1. Set realistically attainable goals.
You must have tangible short-term and long-term goals for
your fitness program so that you can gauge your progress
and stay motivated. It’s crucial to have a
“baseline” before you begin so that you can
measure your success. A qualified personal trainer can give
you a complete fitness analysis that will aid you in
developing a personalized fitness program which addresses
your particular needs. Having goals, particularly
short-term goals, allows you to track your progress and
keeps you motivated when times are tough and you
don’t feel like exercising. Keeping a journal of your
cardio and resistance training workouts, as well as
tracking what you eat is truly a fitness success
“secret.” Just remember that your goals should
be realistic and attainable. The best way for you to
understand what is realistic and attainable for you is to
talk to a fitness professional – not to buy into the
“hype” of infomercials or diet and fitness
products that blatantly mislead.
2. In the beginning your fitness plan should not be overly
aggressive.
One of the biggest problems most people encounter when
starting a fitness program is rapidly depleted motivation
after only a few weeks due to an overly ambitious fitness
plan. Two days per week of 20-minute low-intensity
cardiovascular exercise (walking, jogging, biking,
swimming); and two days per week of 30-minute light
resistance training (using weights or resistance machines)
is adequate in the beginning. As you become acclimated to
the lifestyle “shift” you can add more days and
get improved results. But beware: if you try to do too much
too fast, you may end up quitting altogether. If
you’ve tried and failed doing it alone then I suggest
you get a training partner or personal trainer who will
help you sustain your motivation and accountability.
3. Eat regularly throughout the day.
Fasting or overly restrictive diets will enable you to lose
weight – in the short run. Because the weight you
lose is primarily water weight and lean muscle tone. But in
the long-run it has exactly the opposite effect you want.
When you restrict your diet, your body instinctively thinks
it’s being starved and shifts into a protective mode
by storing fat. Your body’s energy expenditures will
be fueled by your lean muscles causing your body fat to
remain essentially the same while you lose vital fluids and
muscle. The less muscle you have, the slower your
metabolism becomes, and the less fat you burn. You should
be eating three nutritionally balanced meals each day, and
you should have at least one or two healthy snacks. Avoid
fried and processed foods at all cost – talk about
dead calories! Here’s a good rule of thumb: make sure
that you are consistently “grazing” on health
foods about every three hours. This includes at least half
a gallon of fresh water every day. This keeps your
metabolic furnace firing, so you burn more at a faster rate.
4. Don’t waste your time working small muscles with
isolated movements.
If you don’t enjoy doing resistance training, or are
pressed for time, concentrate on working the largest muscle
groups with compound resistance movements. Most people want
to lose fat and tone and firm their bodies. The way to do
that is to use resistance to train the large muscle groups.
Try to incorporate compound movements, which means the
exercises you choose incorporate multiple muscle groups,
and compound movements are known for quickly increasing
your metabolism.
5. Always stretch.
Stretching improves flexibility, blood flow, muscle
recovery, low back pain and a host of other things.
Additionally, stretching can prevent injury, make you sleep
better and improve your performance in all sports. Always
stretch, but be certain not to stretch cold muscles. You
should always warm up before stretching. However, it is
very important that you know how to stretch to achieve
optimal fitness results. Never bounce, or aggressively push
and pull a muscle beyond its natural range.
6. Set exercise appointments with yourself.
Use your day-timer to set appointments for exercise –
and then stick to them. You wouldn’t miss a business
meeting or client appointment, would you? So don’t
miss your exercise appointment with yourself. Nothing is
more important than your health. Nothing. Everything else
will crumble around you if your health goes south. So make
your exercise appointments a priority. If you find it
difficult to keep these appointments, then consider hiring
a personal trainer who will hold you to your commitment.
When you have money invested, and someone waiting for you
to show up – you are much more likely to actually
show up!
7. Remember the benefits of resistance training. Remember
that feeling of euphoria you experienced after a
particularly good workout? You experienced that feeling
because the most powerful “feel good” drug in
the world – endorphins – are coursing through
your veins. If there is a panacea, it’s exercise. It
will fuel your motivation on those inevitable days when you
just don’t feel like exercising. Additionally,
exercising with resistance has tremendous benefits for your
metabolism. Further, resistance training is the only way to
sculpt, tone, and tighten your muscles on demand. Do you
want shapelier legs? Resistance training will give it to
you. How about a firm perfectly shaped rear? Resistance
training will give it to you. Firm tummy, defined arms and
a strong back? Resistance training will give it to you.
Being physically fit affects every single aspect of your
life: you sleep better, eat better, love better, overcome
stress better, work better, communicate better and
definitely look better!
8. Never Ever skip breakfast.
If you want to maximize your fitness results or fat-loss
efforts, you’ve got to eat breakfast. Even if you
don’t exercise at all – breakfast remains the
most important meal of the day. Your breakfast should
contain complete proteins and complex carbohydrates A great
breakfast is oatmeal (not the pre-packaged, pre-sweetened
kind) with a little honey and banana and a protein drink.
Or try scrambled egg whites with Healthy Choice turkey
sausage.
----------------------------------------------------
Machelle Lee owns and operates The Invisible Gym in Santa
Cruz, CA. Her mission is to inspire people to become
physically active and enjoy the benefits of a balanced,
healthy lifestyle. For more information and questions you
can visit her website.
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