Fitness Tips

Fitness Tips - on Fitness & Exercise

• Short but hard resistance workouts (approximately 30 minutes will boost your metabolism.
  The affects of the workout means that you can still be burning more calories for up to 38 hours after completing the workout.
  
  
• Tight hamstrings can transfer stress directly to your back. Daily stretching of the hamstrings can help to relieve some types of back pain.
  
  
• Always combine stomach toning exercises, such as sit-ups with exercises that work the lower back. Whilst sit-up exercises are good for toning the stomach, if these are carried out on their own, then this can create an imbalance of strength between the back and the stomach.
  
  
• Core exercises for the deep abdominal muscles help to improve posture and pull everything in around the waist. The final ingredient is to maintain body fat at a low level with a good diet.
  
  
• Your fitness regime should be based around the 5 components of Physical Fitness. They are; Cardiovascular Endurance, Muscular Strength, Flexibility, Body Composition, Muscular Endurance
  
  
• One of the main reasons why people give up on exercise is that they don’t have any specific goal. This can also be a reason for not starting in the first place. If you don’t know what you are aiming for then the exercise seems pointless. Before you start, make sure you have a specific goal of what you want to achieve through you exercise regime. Measure your progress on the way to your goal. It’s amazing how much more motivated you will feel when you can see change happening.
  
  
• Always warm up thoroughly before starting any exercise. An efficient warm up should consist of a light physical activity such as jogging for 3 to 5 minutes, followed by some light dynamic stretching. This will warm up the muscles, raise body temperature and lubricate the joints helping to prevent injury and prepare you for your main workout session.
  
  
• Training with weights can help to keep you young. Recent studies in Canada have shown that regular resistance training with weights helps to improve strength and appears to reverse the signs of ageing in muscles. As little as 2 hours per week is all that is needed. This study helps to give credit to the value of exercise. The younger you start the better.
  
  
• Most people don’t value the importance of stretching after exercise. Flexibility training is extremely important and should never be left out of your workout. Here are some of the many benefits of flexibility exercises.
  > Increased range of motion
  > Reduced risk of joint and muscle sprains
  > Improve and develop body awareness
  > Improve posture
  
  
• To improve your fitness, it’s important to introduce progressive overload to your workouts. Progressive overload can be described as a change to your normal routine. The best way to identify when to apply an overload technique is when a particular exercise becomes too comfortable. It can be as simple as increasing your CV workout time by an extra 5 minutes or increasing the volume of your weights workout by adding an extra set. You can also make changes to your resting period between weights sets. Progressive overload prevents the plateau effect by keeping the body from fully adapting to your exercise regime and therefore increasing fitness. It’s necessary to review your complete routine every 6 weeks.
  
  
• When embarking on a new exercise regime remember to start off slowly and build up. A lot of people who are new to exercise start their training with maximum effort. This will only lead to muscle soreness and in some cases injury, which will seriously hamper your motivation. If you have not exercised before or not done anything for a long time then any exercise you start doing is an improvement on your previous lifestyle. So don’t go at it like a bull in a china shop, start off slowly, enjoy what you do so that you will keep it up.
  
  
• When working out with weights always train the larger muscle groups first, legs, chest and back before the smaller muscles in the shoulders and arms. Perform compound exercise movements (more than one movement), such as squats, chest press and bent over rowing first, before doing isolation movements such as machine leg extensions and leg curls. Save triceps, biceps and abdominal exercises until the end of your workout. Many of the smaller muscles are used as synergists with the larger muscles, so they generally get a workout before you have even started on them. That way you won’t tire so easily.
  
  
• Replace a coffee break with a brisk 10-minute walk. Ask a friend to go with you.
  
  
• Remember, if you are new to exercise or thinking of getting started, then start slowly and build up. Any exercise that is above and beyond your normal level of activity can be seen as a positive step, even if it’s only 10 minutes.
  
  
• If you don’t relish the thought of joining a gym, then why not get started at home. Get yourself a set of dumbbells, a stability ball and an exercise mat and you get started right away. Do your aerobic exercise outside by walking, jogging or cycling. 30 minutes a day is all you need to get started.
  
  
• People who want to get fit generally fall into 3 categories;
  a.Improve quality of life or health
  b.Improve physical appearance
  c.Training for a specific activity
  Which category do you fall into? It’s important for you to realise why you want to improve your fitness.
  
  
• Starting a workout campaign with a friend increases motivation. Monitor each others progress and organize a competition to see who achieves the best results. A small incentive like the loser pays for dinner or pays for the drinks on a night out etc. can add a new dimension to a fitness regime.
  
  
• One of the best all round exercises is the squat. It strengthens all the major muscles in the legs, buttocks and core abdominals. It also helps to improve balance. If you are new to squats, start with little or no weight and get the technique right.
  
  
• How many times have you pulled out from your workout because you don’t have enough time? Is this really a valid excuse? Just because you can’t do your usual 60-minute workout doesn’t mean you should give up because you are 15 or 20 minutes late. Exercising for the available time is better than not exercising at all. If working with weights, just do 2 sets instead of 3. If you are doing aerobic exercise, cut short the time but increase the intensity. Variation is good; it won’t do you any harm to have a short intense workout some of the time.

Fitness Tips - Weight - Fat Loss

• Did you know that 1lb of fat on your body is equivalent to 3500 calories? This is how much of a calorie deficit you will need to shed 1lb of excess fat.
  
  
• Drink at least 2 litres of water a day. Doing this will help you feel better mentally and physically. Water also increases your metabolism so you burn more calories. Thirst can often be mistaken for hunger. So before you snack on something have a drink of water and wait 10 minutes. You may find it will suppress your hunger.
  
  
• Losing weight isn’t just about reducing your calorie intake. You will see faster and better results by introducing exercise into your daily life. Cardiovascular exercise such as running, swimming, cycling and walking will help to burn fat. Resistance exercise, such as weight training will help to maintain muscle.
  
  
• To help lose body fat reward yourself, with a “cheat’ day once a week. On this day treat yourself to some of the foods that you have cut out as a reward for strictly following your plan. This can help keep you motivated and give you something to look forward to at the end of the week. But be sensible and don’t overdo it, otherwise you will undo all that hard work.
  
  
• If you are aiming for fat loss, be realistic. Aim to lose no more than 2lbs (1kg) per week. Any more than this is likely to be muscle and water. To get an accurate measure of your fat loss progress, always weigh yourself at the same time every week. Don’t just rate yourself on weight loss alone. Take measurements of your body, such as your waist, hips, thighs etc. and measure these at the same time every week. Even better, use body fat scales or skin fold measurements for a more accurate figure of fat loss. A gain in weight is not necessarily a bad thing. If you are exercising regularly, you can be gaining muscle and losing fat. But because muscle weighs more than fat, you often see in an increase in weight, but your body measurements will be getting smaller, indicating fat loss.
  
  
• Excess body fat is simply due to an imbalance between calorie input and calorie output. If calorie input, exceeds calorie output, then body fat will increase. Therefore to reduce body fat make sure that your calorie expenditure exceeds your calorie intake. Do this with regular exercise and a sensible balanced diet.
  
  
• To help you lose weight, one of the first things that you should do is keep a food diary for 7 days. This will help you see exactly how much you are eating. A lot of people are in denial when it comes to overeating, because they just don’t have a clue actually how much food passes their mouths. Once you have an idea, concentrate on cutting down, starting with the bad foods.
  
  
• Doing sit-ups on their own will not remove body fat from your the waist. You could have the strongest abdominal muscles ever, but if a layer of body fat covers them then they will not be visible. Only a combination of CV exercise, abdominal exercises and a healthy balanced diet will help to reduce overall body fat.
  
  
• Weight training could be the key to fat loss. A study at Ball State University in the US found that people who participated in a regular weight-training program (combined with aerobic exercise and diet) experienced weight loss due almost entirely of body fat. Where as people participating in purely aerobic exercise (and diet) experienced a weight loss due to a combination of lean muscle and body fat.
  
  
• The key to healthy weight loss is a combination of physical activity and proper nutrition, no magic formulas, pills or machines. Keeping it simple will help you to succeed. So remember, eat a sensible healthy diet with a variety of fresh meat, fish, fruit and vegetables and keep active.
  
  
• Do you know what you are eating? Before you start a healthy eating plan to aid weight loss, it’s important to know exactly, how much, what and when you are eating. Many people eat sub-consciously without really thinking what is going into their mouths. Think about what you are eating. It helps to write everything down for at least 7 days. You’ll be surprised at what you find.
  
  
• Running is one of the best exercises for weight management. 30 minutes running burns on average 300 calories at a light intensity. Increase that intensity to moderate and you are averaging 400. So, if you want to get slim, start running. It doesn’t have to be hell. Start at your own pace and build up. Combine running and walking together and go for time rather than distance.