Overall fitness isn’t just about cardio. Although cardio is a major component of weight loss and heart health, it is important to incorporate strength training into your fitness regimen. Strength training builds muscle mass and helps you burn more calories post-workout. Follow these strength-training tips to amp up your workout and get a complete workout.
If you want to improve your overall fitness, start counting your calories. Knowing how many calories you consume a day is key because it determines whether you’ll lose weight or gain weight. If your calorie consumption is at your maintenance level without exercise, and you lose calories by exercising, you are going to be lean and fit very quickly.
A good tip to help you get fit is to invest in a shaker bottle. Shaker bottles are great because they allow you to make a protein shake on the fly. By bringing one with you to the gym, you’ll always be able to get your proper post-workout nutrition.
Make sure you’re using the proper forms when you’re exercising. If you try to cut corners, you’re only cheating yourself. Cutting corners means you’re not going to get the full benefit of your workout. Not only that, but you risk injuring yourself and putting your fitness goals in the toilet.
Stubborn beer belly? Unfortunately, situps and crunches alone are not sufficient to lose stomach flab. Studies show that it would take an estimated quarter of a million crunches to actually burn a single pound of fat. Your best bet is to combine abdominal exercises with aerobic workouts and dietary changes.
You should not work your abdominal muscles every day that you work out. Ab muscles are like the other muscles in your body. You should try to work your abdominal muscles only two to three times a week. Use your days off from ab exercises to work on other muscles in your body.
Don’t underestimate the power of the television or music players. Allowing yourself to get lost in a juicy subplot or high-energy dance mix allows you to continue to workout without allowing the physical exertion to overwhelm you or put you in a negative state of mind. Better yet, schedule your gym trips during your favorite sitcom. Your thoughts will be glued to the screen, even if your feet are glued to the elliptical machine.
You can use common household items as weights without having to go to the gym. Milk jugs make a fabulous weight for lifting. Hold a jug in each hand and do lunges down the hall. You can also lift it repeatedly over your head or from your side to straight out. You will slowly start to build up more strength over time.
Add your workout to your daily schedule, and follow it. Many people say that they do not have the time to exercise, but if you add it to your calendar and try it out, you will probably find that you still accomplished everything else you had to do. Lose the excuse, and get to work!
Play a game or two. Video games, and tabletop games like foosball, table hockey, and ping pong, have all shown to be excellent ways to improve your hand-eye coordination. If you play a sport of any kind, you will need to improve on this, so pick up your game remote or a paddle!
If you want to be a better tennis player, enhance your ability to change your focus quickly from far away to near by. This simulates the same focus it takes to hit a ball, and then react to a ball hit by your opponent. Soon you will be beating your opponent with ease!
Make sure you get plenty of sleep. Sleeping is essential for all life. While you sleep, your body undergoes repairs that it could not normally do while you are awake. Your heart rate is also lowered, and you are in your most relaxed state. This is important when working out.
It is a known fact that a person should not use just machine weights in their workout routine. Many studies have shown that while using exercise machines can increase strength by up to 34 percent, it can also decrease strength for everyday activities by 3.5 percent.
Strength training is important when trying to help joint pain. Because the main reason for joint pain is weakness or lack of flexibility, working out can help improve your joint pain. Working out also helps to strengthen your joints. It is important that you do not stop working out just because the pain has subsided.
If being fit is something that you strive for, giving yourself small, achievable goals can go a long way to helping you become fit. Try running up and down your hallway or once or twice a day or doing lunges or sit-ups during commercial breaks of your favorite TV show. Small goals are easy to meet, easier to commit to, and can make all the difference in being able to keep up with a fitness plan.
Dance your way to better health and fitness. Nothing beats dance for being a fun way to lose weight and get your cardiovascular system in top shape. Put on your favorite song and just start moving. It really is that simple. Create your own workout based on your favorite songs.
You can use simple things around your house to do exercises when you can’t go to the gym. Do push-ups against the wall. A chair can be used as a steadying point for doing leg lifts. Lift heavy objects like jugs of milk or canned goods.
To reach your fitness goals more quickly, follow this one tip : Move through mud. This means visualize yourself making all of your movements as if you were submerged in mud, try it. You’ll see that you put much more effort into each movement and involve more muscles, increasing the burn more quickly, and thus, your improvement.
Obviously, there are many options when it comes to working strength moves into your fitness routine. Keep doing your cardio, but additionally, choose any number of the tips mentioned to keep your muscles strong and prevent injury. Not only will you increase your calorie burn, but you’ll have awesome muscle definition to boot.