Maintaining good physical fitness is an important part of a healthy lifestyle; keeping fit can help you live longer, look younger, and feel better. Memorizing lengthy exercise books or trying to follow complicated regimens can be daunting, but the useful pointers in this article will help you achieve and maintain fitness and better health.
If you want to give your fitness a boost, get into walking. For increased effort, walk by pushing off your heel and going to your toe. You can also work your arms when walking by keeping your elbows bent and swinging them after each step.
If you’re a runner and you run often, you’re going to want to replace your running shoes roughly ever 400-500 miles. That may seem like a lot, but if you’re running on a regular basis those miles add up quickly. This is to insure that your shoes remain comfortable and aren’t causing you blisters or leaving you prone to twisting your ankle.
One way to get the most out of your fitness routine is to be sure to feed your muscles carbohydrates and protein shortly after working out. This will ensure that your muscles are replenished and also that they are not sore for the next day. A good idea would be to keep an orange with you in your workout bag, and possibly a can of tuna fish once you are out of a public area.
A great way to get fit is to post your progress pictures on an online forum such as bodybuilidng.com. Other people will be able to critique how you’re doing, and can help steer you in a better direction. Posting pictures is also a great way to get motivation.
If you’re exercising to lose weight and find it hard to commit to an hour at a time, break it up into small chunks. You can get 4 mini-workouts throughout the day, and that way you don’t spend a lot of time and still manage to get your body moving.
To exercise your calf muscles, try heel ups. All you have to do is stand up like normally. Then raise your body on the tips of your toes. Then slowly lower yourself back down. Repeat this 10 times for three sets. Doing this is similar to a pushup, but for your legs instead of your arms.
One of the most effective ways to increase your swimming speed is to fully develop your ankles’ flexibility. Think of your feet as flippers, which must be able to extend and flex as you propel yourself through the water. Before your water workout, sit down and grab your feet, flexing them away and from your body and holding each position for one minute.
If cycling is your exercise mode of choice, you can increase the efficiency, endurance, and coordination of your muscles by pedaling your bicycle using only one leg at a time, then alternating after every three to five minutes. This helps to engage all muscles in the leg by distributing the work evenly up and down the entire length of your legs and feet.
Use light exercise to recover from a hard muscle workout the day prior. Make sure you are exercising the same muscles as you did the day prior. Light weight is about 20% of what you originally used for lifting at one time. Use these light weights to do two sets of 25 repetitions to create more blood flow to repair your hurt muscles.
Beginning or staying with a physical fitness program can seem challenging, but keeping fit will help you not only to look your best, but to feel your best too. Following the fitness tips discussed above will help make it easier for you to meet your goals.
