The Best Ways To Get A Fit Body
The word fitness actually includes several different major ideas. These are exercise, nutrition and overall well being. You can not only focus on one of these areas while neglecting the others and expect to be completely fit. This article will present you with some ideas on how to incorporate all three topics and be in the best shape of your life.
If you want to get in shape, you will want to exercise on a regular basis. Instead of just exercising every once in a while, set up a regular time for you to exercise and do it every day or every other day until it becomes a habit. The more you exercise the better shape your body will be in and the better you'll feel.
If you want to get exercise to lose weight, but are lacking a workout friend, get a dog that loves to walk. Dogs are usually raring to go for a walk and don't complain when they are tired (though they might slow down or lay down to give you a hint). So buy or borrow a dog - now you have a built in work-out buddy!
A great way to help you get fit is to start drinking coffee before your workouts. The caffeine will provide you with a boost of energy that will give you a better workout. Avoid getting coffee drinks from places such as Starbucks because their drinks tend to be loaded with sugar and fat.
Instead of only doing seated calf raises or only doing standing calf raises, mix it up! Calves are actually made up of two separate muscles. By doing both straight-leg reps and bent-leg reps, you are ensuring that both muscles in your calves are getting a proper workout. This will allow you to see noticeable results much sooner.
Improve your balance. Stand on a cushion or pillow, using one leg. Hold a medicine ball, or another heavy object such as a milk jug or phone book, and transfer it from hand to hand, behind your head, and side to side. As soon as this becomes easy, do it with your eyes closed. Improving your balance will help with body control and coordination, attributes which will help your athletic performance.
If you're training for a marathon, keep this strategy in mind: start slow for the first third of the marathon, in the middle third run at a comfortable pace, and run slightly faster in the last third of the race. This will help your body maintain its strength and power the entire length of the marathon.
When planning your exercise routine, put in resistance first and the aerobic exercise last. When exercising glycogen is used first and then fat is used for energy. Glycogen will be used for the energy for resistance exercises. Doing aerobic exercise next will help you to burn more fat because the stored glycogen has already been used.
You can prevent illness if it is really difficult for you to exercise during the week or if you just don't do it at all by adding two 20 minute aerobic or weight workout sessions to your weekly schedule. This small amount of exercise can help you avoid sick days.
To increase your running speed, you should try to increase your running stride speed. Do not try to increase the strides length. When running, your foot should always touch under your body, not in front of you. For propulsion, be sure to push off using the toes on your rear leg.
To improve your fitness regime you should try to increase your swimming speed. You can do this by increasing the flexibility of your feet. When you have flexible feet, you can propel through the water faster. To increase this flexibility, you should sit on the floor with bare feet. Stretch out your legs with your heels on the floor. Point your toes out as much as you can and then flex them toward your shins as much as possible. Do this for one minute.
To prevent injury during bench presses, give the bench itself a test by pushing your finger into the bench cushion itself. If while pressing the cushion you can touch the wood in the bench, move to another one. Benches that are hard can actually cause spine misalignment which affects the nerves in your arms and weakens them.
Exercising with a weight belt on is not as helpful as commonly thought. While you may think that you are increasing your strength by wearing a weight belt, you are actually doing just the opposite. It's been found that consistently wearing weight belts while exercising actually weakens your lower-back and abdominal muscles.
Instead of depriving your body of the positive benefits physical fitness has to offer, keep on looking for methods of improving your body. The benefits will enhance your quality of life. Use the tips you just read to continue working on your fitness goals.
