Follow These Tips To Hit Your Fitness Goals

By Kathryn Grimes


Being fit and being healthy go hand and hand. Sometimes, however, there can be so much conflicting information available, that it's hard to know what to do. Don't give up, even if you are tempted. The following tips can set you on a path toward a fit lifestyle and improved health.

To effectively build muscle, avoid painkillers. That may run counter to your instinct, but there's some research to suggest that painkillers like acetaminophen and ibuprofen can, if taken after working out, render all your pain pointless by preventing muscle growth. Plus, scientists say the painkillers aren't any more effective than placebos at killing the post-workout pain, anyway.

Cardio training is another vital piece of the total fitness puzzle. Cardiovascular exercise - exercise that elevates the heart rate and respiration - burns fat, improves performance and contributes to overall health and fitness. In fact, it is no exaggeration to say that cardio is the most effective kind of exercise for keeping fit - although it should not be anyone's sole form of exercise.

To get great looking abs, only do abdominal muscles 3 days a week. While working your abs daily may seem like the right thing to do, your abs actually need time to recuperate in between workouts. Taking a break and working on another part of your body will give your muscles the rest they need to get toned.

If your workout program includes separate exercises for individual body and muscle groups, try this trick: After completing each set, take anywhere from twenty seconds to half a minute to stretch and flex the muscle you just targeted. Doing so may actually increase the strength of the muscle as much as 20 percent!

As you begin to recover from a painful muscle injury or strain, gradually increase the intensity and duration of your recovery workout rather than jumping right back into your previous workout routine. After each workout, apply ice to the injured area for half an hour, then repeat the process with added intensity the next day.

Are you looking to speed up your run? To increase the speed of your running time, make your actual running strides quicker instead of making your strides bigger. This will shave time off of your run. Push off with the toes of your trailing leg to get you going.

Increase the size of your back by performing break cable rows in two portions. Begin the rows by grabbing the bar with your arms outstretched and making sure you are squeezing both of your shoulder blades together. After that, begin pulling the bar towards your body for maximum results to your back.

Work your hamstrings in order to make your sprint faster. Your hamstring muscles help your speed and are used to push off. Leg curl is a great exercise to get strong hamstrings, but instead of releasing this exercise quickly, release slowly which will work your hamstrings more. Strong hamstrings equal a faster sprint.

You should not work your abdominal muscles every day that you work out. Ab muscles are like the other muscles in your body. You should try to work your abdominal muscles only two to three times a week. Use your days off from ab exercises to work on other muscles in your body.

Don't attempt to maximize your overall weight limit by adding a whole bunch of weights at once, without testing it. Try adding about 20 to 30% more than what you usually lift and then test, to see if you can handle that first. Start by lifting it off the rack and then holding it for a couple seconds and then placing it back onto the rack. After about 3 or 4 minutes, try your max and it should feel lighter than before. Never attempt this without a spotter, though.

Decrease your risk of cancer by adding some exercising time to your schedule. Even adding 30 minutes to your schedule can diminish your cancer risk by around 15%. By exercising even more, you can further diminish your risk for cancer. Moderate exercise is another thing that greatly reduces risks of cancer too.

A great tip to help you get fit is to do your own yard work. It can be convenient to pay someone to take care of yard work but it's much more rewarding to do it yourself. Mowing the lawn and trimming bushes can go a long way in helping you get fit.

Whenever your fitness routine calls for an exercise with plenty of reps, count backwards instead of forwards. By counting down from your target to zero you focus your attention on your goal. Counting up from one is not as motivational, because it encourages you to focus on how much you have done and how tired you are getting.

Try downloading a mobile app to your smartphone to keep track of your workouts. These handy apps can give you an accurate report of how long you've exercised and how many calories you've burned. You can also set them up to compare yourself to people around the work place to see how you rank.

Even though staying fit can be a lot of work, it's worth the effort. Taking advantage of the tips suggested in this article will make sure that the time you spend working out pays off. Keep on trying in your quest to get in better shape. It won't be long before you see the results you've been waiting for.




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