Whether you’re just getting into exercise properly for the first time, coming back after a break, or you’ve already got a good base fitness level but want more out of your workouts, there are steps you can take to get the most out of your training sessions. Here are our top fitness tips to help you succeed!
Find something you love
This is the key to keeping up regular exercise in the long term. If you don’t enjoy your exercise sessions, you may end up finding excuses to avoid them. If you’re not into the gym, try out a new sport such as rowing or ice skating, round up your workmates and form a social sports team, or find a local martial arts, aerobics or dance class.
Increase your incidental exercise
Most of us only think about sorting our planned exercise such as gym sessions, sports trainings etc. Increasing your incidental exercise – the kind that happens as you go about your daily life – helps you to burn more calories and keeps you more active (and you’ll barely even be thinking about it!).
Take the stairs instead of the elevator, walk short distances instead of taking your car, get off the bus a stop early or park several blocks further from work so that you will walk a little further.
Keep a fitness diary
Record your exercise sessions – the date, what you did, the length of session time and your personal best scores such as distance covered, times beaten, weights increased… It will help raise your awareness of how often you’re exercising and what progress you are making
Also record how you felt while training as it may help you recognise whether you are eating the right foods at the right times to fuel your body efficiently.
Get your nutrition sorted
Regardless of whether your goal is to lose weight, gain weight or maintain the weight you already have, nutrition is part of the equation. Eat a healthy, well balanced diet to ensure you are fueling the body with the best foods, and drink plenty of water.
Shake up your workouts
Every four to six weeks, your workouts should be changing in some way otherwise your body will plateau. Translation: If you continue to do the same exercise in the same way, you will stop getting results once you adjust to it. Your body won’t change unless you give it reason to!
If you find your results flatlining, it’s time to change up either your nutrition and/or something from FITT:
Frequency – How many times per week you exercise
Intensity – How hard you work out during your training (i.e. walk vs. run)
Time – How long your exercise sessions are lasting
Type – Resistance training vs. cardio, intervals etc.
Image / FreeDigitalPhotos – Sura Nualpradid