Physical fitness is a lot more than simply appearing tond and healthy. Other important elements are your quality of life — and how long you live. You need to cultivate the mindset that allows you to make the changes needed to take care of yourself for life. Different types of exercises are available to keep your workouts fresh and interesting.
Fitness is something lots of people want, they life weights at home or the gym in their quest for better fitness. Realistically, the only exercises you really need to tone your muscles come down to six movements: push-ups, pull-ups, squats, leg raises, bridges and push-ups done in a hand-stand position.
Consider opening up your own garden. Gardening and yard work are more demanding than you would think. There is weeding, digging and there’s also a whole lot of squatting going on. Gardening is only one thing that can be done at home to stay in shape.
If you want to maximize your fitness results, count all calories taken in and burned through exercise. Knowing how many calories you consume a day is key because it determines whether you’ll lose weight or gain weight. Aim to eat enough calories to cover your basal metabolic rate while counteracting extra calories with exercise.
Strength Training
Depending on what goals you put in front of you will determine how much you have to put into strength training. If you are looking to build muscles and increase strength, your strength training session should be limited. Yet in order to get leaner you are going to want to do more strength training workouts.
To keep your knees protected, you need to start to work on strengthening your thighs. Torn ligaments behind the kneecaps are common sport injuries. The best way to protect your knees is to do exercises that not only workout your quads but also your hamstrings. Some examples of these exercises are leg curls and leg extensions.
Do not limit yourself to crunches to develop your abs. There is evidence showing that performing 250,000 crunches only burns a single pound of fat. Thus, crunches alone are clearly insufficient. Vary your abdominal exercises for superior results.
Like with any exercise, making sure your walking form is correct is an important factor in preventing injuries. Your shoulders should be back and your torso upright. Keep your elbows bent at a angle that is about 90 degrees. ideally the arms should be the direct opposite of your foot. Every time you take a step, make sure your heel touches the ground, then move the rest of your foot forward.
To stay enthusiastic about your workout routine, change it up often. Changing your routine gives you the opportunity to find new activities and classes that will motivate you to go to the gym. Try a dancing class or spinning. Look to classes such as a bootcamp class or kickboxing. Just try and stay active and try new things out, you never know what you might enjoy.
Record each thing you do on a daily basis. Keep notes on everything, including all exercise activities, food and beverages consumed, etc. You should even keep track of what the weather was like. This will allow you to get an objective view of your behavior. If you skip exercise on some days, jot down a note explaining why.
Continue to search for other ways of improving your fitness level to achieve the positive benefits of having a fit body. Applying the ideas and insights within the preceding paragraphs is among the many methods you can use to improve your fitness.