The past year has brought many challenges for everyone. There is no better way to start 2010 than making healthy changes to your lifestyle. While there are many external factors that add stress to your life that you may feel are uncontrollable, there are some very concrete changes you can make that are completely under your control.
A healthy lifestyle, beginning with regular exercise and a good nutrition plan, is a great way to cure many of the problems which can be caused by external stress.
Challenge is a good thing.
It is a way to effect a positive change on your body. By challenging your body, you will lead to improvement.
Variety is the key ingredient to progress. It is very easy to get lulled into the same routine in the gym. We are often drawn to perform the exercises that we are familiar with or use the machines that we have already learned.
However, the body often adjusts to the routine and we lose the results that we felt initially. To keep improving your body and health, you should add variety to your workout. There are many ways to achieve this.
Vary Your Cardio Exercises
Try changing up your routine by doing different types of exercise. Try using the stair climber one day and taking a step aerobics class the next. Whatever you are doing, make sure that you remain at a level that you feel you are achieving fat burning. By continually challenging the body with different types of cardiovascular exercise, you can keep your body in a constant, positive state of fat burning.
Change Length and Intensity Levels
Try exercising at a lower intensity level for a longer period of time for a few weeks and then switch to a higher intensity level for a shorter period. By doing this, you could challenge your endurance and burn fat by exercising for a longer period of time, such as 45 minutes to an hour or build your cardiovascular health by exercising for a shorter period, such as 20 to 30 minutes at a high level.
Exercise First Thing in the Morning
If you are tired of your workouts on the way home from the job, try waking up early and going to exercise before going to work. It is a great way to start the day and can get your fat-burning engine started early. It is shown that the body continues to burn fat for a few hours after a good workout. By combining an early workout schedule with a pyramid-style nutritional plan that peaks your caloric intake at mid-day, you may be able to use your food more efficiently and burn more fat.
Warm Up and Cool Down
It is important to make sure that your body is ready for your workout. Make sure to ease up to your target heart rate by warming up before your begin exercising. The time that you spend preparing for or cooling off from your cardio workout should be added on to your regular plan. By warming up, you will make sure that your body is already at a fat burning level by the time you start your routine. By warming up prior to strength training, you will improve blood flow and muscle contraction.
Eat Smaller, More Frequent Meals
Food is fuel for your body. You need to burn it all day long to get the best, most efficient results. By eating less frequently, you are more likely to be in caloric excess, which leads to fat retention. Instead of the traditional three meals a day, try eating five or six. You will not feel as hungry when you eat and are less likely to eat in excess.
These are the basics of challenging the body. It is very easy to slip into a “routine.” They can be important points for beginners to know and for the more advanced to be reminded of!
Come by to see Chris Keith at BOOTCAMP 619 to determine your best New Year’s Resolution!
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