat. That is the equivalent of you doing 100 crunches everyday for 7 years straight. Instead of doing all that work, have a variety of areas targeted in your workout and you will see more instantaneous results.
A great way to build endurance and fitness is to run up and down hills. Hills are very challenging because of distance and of steep incline. A good way to run up hill is to keep your head up and to focus on the top of the hill.
Increase the speed of your strides, not the distance. When you shorten your stride but up the speed, you will have better form and increase your endurance. You can always move back to longer strides later, but to reap the benefits of a better run, speed up and take smaller steps.
If you plan on exercising longer than an hour you need to consume between 45 and 60 grams of carbohydrates per hour of exercise. This will help your body work more efficiently, as your body can only store so many carbohydrates. Once these carbohydrates have been used, you will feel physically and mentally exhausted.
A good way to help you get fit is to become a golf caddie. While it may be an unorthodox way of getting in shape, it definitely works because of the sheer amount of walking you have to do. You also have to carry equipment, which makes it tougher.
Give a TV workout a try if you want to avoid falling into a rut. You can either turn on a fitness-themed channel or find an on-demand fitness show for your workout. Trying new movements or working out to random shows can keep you motivated and curious. If there aren’t any fitness shows on TV, you should go out an purchase a couple of fitness DVDs to watch at home.
A very good tip in reaching a well rounded physically fit body is to do exercises that you tend to dislike. You probably dislike it because you are weak at it and the only way to strengthen that part of your body is to exercise and do the work out associated to it.
Protect your neck at all times when you are working out. It is easy to hurt your neck when doing exercises like abdominal crunches, and a neck injury can prevent you from being able to workout for weeks. Keep the tongue firmly on the roof of the mouth when doing sit-ups. This helps keep the head straight and reduces strain on the neck.
All three of these areas are very important for fitness and they tend to feed into one another. As you start to become more fit in your own life you will probably even begin to enjoy eating healthier and working out more. Hopefully the tips you found here will help to get you started on this.