Fitness means keeping your body in good physical shape. Learning the tips in this article will give you easy-to-follow advice on how to maintain a trim and toned physique. Staying fit not only keeps you looking young and great, it is the best way to prevent injury. Don’t neglect your body! Follow these fitness tips.
When training with weights, it is very important to keep your workouts under one hour in length. After lifting weights for 60 minutes, your body starts producing an excess amount of the stress hormone cortisol. Cortisol has a testosterone-blocking effect and can cause you to lose muscle. If you want to increase muscle size and strength, keep your workouts short and intense.
Making use of your own backyard is a great way to add to your exercise plan and become more fit overall without having to travel to the gym or to your local studio. There are a variety of workouts that you can tailor to your own situation, backyard arrangements and time constraints in order to maximize your space and get great fitness results.
Most people know the importance of stretching before a workout, but many do not hold their stretches long enough. Younger people should opt for a minimum of 30 seconds for each stretch. When you are topping 40 it becomes important to hold for at least 60 seconds because muscles are less pliable as we age. Allow time in your routine for full stretching.
If you think that you have an excuse not to exercise, than you should try to schedule a specific time of the day to exercise and stick to it. At the end of the day you should determine whether your excuse was true or not. Most likely your excuse was not true.
When working with weights, start with smaller machines first. Your smaller muscles get tired before larger ones do, so it makes sense to start with dumbbells or barbells before the bigger machines, for example. That way, when you move to working out the larger muscles, your more delicate muscles can take a break.
One of the easiest ways to get more fit is to pick-up a sport! When you are playing a sport, chances are you will not even realize you are working out, since you will be having fun at the same time! Being active and exercising is more fun – when you don’t realize you are doing it.
Calculate the total amount of weight you lift, multiplying that by the number of repetitions, and multiplying that by the amount of sets you do. Try to beat your total the next time you work out. This is a great incentive and will help you to work up a sweat!
Before starting any exercise or fitness programs, it is a good idea to see your physician for a full physical. Your doctor can make sure that you are in good enough health to start a high intensity training program without being in any danger of hurting yourself. Your doctor will also take weight and blood pressure measurements so that, later on, you will be able to look back and see the improvements you have made.
Even after you get comfortable and experienced with your fitness routine, you should limit intense weight training workouts to no more than an hour at a time. When your muscles are subjected to extreme stress, your body begins producing cortisol. This is a hormone that interferes with your body’s testosterone balance and reduces or eliminates the benefits of continued weight training.
To make sure you get the best fitting footwear for your workouts, be sure to go shopping in the afternoon instead of the morning. As the day progresses, your feet actually become larger. If you shop in the morning, you may find yourself wearing some very uncomfortable workout shoes by the time you put them on for your evening session.
Make sure to replace your workout shoes after a while to avoid having major knee injuries. It is generally suggested that you determine an expiration date of sorts on your workout shoes. To calculate this, figure that shoes generally last for about 500 miles. Take the number 500 and divide it by your weekly mileage to see how long your shoes should last.
Don’t forget to stretch before and after you exercise. Stretching before you start will help you warm up and avoid injury. Remembering to stretch after you exercise will keep you from feeling sore afterwards. Both a warm up and a cool down is important to avoid injury and discomfort.
There are some great programs available for people who are trying to improve their running skills. There are even some applications for smart phones, which can be used in order to help you track your running progress as well as your pace and calories burned per each run that you do.
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.