Many people find staying in shape to be a daunting task. The mere thought of working out 1 hour a day 7 days a week feels like too much commitment. This article will provide you with several easy ways to get in shape. You will find that these simple exercises do not feel like much work at all, and you will feel healthier in no time.
When working out, do not waste your time doing too many crunches. If you find yourself doing more than 3 sets of 15 crunches a workout session, you are wasting your time. Studies have found that doing more than that is completely useless. You are simply wasting valuable energy that could be directed to working out a different part of your body.
If you’re trying to get in better shape, don’t bother exercising when you have a cold, the flu, or another illness your body needs to fight off. Why? Your body has different priorities than you do — when you’re sick, it will try to restore your health before it will devote any resources to muscle-building.
Exercising can be hard when you have a very busy schedule. Separate workouts into 2 sessions. You don’t have to workout for a longer period of time; just split one workout in half. Rather than getting an hour’s worth of running in at once, try half before work and half later in the day. If you don’t want to hit the gym twice in one day you can do one gym workout, and one outside workout.
You need to strengthen your thigh muscles if you want to protect your knees. One of the most common sports injuries is a torn ligament behind the kneecap. Stretching and warming up before strenuous exercises like running or strength training will keep your knees pliable and less prone to injury. Leg extensions, leg curls, squats, and lunges are all exercises that will work the upper leg muscles.
For sleeker looking arms, try exercises designed to improve your posture. Most posture exercises work all the major muscles in the arm, allowing them to be strengthened and toned. Try extending your arms until they’re at shoulder height, with your elbows bent and palms up. Hold this position for at least 5 seconds, then release and repeat. Performing this exercise at least 3 times weekly should have you standing straighter and leave your arms looking great.
Join the kids at night for a quick game of tag, hide and seek, or some other physically active game. The time will fly away as you forget the troubles of the day and marvel in the energy that kids seem to just radiate. That energy is catching! Use their playfulness to your advantage in your quest to get fit.
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.
Make sure to find shoes that will fit your feet. Feet are normally a bit larger in the evenings, so that is the right time to purchase new shoes. This technique ensures that your shoes will be comfortable even well into a workout. Your toes should have room to move around.
If you find an exercise that you do not enjoy doing, start doing it. A lot of times, the reason that you do not like or enjoy the exercise is that you are weak at it. If you begin doing the exercise regularly, your strength will increase in the muscles that you use, and you may find that you actually enjoy doing the exercise.
When you are performing chin-ups, you should imagine pulling your elbows down as hard as you can. Do not think about pulling yourself up because this will make the exercise seem harder. When thinking about pulling your elbows down, chin-ups seem a lot more doable. Watch your numbers go up as you apply this technique.
To get the optimal muscle growth following a weight workout, make sure to eat a protein shake immediately following your session. It’s been found that people who eat immediately following their workouts (within five minutes) increase their muscles, but those that wait and eat the shake hours afterwords tend to not have as much muscle growth.
If you’re trying to encourage your kids to exercise, make sure you don’t push them to do too much too fast. Try to build up the amount of exercise they’re getting. If they’re used to be couch potatoes, try starting with something easy like biking or swimming, instead of having them run two miles. If they feel it’s too hard from the get-go, they’ll dig their feet in and try and fight you.
Make sure that the shoes you wear for your workout actually fit well. Shoes with a proper fit will help to prevent injury and fatigue, as well as ward off nasty blisters. You should be able to comfortably wiggle your toes, but not shift your foot back and forth inside the shoe.
Help your muscles repair themselves. After a workout, your muscles require time to fix themselves up again, but they also need good blood flow and nutrients. To help your body provide these things, get up and move around. Dance, jump, or just briskly walk to increase blood flow to the places your body needs it most.
Straighten your arms completely for curls. Most people will only straighten their arms most of the way before returning them to the starting position at the chest. However, if you extend your arm all the way out to the sides, it will be very beneficial to your range of motion and flexibility.
In summary, losing weight and staying healthy does not have to feel like a chore. By taking these small steps and just a few minutes out of each day, you will see awesome results. You will be amazed at how healthy you will feel. Your mind and body will thank you.