Have you started exercising and want to improve your fitness? Not sure what is best to do? This is the article for you: a comprehensive and effective guide that will help you get back in shape.
Steps
Step 1. Do some research
If you want to truly improve your fitness, you need to gather information about your goal. You might start by looking for which fats are good and which are bad or what exercises to do to improve a particular area of the body and for how long. All these indications are very useful for creating an effective training program and for knowing precisely what to do to be in good physical shape.
Step 2. Follow your training routine faithfully
Plan a fitness program that's right for you, based on the information you've gathered from your research. Consult a personal trainer if you have the opportunity; will be able to provide you with a specific training plan for your needs. Once you have established your training routine, it is important to follow it faithfully without exempting yourself from your daily duty. An example of a program could be:
- Monday - abs or other core strengthening exercises and leg training
- Tuesday - cardio workout and arm and leg exercises;
- Wednesday - rest;
- Thursday - exercises for all muscle groups;
- Friday - cardio workout;
- Saturday - rest;
- Sunday - weights and bodyweight exercises.
Step 3. Don't forget to stretch after each workout
Step 4. Eat a healthy diet
Taking into account your calorie intake is essential for improving your fitness. Don't eat to cope with a bad mood, eat when you're hungry and then burn those extra calories to prevent them from building up in the form of excess fat in your body. Small changes, like eating an apple instead of a saturated fat snack, drinking water instead of a soda, slightly reducing portions, etc., can make a huge difference. Drink at least 30-50 cl of water when there is half an hour until your next meal or snack. This is a ploy that helps you feel full by eating less. Following a balanced diet is very important if you want to improve your physical constitution and keep yourself in good shape over time. Exercising without providing the body with the necessary fuel leads to negative results because instead of decreasing fat will increase in response to the lack of nutrients. Try following the "South Beach" diet, it can help you reduce fat mass and improve your fitness. You should ensure your body is getting the right amount of protein every day.
Step 5. Exercise
To have a healthier and more beautiful body and to keep fit over time, you should do different types of exercises. To increase strength and endurance, work each muscle group so that muscle fibers break during training and then strengthen while at rest. The key to having stronger muscles is to do high intensity exercises and increase the number of sets or repetitions over time. Let's say you did 50 sit-ups yesterday, today you could increase the number to 55. However, remember that the increase must be gradual; it is not possible to conquer a body builder physique overnight. If you are able to watch a TV show while exercising, it means that you are not training hard enough and you are not demanding the most of your muscles. These are some of the exercises you can practice to challenge them: thigh and leg squats, backward leg lifts, push-ups, pull-ups, bicep curls, sprints, sit-ups, and other core exercises. Make sure you do different types of exercises to strengthen all parts of the body. Be careful not to overwork yourself; if you don't give your muscles time to rest and get stronger, you will end up feeling exhausted and exercising will become difficult. Also, you may get cramps.
Play a sport. In addition to acquiring new skills, you will see your fitness improve. The next time you have the chance to participate in a team football or boxing competition, grab the chance
Step 6. Try circuit training
If you want to be in great physical shape, it may be the right solution for you. Circuit training is a training technique that includes different exercises to train all parts of the body in rotation. The aim is not only to have a proportionate and beautiful body to look at, but also to prevent injuries. For example, if you train your biceps by doing the curl exercise with 40kg weights, but have weak lower back muscles, you could hurt your back! With circuit training you can alternate between push-ups and pull-ups for the arms, sit-ups for the core, squats for the thighs, backward leg lifts for the legs, sprints for resistance, crunches for the abdominals and an exercise to strengthen the muscle bands of the back.
Step 7. Don't give too much credit to advertisements
The truth is, you should ignore all those commercials promoting exercise equipment, supplements, and foods that are useless to the body. It is certainly not easy, you want to improve your fitness with all of yourself so you would like to get hold of all those tools to take advantage of them. But this is the exact reason why so many companies offer these products, they know they will sell them with ease. Stick to proven methods and items, such as treadmills, jump ropes, step boards, benches, and dumbbells. Instead of buying expensive supplements, avoid overdoing fat and go for foods that speed up your metabolism.
Step 8. Don't lose sight of the other important things in your life
If you have to take an exam soon, focus your attention on studying and reduce the time you spend exercising. Don't quit completely, however, or your progress will suffer.
Step 9. Stay motivated
Sometimes you may not feel like getting tired by exercising and the reason may be that you don't feel stimulated. See how your sports idols never give up and push their limits. Try listening to your favorite tunes while exercising to find the strength to step out of your comfort zone. Post success stories and positive quotes on the wall so that you can see them while exercising. Another way to stay motivated is to exercise in the company of other people. Join a group for the opportunity to meet people with the same wishes and goals as you. Seeing that other people manage to stay consistent and achieve positive results will give you the boost you need to do the same.
Step 10. Value your progress
Periodically evaluate your fitness. You can use a physical reference, such as your bicep size, or time, for example how long you can run a kilometer. Record this data. Seeing that there has been an evolution or knowing how much you need to improve will stimulate you to stay constant and motivated. However, remember that these are long-term goals and your body doesn't necessarily improve every single day, so try to be patient.
Advice
- When you are bored, don't try to solve the problem by eating. Exercise more or review what you have studied. Never waste your time because there is no way to get it back.
- Try to eat healthier. It is said that one can achieve half of Bruce Lee's fitness by simply following a good diet. To become exactly like him, you also need to exercise.
- Combine aerobic, anaerobic and circuit training for good results.
- When you try to improve your fitness, others may make fun of you and you may lose friends. Do not listen to their judgments, they will stop when they see the results you have achieved. However try to keep yourself sociable as well as in good physical shape.
- Drink plenty of water every day to keep your body hydrated.
- Try to be patient, the results will come at the right time even if you can speed up the times by training hard.
- Don't be influenced by commercials - you will waste a lot of money, anger your parents and feel sad when you realize that there were many cheaper and more effective alternatives. Two bottles filled with stones are as good as expensive weights.
- Do not overwork or your muscles will not have a way to strengthen.
- Motivation is an essential factor to achieve any type of goal, but especially to be able to have a lean and fit body.
- Play a sport, for example football.
Warnings
- Remember that there is a world beyond physical training.
- Do not overexert your body and consult your doctor if you feel pain.
