One key to a good life is having a healthy body. But it’s not just about health–a healthy lifestyle includes fitness, too. Fitness can help you get the energy you need to succeed in your professional and personal lives; it can shape your mood and make you feel more comfortable with yourself. To help you build that healthy lifestyle–and break down some of the different ways fitness can change your life for the better–here are a few things to consider when building your fitness regimen to let you know la fitness open late:
1. Set Realistic Goals
The first thing to do is set a goal. “Don’t just be in the gym,” explains personal trainer Alexa Kalev, a director at Group Method Fitness. “Get yourself healthy, not just in the body, but mentally. If you’re just starting out with a fitness routine, don’t overwhelm yourself by setting goals that are too difficult or too time consuming. Choose one or two simple goals and focus on achieving them before moving on to the next ones. You can always set more difficult (and rewarding) goals later on.
2. Don’t Feel Social Pressures
Don’t focus on breaking the fitness records of your peers or friends. Work at your own pace and continue to improve your fitness level as long as possible–but don’t push yourself past what you can comfortably accomplish and abuse your body in the process. Too many people try to rush results, putting themselves at risk for injuries, sicknesses and burnout.
3. Focus on Maintenance
Build a positive fitness habit during the day by making sure you walk around your office building at least every hour, whether it’s a block or two or more. Taking the stairs instead of the elevator helps your body burn off unnecessary calories and improves your cardiovascular health.
4. Stay Motivated During Exercises
It’s easy to quit exercising when you don’t feel like it–you may have heard that saying “no pain, no gain” before. But if you’re in a workout rut or aren’t getting results, keep working out until you can feel improvement in some part of your body or see results in the mirror. A little discomfort can lead to big results.
5. Know When to Stop
If you’re having an injury, making continual progress is probably not the best option for you. Keep working out, but back off just a bit until you’re healthy again. If your body starts feeling tired or sore, stop and take a break so you don’t hurt yourself or do more damage than good. Remember that exercise isn’t always going to be easy and that’s okay! Focus on ways to make it easier–like taking breaks or picking up the pace of your exercise or choosing smarter exercises–and eventually it’ll feel easier and come more naturally.
6. Try New Things
When you’re working out, challenge yourself by trying a new exercise or activity or taking a new route to your usual place. Seriously consider what kinds of exercise you want to do and then do some research on it so you know what to expect. With a little bit of research, you can find videos for nearly any routine online–and often for free.
7. Don’t Forget Rest
Exercise is important for your fitness routine, but don’t forget about the importance of rest! Make sure that at least part of your workout is just focused on resting or doing something easy and light–it’ll help ease muscle pain, improve flexibility and give your body a chance to breathe between workouts.
8. Get Regular Exercises
Try to work out at least three times a week, even if you’re not completely satisfied with your results and fitness level each day. Give your body a chance to build new muscle and grow stronger over time–and that can help you achieve better results the next time around.
9. Know When to Ask for Help
If something’s too hard for you to do on your own, talk to a friend or a trained professional like an exercise physiologist or personal trainer about how to ease into more intense exercises or other workouts. They can help you with new exercises, adjust your routine to suit your fitness level and develop a personal routine that works best for you.
10. Don’t Forget to Enjoy Yourself
If you don’t enjoy working out, you’ll never reach your fitness goals or get the great results you’re asking for. If you’re not competing with others and pushing yourself, it’s hard to get that extra motivation. Get outside and run, hike or jog in a park. Finally, remember that exercise is an important part of a healthy lifestyle–but don’t forget to enjoy yourself and the benefits it brings! Make sure to take time for yourself during and after workouts so you don’t overdo it or put stress on your body.
Summary:
Fitness is important at every age and stage of life. Don’t be intimidated by the idea of starting a fitness routine–but also don’t skip out on your workouts! It’s simple enough to develop a routine that works for you and keeps you fit, healthy and feeling good about yourself.
