Regular exercise is associated with a whole host of psychological, physical, and emotional benefits, and can have a tremendous impact on one’s overall wellbeing. Many times, however, we can struggle with incorporating enough exercise into our lives. Here are some practical tips.
When using weight lifting to build fitness, be careful of your form. If you use good form while lifting, you can strengthen the muscles around your joints and reduce daily pain. Using poor form will not only not harm your aching joints, it can actually lead to serious injuries.
Be sure to wear shoes that fit to aid you in your fitness routine. Ill-fitting shoes will cause multiple problems including blisters, ankle pain, knee pain, hip pain, and an number of other issues. If you think your shoes may be causing problems, first be sure that they are not too old, as shoes can have a wear-in pattern. Also, check with a physical therapist or podiatrist as they may be able to provide you with inserts for your shoes.
Swimming is an excellent low impact form of exercise that will help with weight loss. It will help you to burn calories, and get your body into shape. Swimming is also easier on people who have joint or muscle pain. When in the water you don’t need to do a high impact workout, which can cause people pain.
When running as part of your exercise routine you need to give yourself a break every now and then. Cut your weekly training frequency and mileage in half one out of every six weeks. This will allow your body a better chance to recover, and will help to keep away permanent injuries.
To really get some great legs, add some standing and sitting calf raises to your exercising routine. Doing both sitting and standing versions, work out both sets of muscles in the legs. Adding these to your workout will not only make your legs look great, but will allow you to get better results than with other leg exercises.
Choose the best time to exercise. While most people like to get exercise out of the way in the morning, sometimes it’s better to wait. Lung function peaks in most people between 4pm and 5pm, so this may be better for you. Interestingly, midday is the time when exercise returns the lowest lung function. That being said, you should exercise at a time that suits you – your body will indicate that to you.
Build up your abs through dead lifts and squats. These sets of exercises really provide your abdominal muscles with a thorough workout that really puts them to work and builds them up quickly. Another benefit to doing these regularly is that they also help to improve your entire body’s posture.
Keep your back in mind since it is often neglected during exercise. Strong back muscles can control your posture, your ability to do other exercises and even how far your belly protrudes. Make sure to do some aerobic exercise before back exercises so your muscles are somewhat warm and limber.
If you have access to an old large tire, such as one off of a piece of farm or construction equipment, it can be used in fitness exercises. One such exercise is, flipping the tire over and over again for a certain distance. The resulting work out will greatly improve fitness.
Are you bored with your exercise habits? Try taking a social dance class. You’ll meet people and learn new skills while having fun and getting fit. Let your taste in music be your guide. Like country music? Go for clogging or square dancing. Prefer classical? Try English country dancing. Do you long for Latin music? Consider tango. Social dancing will banish your boredom!
A great fitness tip is to start performing lat pulldowns. In almost every gym you’ll find a lat pulldown machine. Lat pulldowns are a great way to build up your lat muscles. If you have a few different attachments you can work multiple areas of the muscle.
Be sure that you are getting enough protein in your diet. Protein is crucial to the development of your body and the growth of your cells. It is the energy source that keeps you going throughout the day. Protein is available from both animal and plant sources, so it is not difficult to incorporate enough protein in your meals.
Rest is critical to any fitness program or regimen. Ensure that you are getting the proper amount of sleep (6-8 hours per night, depending on your particular age and body type). In addition to regular, nightly sleep, you will need to build periods of rest into your exercise schedule to avoid damaging your joints, overloading your muscles and injuring yourself.
Practice your running form. Your feet should always hit the ground directly under your body, not in front of, or behind you. Your toes should be the way you propel yourself forward, not the ball of your foot or the heel. Getting running form correct is the best way to maximize your running potential.
You should avoid sit-ups and crunches in positions which anchor your feet. There is a vast array of variations on these basic ab exercises, and not all of them are created equal. When you anchor your feet to exercise your abs you are placing undue stress on your lower back. This reduces the effectiveness of the exercise and puts you at risk of injury.
There are other ways to get a good workout without having to go the gym all the time. There are methods that you can do at home that will save you time and money. For instance, if you live in an apartment building with an elevator, take the stairs instead.
People who exercise on a regular basis often notice a dramatic improvement in their mood, energy level, and stamina. The health benefits of regular exercise are well documented. We hope this article has been of use to you as you seek to make physical fitness a priority in your life!