How To Make Exercise a Part Of Your Life
Everyone has a slightly different attitude towards exercise. This attitude can not only affect how much exercise you do, but also, the type of exercise that you do.
In this article, we shall begin by looking at the four main exercise personalities that people can have; the “exercise-aholic“, the “stressed out” person, the “my body is my temple” person and the “social exerciser“.
As you read each description, try to determine which one most applies to you. By identifying your exercise personality you will then be better able to understand what motivates you to workout, or to not workout, and some of the advantages and disadvantages that you may experience as a result of your fitness personality.
Later on, we shall then look at some of the benefits and myths of exercise, in addition to revealing the best ways to fit exercise into a busy schedule.
What’s Your Exercise Personality?
Below you will find listed the four main types of exercise personalities. Try to decide which one best applies to you!
1) The Exercise-Aholic
The exercise-aholic is a fitness fanatic. This type of person will go to the gym every single day of the week, and will never miss a training session unless they have no other choice.
They enjoy all types of exercise, and are willing to try out new things that could help them to work out more effectively. When they do workout, they push themselves to the limit and take their workout routine very seriously.
Potential Dangers
Whilst working out frequently is something that we should all do, exercising too often can lead to burnout and could even cause a serious injury.
In addition, you may also find that you quickly become bored with exercise if you don’t vary what you do. When that happens, you will begin to enjoy your workouts less and less until eventually they become seen as a chore.
Making It Work For You
Exercise should always be fun, because ultimately, that is what will keep you going in the long run. So if you feel as though you are burning out, try doing something less intense but something which still challenges you.
For example, martial arts, adventure sports or yoga. If you always workout on your own, then consider joining some classes, such as dancing or aerobics, to open up the social side of exercise to you.
As the body requires time to recover from any period of physical activity, it is a good idea to vary the activities which you do throughout the week if you are not already doing so.
For example, on one day you may do a strenuous form of exercise such as weight lifting, and then the next day, something less strenuous like yoga or swimming. This will keep you challenged, whilst also maintaining your interest in the exercises that you do.
Finally, as an exercise-aholic, remember to give yourself some time to rest and relax! Aim to have one or two days a week where you don’t exercise at all, although you could still be physically active on those days if you choose.
2) The Stressed Out Person
The stressed out exercise personality describes a person who wants to exercise, but for whatever reason, feels as though they don’t have the time to exercise.
Their intentions are good, and they may even join a gym, but no matter what they do they can never seem to stick to their fitness goals.
Potential dangers
If you feel as though you don’t have time to exercise, then you won’t, as you will always be putting off getting fit to some later date in the future.
With your personality, even if you do join a gym or buy a fitness video, unless you start exercising there and then you probably never will. So the only thing that you will have accomplished is to waste your money and your time.
Making It Work For You
In order to make this personality work for you, you need to make exercise a top priority in your life. Even if you think that you don’t have the time to exercise, you most likely do, as even extremely busy people are able to find a few hours to workout each week.
If you think that exercise is a waste of time, think again. Everyone needs to exercise, because as the old saying goes, a healthy body gives a healthy mind. Once you get yourself into shape, you will become healthier, look better, feel better and produce better quality work. As an added bonus, you will also live longer!
So start seeing exercise as something which you absolutely must do in your life, because once you get into this mindset, you are likely to put a lot of time and effort into exercising and so will get a lot out of it in return.
For those people who are extremely busy, hiring a personal trainer can help you to achieve your fitness goals by keeping you motivated and on track.
If stress is an issue for you, try joining yoga or tai chi classes as these will help you to unwind at the end of the day.
3) My Body Is My Temple
This type of personality describes a very spiritual person, someone who likes to take care of their body and is interested in the spiritual side of life.
They see their body as a temple, and as result, view exercise as a very important part of life. They also tend to eat well, usually favoring organic foods and avoiding junk foods.
The main type of exercise preferred by this personality is anything that doesn’t work up too much of a sweat and can be done at their own pace, such as yoga or slow walking.
Potential Dangers
Whilst gentle exercises such as yoga and walking can provide many health benefits, they aren’t very effective at providing a cardiovascular workout. So if this is the only type of exercise that you do, then your fitness levels are going to be quite low as a result.
Without doing any rigorous forms of cardiovascular exercise, such as running or riding a bike, you won’t receive the benefits that such exercises can provide, like a reduced risk of heart disease.
In addition to this, if you never work up a sweat when exercising then you are unlikely to burn much fat. So whilst yoga or pilates may help you to tone up your body, they won’t actually help you to shift any excess weight.
Making It Work For You
In order to improve your overall level of fitness, it is important to do more strenuous exercises which raise your pulse and cause you to sweat.
For example, doing yoga on one day and then running the next day. This will help to improve your stamina and your flexibility, whilst also helping you to lose weight.
4) The Social Exerciser
This type of personality enjoys the social side of exercise. They see the gym as a good place to meet their friends, have a chat and perhaps even meet someone special.
Unfortunately, for the social exerciser exercise tends to be quite a low priority. As a result, it is not uncommon for such people to spend most of their time chatting rather than actually working out.
Potential Dangers
Although working out certainly should be fun, if you are exercising your mouth more than your body, then you are not going to be improving your fitness levels or losing any weight.
A good workout session should include periods when you are working out by yourself, and also periods when you are in groups with other people.
However, it is important to balance working alone and working with a group, because too much emphasis on one or the other will lead to boredom or poor results.
Making It Work For You
Because you enjoy the social side of exercise, try to find activities in which you can work within a team with other people. For example, hockey, football, volleyball or basketball. These activities will allow you to have fun with other people, whilst also giving you a good workout at the same time.
If you like to exercise in a gym with your friends, then arrange to meet them after your workout session so that you can exercise together in the gym and then have fun afterwards when you leave.
11 Health Benefits Of Exercise
Now that you have a better idea of what your exercise personality is, let’s have a look at some of the main benefits that regular exercise can bring into your life.
Reminding yourself of these benefits whenever you don’t particularly feel like working out, can be a great way to increase your motivation and ensure that you complete your fitness goals.
1) Increased Confidence
The more you exercise, the more your confidence will increase. You will become more confident about the health of your body and more confident about the way that it looks. This confidence will be conveyed to others in the way that you stand, speak and interact with them.
2) A Healthier Heart & Lungs
Doing aerobic exercise will improve the health of your heart and increase your lung capacity. As a result, you will experience much greater energy levels throughout the day and feel less tired due to better blood circulation and improved oxygenation of the body. This is turn will allow you to work longer and think more clearly throughout the day.
3) Stronger Bones
Doing anaerobic weight-bearing exercises, such as weight lifting, improves the mobility of your joints and increases osteoblastic activity which subsequently increases bone density. This reduces the risk of your bones thinning later in life (osteoporosis), and so makes you more resistant to broken bones and fractures.
4) Decreased Stress Levels
Exercising on a regular basis is one of the best things that you can do to reduce stress levels. People who don’t exercise very often are much more likely to feel stressed than those who do exercise, and they are also more likely to experience higher levels of stress.
5) Improved Quality of Sleep
Regular exercise helps you to burn off the energy which you acquire from food. So by the time you reach the end of the day, you will have burned off this energy and so will fall asleep quicker and have much more restful sleep.
6) Improved Mood
Due to the fact that natural feel good chemicals called endorphins are released when you exercise, you can drastically change the way that you feel simply by exercising more often.
In fact, regular exercise is something which is commonly recommended by doctors to patients who are suffering from depression. This is because it can be so effective in changing the way that a person feels.
Exercise also helps to detoxify the body by improving blood circulation, lymphatic circulation and the functioning of organs in the body. All of this can make you healthier and help to improve your mood for the better.
7) Improved Brain Function
As the brain requires a plentiful supply of oxygenated blood, by exercising on a regular basis you can help it to function optimally by giving it the oxygen that it needs. The result will be improved mental clarity, quicker speed of thought and improved levels of concentration.
8) Less Risk Of Developing Disease
The risk of developing diseases such as diabetes, cancer and heart disease can be drastically reduced simply by exercising more. In fact, some studies have shown that even walking for 30 minutes, 2-3 times a week, can significantly reduce one’s risk of developing degenerative brain disorders, such as dementia, later in life.
9) Less Risk Of Injury
The more you exercise, the stronger your bones and muscles will become. Overall, this makes your body stronger and more resistant to injury.
10) Improved Sex Life
When you exercise regularly, your energy levels and stamina slowly start to improve over time. Combine this with improved blood circulation throughout the body, and it becomes clear to see why a fit and healthy person tends to perform much better in bed than someone who doesn’t exercise at all.
11) Healthier Skin
Exercise can improve the health of your skin by increasing the levels of oxygen that reach the tissues of the body and also by removing toxins through sweating. This makes your skin appear more radiant and prevents it from becoming congested.
Top 8 Fitness Myths
A lot of people get put off from exercising because they have misconceptions about it.
For example, some people think that you need to be in a lot of pain to get any benefit from exercise, or that you need to dedicate a lot of free time to do it. Both of these assumptions are false, and if you believed them, you probably wouldn’t be too keen to start exercising.
Below we list some other common myths about exercise that you should watch out for.
1) If You Work Out, Then You Can Eat As Much Food As You like
Just because you are exercising, it doesn’t mean that you can eat junk food all day long.
The key to losing weight is to eat a healthy balanced diet in addition to following your exercise program. This means eating less sugary foods and more green vegetables.
If your intention is to build muscle, then you may want to increase the amount of food that you eat each day. But if you are looking to lose weight, then you must still monitor your calorie intake even though you are burning calories from exercise.
2) You Need To Exercise To Lose Weight
You don’t actually need to go to a gym to get fit. As long as you eat a healthy diet and are fairly active throughout the day, then you can keep yourself in good shape just by doing your normal everyday activities.
In fact, numerous studies have shown that changing your diet is actually more effective in terms of weight loss than joining a gym and trying to exercise regularly. So don’t think that you have to exercise to lose weight, because that is simply not true.
Of course, there is nothing wrong with joining a gym if that will motivate you to exercise regularly, but don’t feel that you have to embark upon a rigorous exercise program just to get in shape. As long as you can cut out the junk from your diet, that alone will do wonders for the shape and look of your body.
3) If Women Lift Weights They Will Get Big Muscles
Some women are afraid of lifting weights because they think that they will develop big muscles like men who lift weights. What they fail to realize however, is that women don’t have enough of the hormone testosterone for them to develop large muscles. All that lifting weights will do for a woman, is to make her muscles more toned and defined.
In fact, women who lift weights regularly actually lose weight quicker than women who do not. This is because as the muscles become more developed, the metabolism of the body is increased which then results in faster fat burning.
While we are on the subject of lifting weights, here is another myth to clear up.
Some people think that if they lift weights every day then their muscles will get bigger faster. But actually, the reverse is true because exercised muscles need time to repair themselves after a workout.
So if you don’t allow your muscles time to recover, then you won’t get the full benefits from your weight lifting session and your muscles will take longer to develop.
Although the exact time that you should wait between anaerobic sessions is up for debate, you should wait at least 2-3 days before you pick up your weights again.
4) You Can Burn Fat From Specific Parts Of Your Body
Unfortunately, you can’t burn off fat in one area of your body just by exercising that area. This can only be done through a combination of whole body aerobic and anaerobic exercise.
Certain exercises can help to tone specific parts of your body and make them look more defined, but in terms of weight loss, fat is burned from the body as a whole rather than from one specific region.
So if anyone tries to tell you that they can help you to lose tummy fat, don’t believe them because this simply isn’t possible.
5) You Have To Feel The Pain To Get The Gain
Every exercise that you do should challenge you. But, this doesn’t mean that you should exercise to the point of pain because doing so could cause you more harm than good.
Ideally, exercise should become gradually more difficult over time, so that you can strengthen your heart, lungs and muscles without causing injury to yourself.
However, you don’t want to take things too easy, because unless you exercise for at least 20 minutes, work up a sweat and increase your heart rate, the benefits that you get from exercising will be minimal and so will the amount of weight that you lose.
6) Muscle Weighs More Than Fat, So Being Fit Makes You Heavier
Although muscle is denser than fat, it doesn’t weigh more. And the more your muscles become developed, the quicker you will burn fat.
This is why exercising using weights is important, because it develops your muscles and increases the rate at which you burn fat. The overall effect of this is to reduce how much you weigh, not increase it.
7) Fruit Juice Doesn’t Make You Fat
Whilst fresh fruit juice may have some health benefits, most of the juice that you buy in stores is full of sugar. This sugar may have been added to the juice for flavoring, but even if nothing has been added, fruit juices contain a lot of naturally occurring sugar anyway.
As sugar is one of the worst things that you can consume when trying to lose weight, drinking lots of fruit juice isn’t going to help your waistline very much.
Furthermore, all commercial fruit juices must be pasteurized by law. This process is designed to kill any bacteria within the juice, but it also destroys much of the nutritional content that juice would have contained were it fresh.
As a result, the large majority of vitamins and enzymes in that juice will have been lost, thereby leaving you with little more than flavored sugar-water.
8) Exercising Can Only Improve The Way You Look
Although exercising regularly is great for keeping your body looking toned and slim, it does have some drawbacks. Rigorous exercise for example, produces a lot of free radicals in the body which can actually accelerate the aging process. This is why it is a good idea to take an antioxidant, such as vitamin C or green tea polyphenols, before exercising.
In addition, some exercises, such as running, can cause your skin to sag. In women, this can be a real problem because regular running can result in saggy breasts, especially if a woman has large breasts.
For men, as well as women, regular running can also result in something known as a “runner’s jaw”, which occurs when the skin around the lower region of the face starts to sag and droop.
Common Exercise Mistakes
Just because you go to the gym and exercise, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you are going to lose weight and get yourself into shape.
For if you do exercise the wrong way, you will not only be making your workouts far less effective than they could be, but you could also end up wasting your time by only getting minimal benefits from the workouts that you do.
To make matters worse, doing exercise the wrong way will also vastly increase your chance of getting an injury and then being unable to exercise properly until you recover.
This can have a devastating effect on any routines which you have built up, as a break in your routine will mean having to work very hard to make exercise a habit so that it is something which you do automatically and on a consistent basis.
If you want to maximize the benefits that you get from working out, whilst at the same time minimizing the potential risks, then be sure to pay attention to the following points that we have listed below.
Skipping Your Warm up
Even if you don’t have much time to exercise, you should always try to warm up before doing anything.
Warming up will help to prepare your body by gently increasing your heart rate so that extra blood can be sent to the muscles. The effect of this will be to loosen you up, make you more flexible and reduce your risk of getting injured.
Warming up doesn’t have to last for very long, as it can take as little as five minutes to get yourself ready before you start exercising properly.
Start your warmup by stretching your arms and your legs, and then jogging on the spot for a minute or so. The basic idea is to get the blood flowing around your body and to gently stretch the muscles. So do whatever you feel can accomplish this best.
Not Getting The Right Advice
If you have never exercised before, then it’s a good idea to get some expert advice on how you should exercise and how often you should exercise. If you go into exercise blind, you might end up making some costly mistakes which then put you off exercising for good.
However, even if you have exercised before and then decide to join a gym, it is still important for you to learn how to use the gym equipment from a qualified instructor. Gym equipment can cause you serious harm if you don’t know how to use it, so don’t be afraid to ask for help.
Overdoing It
Exercising too hard can burn you out and cause injury. When this occurs, exercise can easily become something which you start to dislike. Eventually, you may even stop exercising completely because it always leaves you feeling horrible afterwards.
So it is important to bear in mind that any exercise which you do should gradually increase in difficulty over a period of weeks and months, not days. This is the best way to ensure that you stick to exercise for the long-term, and minimize the risk of suffering a serious injury as a result of over exerting yourself.
So start off slowly and push yourself hard, but know your limits and don’t overdo it.
Not Working Out Hard Enough
Whilst working out too hard too soon can be bad for you, not working out hard enough can be equally as bad.
If you don’t work up a sweat when exercising, or feel challenged by your workout, then you are unlikely to get any beneficial results from it such as improved cardiovascular functioning or weight loss.
Not Eating At The Right Time
Some people think that it is a good idea not to eat before exercising because you will lose more weight. Whilst this may be true if you have the energy to workout on an empty stomach, if you don’t have the energy, then that workout isn’t going to do very much for you.
In which case, you would have been better off eating some complex carbohydrate foods, such as brown rice or whole grain pasta, to give you enough energy to workout properly and for long enough to benefit from it.
After you have finished your workout, be sure to eat some protein containing food, such as chicken or turkey, afterwards. Protein will help your muscles to rebuild themselves so that they can grow bigger and stronger. The more developed your muscles become, the more your metabolism will increase and the quicker you will burn fat as a result.
Not Drinking Enough Water
Studies have shown that people who keep themselves hydrated during workout sessions are able to exercise for longer than people who are dehydrated. This is especially important if you are doing cardiovascular exercises, such as running or rowing, where you will be sweating a lot.
So always make sure that you drink plenty of water when you exercise, and also afterwards when you have finished.
Keeping The Same Workout Routine
Doing the same form of exercise every week can quickly get boring, and so unsurprisingly, is one of the main reasons why people quit exercising despite starting out with the best of intentions.
By doing different forms of exercise you not only help to prevent boredom from setting in, but also help to prevent your body from becoming adapted to a particular activity.
This is important because once the body starts getting used to something, the benefits that you get from doing it start to decline. This means if you keep on doing the same thing over and over again, your fitness levels won’t improve as much as they could do and you won’t lose as much weight as you could have done.
So try to alternate your exercise routine each week or month, by doing something different from what you normally do. This will keep you interested in what you are doing, whilst also helping to maximize the benefits that you get from working out.
Failing To Rest
Some people think that going to the gym every single day of the week is the best way to exercise. But in reality, this can actually do you more harm than good.
Resting after exercising is important for two reasons. First, it allows you to mentally and physically recover so that you don’t injure yourself. Second, rest allows your muscles to develop so that they can grow bigger and stronger.
There is nothing wrong with exercising five days a week, but try to give yourself a few days to rest and recover, such as over the weekend. If you are doing anaerobic exercises, such as weight lifting, then give yourself at least two days break before your next weight lifting session.
Exercising The Wrong Way
If exercise feels uncomfortable or painful when you do it, or doesn’t bring you the results that you expected, then you could be exercising the wrong way.
For example, some people will pull on their heads when doing sit-ups and so don’t properly exercise their abdominal muscles. Or, some people don’t exercise for long enough, and then wonder why they can never seem to lose any weight.
If you are unsure of how to do a particular exercise properly, then ask someone who knows or look it up on the internet. In fact, it is a good idea to make sure that you understand how to do any exercise which you plan on doing, even if you think you know and it seems obvious.
Looking up an exercise on the internet will only take a few minutes, but it could save you many hours of wasted time by preventing you from doing an exercise in a way that you gain no benefit from.
Making Exercise A Habit
Anyone who exercises on a regular basis will tell you that the hardest thing about getting into shape is starting in the first place. But once you get into the swing of things, you will find it quickly becomes a habit, and not only do you get your body in shape, but you also start to enjoy it.
So when it comes down to it, even exercising for a few minutes each day will help you to develop the habit of exercising on a regular basis.
However, as you are probably already well aware, a lot of people who start exercising give up after a few weeks. They set out with good intentions, but for whatever reason, couldn’t seem to continue what they set out to do.
The good news is that if you really want to start exercising regularly, studies have shown that if you can make it past the two month mark then you will be much more likely to keep on exercising for the long-term.
This is because exercise releases endorphins in the body. These are chemicals that make you feel good, and at around two months of continuous exercise, you start to get addicted to them.
So not only will you learn to love exercise, but you will also start to feel as though you can’t do without it.
What Are Your Goals?
Before you set out to exercise, it is very important to have an idea of what you hope to obtain. In other words, you need to set yourself some fitness goals.
Your fitness goals will help to make exercise easier by allowing you to organize what you do and keep track of your progress. However, these goals must be realistic and what you think you can do, not what other people can do.
This is a very important point to remember, because if you set your goals too high, too early, then you are likely to give up because you will find it too difficult and won’t enjoy it.
So start off slowly, and make it your aim to reach the two month mark. Because by then, your fitness levels will have increased, and you will start to enjoy what you are doing thereby making it a lot easier for you to keep on doing it.
One final point to make about starting to exercise is that if you haven’t exercised in a while, or have any existing health conditions or injuries, then it would be a good idea to see your doctor before you start doing anything. Otherwise you might cause yourself more harm than good.
Setting Yourself Fitness Goals
Here are some tips on how you can start to exercise and keep it up for the long-term by setting yourself goals.
Make A Plan On Paper
Once you have decided what your fitness goals are, write down on paper exactly what you hope to obtain and how you hope to do it.
Writing down your objectives like this will help you to keep focused on what you have set out to do, keep you organized and in control.
Having a plan of action also makes things seem more formal, which means that you are much more likely to follow it rather than had you just thought about it in your head.
Set Realistic Goals
When you first start exercising, take it slow. There is no point in trying to exercise every day of the week if you have never exercised before, or haven’t exercised in a while, because you simply won’t enjoy it and will probably give up.
So set yourself realistic fitness goals, such as exercising once or twice a week to begin with. Later, as your fitness levels start to improve, you can exercise more often.
Remember, fitness is all about gaining momentum, and the only way that you can gain momentum is by making a start no matter how big or how small that start may be.
Think About A Future Event
If you have some special event coming up in the future, such as a wedding, try to visualize how good you will look by exercising.
Plan what you are going to wear for that event and how your body is going to look. This will not only help to keep you focused on your goals, but will also help to keep you motivated.
Create A Deadline
With every fitness goal that you set for yourself, it is important to have a date by which you want to complete it by. If you just set goals without a deadline, you are very unlikely to complete them because you will feel no urgency to work towards their achievement.
By setting yourself a deadline however, you will be much more motivated to achieve your goals because you will have a target to aim for.
Tell A Friend
An excellent way to keep you focused on your fitness goals is to tell a friend about them. If you know that somebody else knows what you are intending to do, then you will tend to work harder to get yourself into shape.
The reason for this is simple. People care about what other people think of them, and so we naturally try to impress the people who are important to us.
Make The Time
Right now you probably have a busy schedule, which means that if you want to start exercising then you are going to have to make some time for it.
So look at your schedule and decide where you can fit in the time to exercise. If you are just starting off, then you may only need 30 to 60 minutes a week. But eventually, you should be aiming for at least 30 minutes four or five days a week.
How To Stick To Exercise For Life
Now that you know how to set goals for yourself, let’s have a look at some tips on how to stick with exercise for the long-term.
Break Up Your Exercise Sessions
If you have a very busy schedule, then you may not be able to take 30 minutes or an hour out of your day to exercise. But you probably could find the time if you broke down your workout sessions into smaller segments, such as 15 or 20 minutes.
If you were to do this three times a day, 15 minutes in the morning, 15 minutes in the afternoon and 15 minutes in the evening, this will give you a total workout of 45 minutes each day. Something which most people should be able to do no matter how busy their schedule is.
Start Slowly
Any exercise routine should start off slowly, because if you rush into things, then you are likely to burn yourself out and not enjoy what you are doing. When that happens, you will probably quit working out and then go back to your old lifestyle habits.
So if you are new to exercise, or are out of shape, start off by taking short walks as this will help to give your lungs, heart and muscles a gradual and gentle workout.
Alternatively, try riding a bike instead of taking a car for short journeys. Doing so will give you similar benefits to walking and can also be very useful if you are trying to find the time to exercise.
Don’t Expect Immediate Results
One of the biggest mistakes that people make when first starting to exercise, is thinking that they will get instant benefits from it.
They think that their fitness levels will drastically improve over a few days, or that the shape of their body will change within a few weeks. But when they don’t get the results that they had hoped for, they become disappointed, demotivated and so give up exercising altogether.
The important thing to remember, is that change will take time. So you may not notice the benefits of exercising, such as improved energy and fitness levels, for quite some time. This is exactly why so many people quit exercising, because they don’t feel that they are gaining any real benefit from it.
In general, you can expect to see some results after the first month. But for most people, it will take at least 3 to 6 months before you notice any significant changes to your body and to the way you feel.
Reward Yourself
One of the best ways to keep yourself motivated when exercising, is to use rewards. For example, if you manage to exercise for three days a week and then give yourself a reward for doing so, you will be much more likely to continue on exercising for the following week.
However, please make sure that your rewards are not food based, because otherwise you may develop the unhealthy habit of emotional eating. So instead of treating yourself with a snack, do something else like going out with your friends or buying yourself a gift.
Whatever you choose to use as a reward, it is vitally important that you really enjoy it. This is because in order for a reward to be effective, you absolutely must enjoy it. If you don’t enjoy it, the prospect of receiving that reward won’t be very motivating to you.
Do Activities Which You Enjoy
Whilst there are lots of different types of exercise, there are probably certain types that you enjoy the most. So do the exercises which you enjoy, because if you do exercise which you don’t enjoy, you simply won’t be motivated to keep on doing it.
For example, if you absolutely hate running, then don’t run. Instead, do something else like walking, swimming, press-ups or sit-ups. Over time as your fitness improves and you develop the habit of regular exercise, you can then experiment doing different or more challenging activities.
Dress Up
If you have a set of clothes that you exercise in, you will soon learn to associate exercise with those clothes. Once that happens, whenever you put on those clothes you will automatically get yourself in the mood to exercise.
Use Visualization
When you exercise, think about what goals you are trying to achieve. This will help to increase your motivation and keep you focused on your long-term objectives.
If you are exercising at home, consider putting a poster on your wall of someone who has a body that you would like to have. This can be another great way to increase your motivation by showing you the potential rewards of your effort.
Get An Exercise Buddy
An excellent way to stick to exercise is to find a friend who you can workout with.
If you are both starting out at the same level of fitness, and you also have similar goals, then by exercising together you will be able to motivate each other and will be less likely to find exercise boring.
Add Some Variety To Your Routine
If you are exercising 5 days a week, week in week out, you will soon get bored with following the same old routine and so won’t be very motivated to keep it up.
To avoid this happening, try to add some variety to your workout sessions by incorporating different types of activities into your fitness schedule.
Just Be Physically Active
It is generally recommended that you exercise for 30 minutes every day. This time however, doesn’t necessarily have to be spent in the gym.
Any form of moderate exercise such as walking, climbing stairs or cleaning the house can all be added to those 30 minutes.
So even if you find that don’t have much free time, simply being active throughout the day can help to keep you in shape. This of course, will only be true if you are also eating a healthy diet!
Join A Local Gym
Find a gym that is relatively close to you, because if it is far away you will be more likely to come up with excuses as to why you shouldn’t go.
Exercise At The Right Time
Think about when you feel most active during the day. If you are a morning person, workout in the morning. If you are an evening person, workout in the evening. Choose the time of day that is best for you, and schedule your workout during those times.
Think Of Long Term Energy
Don’t use tiredness as an excuse not to workout, because working out will give you more energy in the long run. So try to remember that even though you may be tired after work, exercising will help you to feel less stressed and happier because of the endorphins that exercise releases into your body.
Pros & Cons Of Popular Weight Loss Exercises
There are lots of different exercises that a person can do if they want to lose weight. But sometimes, it’s difficult to decide which exercise is best to start with.
For example, if you have been exercising for a long time, then you would most likely want something that would challenge you so that you can take your fitness to a higher level.
But if you are new to exercise and want to lose weight, then you probably want something a bit more gentle so that you can gradually raise your fitness levels without causing too much strain on your body.
Below, we list some of the most popular exercises that people do to lose weight or just to keep themselves in good shape. For each exercise you will find listed its pros and cons, which you can then use to decide what exercise is likely to be the best for helping you to achieve your goals.
Running/Jogging
Running, or jogging, is an exercise that anyone can do. But best of all, it’s free and you can do it pretty much anywhere.
Running is great for improving cardiovascular fitness, and if you run for 30 minutes three or four days a week, it can also be an excellent way to lose weight.
To start running, it is recommended that you run slowly for short distances, and then gradually increase your speed and distance as your fitness improves.
Cons
The downside to running/jogging is that it can be quite a demanding exercise if you haven’t exercised in a while, and so it can leave you feeling very tired and out of breath until your fitness levels improve.
Running is also quite a harsh exercise on the lower body, and it could potentially lead to hip, knee or ankle problems later in life due to the constant impact on your joints.
Furthermore, regular running may lead to sagging skin on the face, a condition known as “runner’s jaw”, and can also result in sagging breasts in women.
Walking
Walking is one of the easiest forms of exercise that you can do, and is great for people who are new to exercise and are gradually trying to improve their fitness levels.
So if running is too intense, then walking can help you to slowly lose a bit of weight before you feel ready to start running.
In addition to its weight loss benefits, walking has been shown to help improve your mood as well as benefiting your cardiovascular system.
It’s also something that you can do with a friend, partner or dog, so it can be quite an enjoyable and social form of exercise.
Cons
Whilst walking can help to ease you into exercise, it’s fairly limited in terms of how much it can improve your fitness and how quickly it will help you to lose weight.
Walking can also get boring if you are always walking the same route, so unless you are able to vary your walks, you may soon find yourself looking for another way to keep fit.
Walking is also very weather dependent. So even though you may be able to go for nice walks during the summer months, once it starts to get cold and windy, you may be less eager to step outdoors just to walk.
Yoga
Yoga helps you to improve the flexibility of your body as well as its strength and muscle tone. It’s also a good exercise to do to help you relax and de-stress at the end of the day.
In terms of weight loss however, yoga is not very effective at burning fat because it is a low intensity form of exercise.
So if you only rely on yoga for weight loss, you are unlikely to get good results. But if you combine yoga with other forms of exercise, you can actually accelerate the amount of fat that your body burns.
This is because yoga helps to stretch and strengthen your muscles, so that they become larger and more developed. This can help to enhance the fat burning effects of other forms of exercise such as running or weight lifting.
Cons
As stated above, yoga is not a very good exercise for losing weight, but it can be a nice activity to do alongside other more demanding exercises.
Yoga is also something that you must learn how to do, and there are different levels of yoga that can involve some quite complex moves. So unless you are willing to persist awhile and practice the different poses, yoga may not be the best form of exercise for you.
Swimming
Swimming is one of the best forms of exercise that you can do because it exercises your whole body. As a result, swimming can help to improve your stamina, strength, cardiovascular system and overall fitness levels.
Unlike other forms of exercise such as running which may damage your joints, swimming is a low impact form of exercise and so is completely safe providing that you know how to swim!
The resistance created by the water when swimming helps to produce toned muscles, the sort of muscles that you normally only get from weightlifting. So if you swim on a regular basis, you can tone up your whole body relatively quickly.
Cons
You need to know how to swim, which not everyone does.
Swimming in public pools is not the ideal type of water to swim in due to the chlorine that pools often contain. Chlorine can be very damaging to the skin and hair, and has also been linked with cancer and impaired immune function.
Weight Lifting
Weightlifting is an anaerobic form of exercise, and should therefore make up a portion of anyone’s workout routine. Weightlifting helps you to develop your muscles, and the more your muscles are developed, the more fat you will burn.
Weightlifting is one of the best exercises for losing weight, and something that both men and women should do at least a two times a week.
Cons
The downside to weight lifting is that it can cause you injury if you lift weights that are too heavy for you. So always start gradually and build your way up to heavier weights, rather than just trying to lift the heaviest weights straightaway.
Cycling
Cycling is an exercise that you can do both indoors and outdoors, which makes it quite a versatile form of exercise.
For example, if you cycle inside, you can do so in front of the TV which will help to pass the time while you are getting fit. If you cycle outside, you can ride to places instead of taking your car, which, over time, will help you to improve your fitness levels.
Cycling is also a low impact form of exercise, and so you are unlikely to sustain an injury when riding.
Cons
The biggest con is that you need to buy a bike if you plan on cycling regularly, and this means an added expense that not everyone may be able to afford. But with that said, if you ride your bike to work instead of driving your car, the money you save in gas will more than pay for the cost of the bike.
If you plan on cycling for leisure, you also need to live in an area in which you can cycle freely. This may not be possible in some highly urbanized areas, and some people may not feel safe cycling where they live.
Fitting Workouts Into Your Schedule
Some people have lots of free time, and so they can spend many hours in the gym each week if they choose. Other people however, have very little free time and so find it much more difficult to exercise and keep themselves in shape.
So if you want to get started exercising on a regular basis, you need to look at your lifestyle to see what time you have available to exercise in. This of course, will vary depending on the type of lifestyle that you live. But even if you find that you are extremely busy, there is still a very good chance that you could exercise more if you really wanted to.
Below we look at the most common types of lifestyles that people live, and how a particular lifestyle can affect the amount and type of exercise that a person does.
Working Part-Time
If you only work part-time and/or your hours are flexible, then you should find it quite easy to workout on a regular basis.
Since you most likely have a lot of free time, it would be a good idea to get an off-peak gym membership so that you can use the gym regularly without it costing you a fortune.
When you find that you have time to kill, use that time by going for a run or a swim.
Busy Parent
If you are a busy parent who is constantly on their feet without much structure to their day, then fitting in the time to exercise can be difficult. This is especially true when you start to feel exhausted towards the end of the day, as you simply won’t have the energy to do anything else except sit down and rest.
But just because you don’t have the time to go to a gym, it doesn’t mean that you can’t keep yourself fit. You could for example, try to incorporate exercise into your daily routine such as by walking stairs, doing sit-ups or even jogging on the spot.
If you work in addition to looking after your children, try to see if you can fit a 30 minute run or swim into your lunch break.
If you don’t have the time or energy to do any additional activities, then don’t worry about it too much because you are probably already much more physically active throughout the day than most other people are. The reason you may not be losing weight is not because you are not exercising, but most likely because of your diet.
Examine what you eat throughout the day, and cut out any simple carbohydrates such as white flour and sugar based products. With your level of activity you should start losing a significant amount of weight within a few months, just by making a few simple changes to your diet.
Working Regular Hours
If you have a steady job then your working hours should be fairly predictable, and so finding the time to exercise should be relatively easy for you.
The problem however, is that this predictability can lead to boredom and a lack of motivation when it comes to exercising regularly.
So to help keep things interesting, try varying the exercises that you do throughout the week. For example, if you only exercise in a gym, then try exercising at other locations such as in your home or outside.
You can also make exercise fun by working out with friends. For example, going on a bike ride over the weekend or joining a team based sport like football.
Working Long Irregular Hours
If you work long hours and often finish work after the gym has closed, and sometimes also work weekends, then finding the time to exercise can be difficult to fit into your schedule.
In cases like this, try to fit in any form of physical activity wherever and whenever you can. For example, walk somewhere even if it’s just for a short distance, as small distances can add up to a lot over the course of a day.
Even if you think that you aren’t very physically active in your job, you are probably moving a lot more than you think. A good way to test this is with a step counter that you attach to your waist.
If you are sitting in front of a computer for most of the day, try to stretch your legs as much as you can. When you get home, give yourself a good workout by watching a fitness video.
Exercising Without Exercising
If going to the gym and lifting weights is something that you don’t have the time for, or simply sounds like torture to you, then you may be pleased to know that it is possible to burn calories and lose weight without having to exercise in a gym! The technical name for this is non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT).
As long as you are able to keep yourself fairly active throughout the day, and stick to a healthy balanced diet, then you can easily achieve the recommended 30 minutes of exercise a day and keep a great figure!
So here are some everyday activities that you can do to keep yourself fit without having to exercise.
Do Some Housework
Housework can be a great way to burn some calories.
For example, washing a car burns about 300 calories, making the bed about 100 calories, ironing about 100 calories and cleaning the windows about 150 calories.
So if you are a busy parent who has a lot of chores to do throughout the day, then you are probably already getting a very good workout.
Most housework will help to tone your arms and legs, but if you pull your tummy in while you are working, you can help to tone that up too.
Overall, housework is a great way to keep in shape, because not only do you keep your house clean and tidy, but you also help to keep yourself fit and healthy in the process.
Go Shopping
Shopping for a large family can be the equivalent of a long workout session in a gym.
First, you have your aerobic exercise which consists of you walking throughout the shop and up and down the aisles. This not only helps to tone up your leg muscles, but will also benefit your heart and lungs.
Next, you have your anaerobic exercise. This consists of picking things up from the shelves, and then carrying your bags back to the car and then back into the house. This helps to tone up your arm muscles and also strengthens your shoulders.
To get an even better workout from shopping, eat before you go so that you will burn off the calories from your meal and be less likely to buy junk foods during your shop.
Start Gardening
Providing that you are willing to push yourself a bit so that you raise your heart rate and work up a sweat, gardening can be an excellent way to exercise outdoors.
For example, digging will burn around 300 calories, raking leaves around 200 calories, weeding around 200 calories and mowing the lawn around 150 calories.
As well as being a good way of relieving stress, gardening can also be useful for giving you some fresh air and increasing your vitamin D levels via sun exposure.
In addition, touching soil has been shown to act as a natural antidepressant. This means that gardening can actually help to improve your mood as well as improve your health.
Have Sex
Regular sex is one of the most enjoyable forms of exercise that you can do, and it’s actually quite good at helping you to lose weight too!
A 30 minute session in the bedroom will burn around 150 calories, whilst also boosting your circulation, improving your mood and reducing stress levels.
However, in order for you receive weight loss benefits from sex, it must last for as long as possible. So if you can only go for a few minutes, you won’t get many health benefits from it.
To maximize weight loss during sex, choose positions in which you have to do the majority of the work.
Other Ways To Lose Weight Without Exercising
• Instead of using the remote control to change the TV channel, get up and change it yourself and you can burn around 150 calories during an average viewing session.
• Instead of sending e-mails to your work colleagues whilst at work, walk over and talk to them yourself. The same applies to your friends or family who you could easily walk over to and speak with.
• Always take the stairs instead of taking the lift, and always walk up escalators.
• If you need to use the toilet whilst at work, use one that is further away from the one that you normally use.
• Buy some fitness equipment that you can keep close by you, and then use it whenever you have a few spare minutes. This will help to get you into the swing of exercising on a regular basis.
• If you are carrying things back into your house, such as your shopping from the car, carry one bag back at a time and you will burn double the amount of calories that you normally do.
Multitasking Your Time
Multitasking is what highly productive people do. It involves doing two or more things at once so that you make the absolute best use of your time. When you multitask, you get more done and do it quicker than had you done those activities separately.
So if you are trying to keep fit, but feel as though you don’t have the time to devote 30 or 60 minutes just to working out, why not try to multitask your exercise sessions so that you can accomplish two things at once?
Below you will find listed some examples of how this could be done.
Raise Money For Charity
If a lot of your time is spent helping charity organizations, then doing some sort of sponsored activity can help you to kill two birds with one stone.
For example, doing a sponsored bike ride or a sponsored swim means that you not only get yourself fit, but you also serve your favorite charity at the same time.
In addition to this, because you’re exercising for a good cause, you are likely to take it more seriously and be fully committed to it. As a result, you will probably start training for your event in advance, and so will also greatly improve your level of fitness and your physique!
Make Friends
If meeting new people and making friends is important to you, then joining the company sports team is a good way that you can fulfill this need whilst also fulfilling your need to exercise.
This has the added advantage of giving you the opportunity to make new friends at work, and also to improve your teamwork skills at the same time. Both of these will help to build up your confidence levels, which may one day get you that promotion you’ve been after!
Fall In Love
Going to the gym or joining a sports club will allow you to meet many new people, one of whom could be that special person you’ve been searching for.
Even if you don’t find love, you are still likely to make friends which can help to motivate you and keep you focused on achieving your exercise goals.
Help Some Friends
If you have a friend or family member who has just moved into a new house, or is moving out of their house, then offering to help them carry their stuff can be an excellent opportunity for a good workout.
Not only will you burn some fat and tone up your muscles, but you will also score points with your friends because you will be seen as a helpful person.
Find A Lifelong Companion
If you need a reason to start exercising, a dog may provide just the reason you’ve been looking for! Dogs require walking every day, and ideally, should be walked at least twice a day.
Getting a dog can help to improve your cardiovascular health, reduce stress levels and provide you with a companion who will always be loyal and love you no matter what.
So providing that you are willing to accept the responsiblity that owning an animal entails, a dog can be an excellent way to get you exercising on a regular basis whilst also improving your health and life expectancy in the process.
How To Burn More Calories At Work
Having a regular full-time job can make exercising difficult, especially if you have lots of deadlines to meet. But this doesn’t mean that you have to sit at your desk and be forced to pile on the pounds, as it is possible to get a workout at work.
Below you will find some ways to burn more calories at work, and then in the next section, some office exercises that you can try at your desk.
Use An Exercise Ball
Instead of sitting on a chair, try sitting on an exercise ball instead.
This will force you to use your core muscles which include your abdominal muscles and your lower back, thereby helping you to improve your posture.
Get Up And Move
Set your watch to beep every hour, or every two hours, and then walk around for a few minutes when your watch beeps.
Getting up to stretch your legs, even if just for a few moments, will enable to you burn a few calories, lower stress levels and reduce your risk of suffering a deep vein thrombosis (DVT) by improving blood circulation.
Furthermore, if you spend long hours in front of a computer screen, then getting up every hour or so will also help to reduce eyestrain and prevent backache.
Count Your Steps
A good way to encourage yourself to do more exercise at work, is simply to buy a step counter that you attach to your waist.
This will count how many steps you do each day, from which you can then work out the total distance that you normally walk at work. You can then try to beat your highest number of steps by walking a little further the next day.
Keep Weight Loss In Mind
If you really want to get a good workout at work, then try to avoid taking the easy option wherever possible.
For example, instead of taking the elevator, try walking up the stairs. Or, instead of going to a restroom that is close to you, go to one that is further away.
By taking the harder option you will burn more calories and so will lose weight quicker.
Use A Headset
If your job involves speaking on the phone throughout much of the day, then instead of sitting down at your desk, why not get a headset so that you can walk around while you are speaking?
If you spend a lot of time on the phone, you will be surprised at just how many extra calories you will burn simply by standing up. And if you do start to feel tired, then you can always sit down again!
Replace Your Coffee Break With A Walking Break
Rather than just sitting down during your breaks, try to spend some of that time walking around instead.
If you can, find someone to walk with you. Not only will this help to pass the time by more quickly, but it can also be a good way of building up a relationship with one of your work colleagues.
Take Your Breaks
In some companies employees will work during their break, which means that they never really leave their desk throughout the course of the day.
Make sure that you always take your breaks when you are supposed to, as this will improve your productivity for the rest of the day by reducing stress levels, improving blood circulation and oxygenating the body.
Working Out At Your Desk
Here are some office exercises that you can do without having to leave your desk.
Abdominal Muscles
Tighten your stomach muscles and then breathe out as you pull your stomach in. Then let your stomach expand out naturally when you breathe back in again. Repeat this 10 times.
Back
Sit on the edge of your seat with your feet flat on the floor. Hold the edge of your chair as you slowly lean back a few degrees, and then return back to your original upright position. This exercise will help to strengthen the lower back.
Another variation of this exercise is to sit back in your chair, and then to lean forward so that your head ends up in front of your knees. Once you have reached this position, you can then raise yourself back up to your original sitting position.
Neck
Start by turning your head to the left, now breathe in and out. Repeat this by turning your head to the right. Return back to center and breathe in and out.
Lift your head up and look at the ceiling breathing in and out as you do so, and then repeat as you lower your head looking towards the floor.
Return back to center. Now gently rotate your head in a clockwise motion, and then again in an anticlockwise motion.
Arms
Stand in front of your desk about two feet away from it, and then place your hands firmly on the edge of the desk. Now bend your arms so that you lower your body towards the desk in a press-up motion. This will help to exercise your upper body and your biceps.
To exercise your triceps, stand with your back towards the desk and lower your body as you hold onto the desk in a reverse press-up motion.
If all of this seems a bit too extreme to do at your desk, try keeping some small hand weights beside you instead.
Legs
As you sit in your chair, extend one leg out in front of you and hold it for 10 to 20 seconds. Repeat this motion with your other leg. As your legs grow stronger, you can increase the length of this exercise.
To make things bit more challenging, you can also attach some ankle weights to make it more difficult to lift your legs.
Exercises For Your Lunch Break
Regardless of how busy your day is, everyone has a lunch break. Exercising during your lunch break can therefore be a great way to fit in some extra exercise time into your day.
However, because most lunch breaks are only one hour long, you have to make every minute count if you want to use this time to get a good workout.
So if you do want to exercise during your lunch break, then it is generally best to do exercises which won’t cause you to sweat very much as this will save you time from having to shower and change your clothes.
Below you will find some exercises that you can fit into your lunch break, and which will also leave you with plenty of time to get back to work afterwards.
Swimming
Swimming is an excellent form of exercise because it gives you a full body workout, and because you are in water, you are not putting any pressure on your joints which means that there is a very low risk of you injuring yourself.
If you want to swim during your lunch break, it is best to do so only if you have short hair or are able to prevent your hair from getting wet. Otherwise, it will take you a long time to dry off and get back to work.
Walking
Walking is great for exercising the calves, thighs and buttocks, and you won’t get as sweaty as you would when running. You don’t have to go far when you walk, so you can easily get back to work with plenty of time to spare.
In addition to this, walking outside is also a good way to boost your vitamin D levels, although it if is cold and wet outside, then you would probably want to stay indoors.
Walking outside can be an enjoyable experience because it gets you outdoors, but you can also exercise indoors on a treadmill.
The good thing about using a treadmill is that you can exercise whatever the weather is like, but you are likely to grow bored with this very quickly and will probably work up more of a sweat. So whenever possible, try to walk outside and get some fresh air.
Weight Lifting
Lifting weights will help you to increase your muscle mass, boost your metabolism and help you to burn fat.
The good thing about lifting weights is that it doesn’t result in you getting very sweaty, which means that you can do it quickly and then get back to work.
The downside to lifting weights is that it can cause injury, or make an existing injury worse, if you lift the weights incorrectly or lift more than you are capable of.
Yoga And Pilates
Yoga and pilates can help to improve the strength and flexibility of your body, whilst also improving your muscle tone. And they do this without making you sweat, which means that you don’t have to take a shower afterwards.
In addition to this, both are also excellent at reducing stress levels, which can be a real bonus if you are having a bad day.
The downside to yoga and pilates is that they are not very effective if you are trying to lose weight.
So if weight loss is what you are after, then you would be better doing a 30 minute running session rather than a 45 minute yoga session, and then using the extra 15 minutes to have a shower and get back to work.
How To Make Lunchtime Exercise Work for You
• If it is possible do so, try to take your lunch break at midday or 2 p.m., as this will allow you to avoid peak hours at the gym.
• If you want to exercise at the gym during your lunch break, choose one that is near to you so that it doesn’t take you long to get there and then get back to work.
• If your gym provides you with clean towels, then make use of them instead of taking your own.
• If you avoid exercising because you feel that you are too busy to leave your desk, remind yourself that exercise will help to increase your productivity by increasing energy levels and reducing stress.
• If you don’t feel like exercising during your lunch break, remind yourself that by doing it now you will be able to go straight home after work and relax for the rest of the evening.
Exercising With Your Children
If you have a family, then finding the time to exercise with your children can be difficult to fit into your schedule, especially when you have lots of other things that you must do throughout the day.
However, this doesn’t necessarily mean that you can’t keep yourself fit, as you can still get a good workout simply by doing various activities with your family.
This way, you get to keep yourself in shape, lower your and your kids risk of diabetes and obesity, and most importantly, spend some quality time together bonding as a family.
Make A Plan
The first step to exercising with your children is to plan when you are going to do it. Take some time to think about when you have free time to exercise, and what sort of things your children would enjoy doing.
Perhaps you enjoy going for a walk, having a swim, or riding a bike? Whatever you decide to do should be fun and something which will help the whole family to get fit.
Good days for family fitness are Saturday or Sunday morning when the kids are free from school, and you are free from work.
Below are some ideas on activities that you can do to exercise with your children.
Go Walking
Walking is a great way to get into exercise, especially if you haven’t exercised in a while. It will help you to tone your legs, whilst also benefiting your heart and lungs.
Walking is also a low impact form of exercise, which means that there is very little risk of you suffering an injury as a result of walking.
Good places to go walking with your children are to the local park or a nearby forest, and if you take some lunch with you then you can also enjoy a family picnic together.
As with all outdoor activities, being outdoors will expose you to the sun which will help to boost your vitamin D levels.
Play In The Park
Going to the park with your children is one of the best ways to spend the afternoon. Not only do you get to walk around and enjoy the scenery, but you also get to have fun.
Bringing a ball or a Frisbee with you can help you to get an even better workout, and your kids will love it!
Swimming
Swimming is a fun activity for the whole family, and if you can find a pool that caters for children, you can concentrate on swimming while they concentrate on having fun.
One of the best things about swimming is that it exercises your whole body, but doesn’t place any weight on your joints. This make it a very safe form of cardiovascular exercise.
Skating
Skating is a great way to tone up your buttocks and your thighs. Whether it be ice-skating or rollerblading, you can ensure that your children will have a great day out and a great workout.
Bike Riding
Another good exercise to do with your children is to go on a bike ride. Bike rides are a low impact form of exercise which means that there is very little risk of you injuring yourself when riding.
In addition to this, you also get to see the outdoors and get some fresh air.
Vacation Fitness & Preventing Weight Gain
Going on vacation is a time when everyone wants to relax and have fun. Unfortunately however, this can often result in you returning back home with a bit more weight than when you left.
So if you don’t want to pile on the pounds when you are on vacation, it is important that you at least do a little bit of exercise and not spend the whole day just lying on the beach.
The trouble is, when you are on vacation you don’t really feel like exercising, as all you want to do is relax and take it easy. So the trick is to find a way to exercise that doesn’t seem like you’re exercising, and to do things which are fun so that you don’t mind doing them.
Below you will find some suggestions for how you could do this.
Walking
Walking along the beach or walking when you are sightseeing, are both excellent ways to keep yourself fit when on vacation.
The good thing about this form of exercise is that it’s fun to do because you will have nice scenery to look at. You will also be walking to get somewhere, and so you will be multitasking your time just like we talked about earlier.
Swimming
Even swimming for a short time can help you to tone up your whole body and improve the health of your cardiovascular system.
If you swim in the sea you will have even more fun, and it won’t seem like you are exercising at all.
Watersports
Watersports such as skiing, windsurfing, surfing or canoeing, are a great way to introduce yourself to new types of activities that you have never done before.
And because they are also quite demanding forms of exercise, they will be an excellent way for you to lose weight and have lots of fun in the process.
Beach Games
Playing with a ball or a Frisbee on the beach can help you to tone up your arms, shoulders and even your legs. And because these are social activities, you get to exercise with your friends and have a good time while you’re at it.
Volleyball is another good way to lose weight. This is quite a demanding activity, but it is also a lot of fun. So even though you are likely to feel tired after a match, you won’t feel tired while you are playing it because you will be having so much fun!
Horse Riding
Even though horse riding may not be the most physically demanding activity that you can do, an early morning ride can still be an excellent way to boost your metabolism for the rest of the day and make you feel more active for later on.
Alternatively, riding a horse at the end of the day can be a great way to unwind and burn off a few extra calories before bed.
Keeping The Weight You Lost Off
Once you get back home from your holiday, you probably aren’t going to be as active as you were. As a result, you put yourself in danger of regaining all the weight which you have lost. So here are some tips on how you can continue to lose weight once you get back home.
Swimming
If you swam every day when you were on holiday, find a pool that is close to you so that you can start swimming on a regular basis.
It is much easier to keep on doing something once you have developed it as a habit, so if you picked up any good exercise habits on your holiday, then make sure that you keep on doing them!
Drink Water
If you went to a hot country on your holiday, then you probably had to drink lots of water to keep yourself hydrated.
When you get back home, keep up this habit by drinking lots of water on a regular basis. Water will help to suppress hunger, and so you will be less likely to start snacking on unhealthy junk foods.
Meal Sizes
If you ate smaller portions of food on vacation, keep up this habit when you get home by putting less on your plate.
Doing so will encourage you to eat less, as it has been shown that people tend to eat whatever is on their plate, regardless of how much is on it.
So if you use a smaller plate and eat smaller portions, you are likely to eat much less food throughout the course of the day.
Walking
If sightseeing is something you did on holiday, then you probably walked a lot. When you get back home, try to walk more often rather than taking the car for short journeys.
Sports
If there were certain sports that you liked to play on holiday, try to see if you can do any of those at home. If you can’t, then experiment with other sports until you find something that you like.
How To Tone Up Your Body Fast
There will be times in your life when you want to look more toned than you are. For example, just before a date or an important job interview.
Fortunately, there is a quick fix that you can use to make yourself appear slimmer and more toned. The bad news is, that the results will only last for a few hours.
It involves a 15 minute workout (detailed below) that forces blood into your muscles, which then causes them to look tighter and feel more toned. So if you do these exercises just before you go out, you help to make your body look its best.
However, it is important to remember that the following exercises will only provide a temporary fix, so the results that you get will start to fade after about 2-3 hours.
It is also important that you have realistic expectations as to what these exercises will do. They will not for example, make a fat person look thin. All they will do is to help your body appear more firmed and toned up.
Each of the following exercises can be done on their own to tone up a specific region of the body, or done as a total body workout to tone the whole body.
Calf Muscles
To tone up your calf muscles, stand with your feet hip width apart. Hold your arms out in front of you, and then bend your knees as if you were sitting down on a chair.
While you are doing this keep your back straight and your head looking forward. Repeat this exercise 25 times.
Next, stand with your feet hip width apart and lift yourself up on your toes, hold, and then return back to the floor. Repeat this exercise 30 times.
Buttocks
To tone up your buttocks, lie on your back with your hands by your sides. Keep the soles of your feet flat on the floor and then bend your knees up slightly.
Now, pull your abdominal muscles in and lift your hips off the ground whilst also tensing your buttocks. Breathe out as you are doing this.
Hold this position momentarily, and then relax. Breathe in as you lower your back gently down to the floor. Repeat this exercise 25 times.
Arms
To do this exercise, find a sturdy chair or use the edge of your bed.
Place the palms of your hands on the edge of the chair with your back facing it, and your legs extended out in front of you.
The weight of your body should now be supported by your arms and your feet. Now bend your elbows slightly taking your body down with you, hold, and then lift yourself back up. Repeat this exercise 25 times.
Abdominal Muscles
To tone up your abdominal muscles, lie on your back with your hands by your sides and your feet stretched out in front of you.
Keeping your hands to your sides, lift your legs up as high as they can go. Lift your head up at the same time for balance. Now, lower both your legs and your head. Repeat this exercise 25 times.
Thighs
To tone up your thighs, lie on your back with your hands to your sides and extend your legs vertically forming a V shape. Open and close your legs 25 times. This exercise will help to tone up your inner thighs.
To tone up your outer thighs, lie on one side and lift your leg in the air and then back down again. Repeat 25 times.
Interval Training For Weight Loss
If you have the time to exercise but can’t exercise for very long, then you may be interested in doing a type of exercise that allows you to reap the benefits of exercise, but in much less time than it would normally take you.
The basic idea is to increase the intensity of the activity that you do, so that you can exercise for short periods of time whilst still getting the same benefits that you would from a longer exercise session. This is known as interval training.
With interval training, you do short periods of intense exercise followed by periods of slower and gentler exercise. So basically, you push yourself as hard as you can, then give yourself some time to recover by going at a slower pace, and then push yourself as hard as you can again.
Not only can interval training help you to burn calories, but it can also help you to burn more calories throughout the rest of the day because it helps to boost your metabolism.
In fact, interval training can actually be better for you than regular exercise in terms of weight loss, because studies have shown that after interval training your metabolism is boosted for around 15 hours after you have finished exercising. This compares to just three hours after stopping regular exercise.
The best way to start interval training is to allocate yourself an exercise period of 20 minutes that you will workout in. Then, for your chosen activity, exert maximum effort for as long as you can. When you can go no more, take a rest by doing something less strenuous until you recover.
For example, you may be able to sprint flat-out for 30 seconds, and then find that you need to rest by walking for two minutes before you can start sprinting again.
Cut Your Workout Time In Half
Interval training can be done with any form of exercise, so it’s best to choose something that you find fun and can challenge yourself with.
Also, you don’t have to follow strict time limits such as going flat-out for x seconds and then resting for x seconds. You could instead just make your overall workout a lot more intense than it normally is by working harder during that period.
Some examples of how you could do this with different activities are provided below.
• If you normally exercise for one hour a day, exercise for 30 minutes instead. During this time, have periods of intense exercise and then periods of lower intensity exercise.
• If you exercise for an hour on the treadmill each day, change that to a 30 minute workout and set your treadmill on a hilly setting so that you are walking up and down hills.
• If swimming is your thing, then replace 40 minutes of breaststroke with 20 minutes of a faster paced front crawl.
• If you run two miles every day, run one mile instead at a faster pace.
• Instead of doing a 20 minute weightlifting session, do a 10 minute session instead but using heavier weights.
