If you get winded while walking up a flight of stairs, you are not alone. Studies show that more than 80% of adults cannot meet the basic guideline for aerobic and strength based activity. New Year’s Day is approaching, which gives us a great opportunity to reflect on how we can improve our lives and to set goals that support that.
Getting your body in shape through fitness and workout is a New’s Years resolution that touches every aspect of your well-being– your self-confidence, your appearance, your energy level, your clarity, and most importantly, your health. If you are ready to lose your love handles in the new year, here are some tips for developing the best workout plan to get you there:
- Do something you enjoy. The best way to develop healthy exercise habits that you’re faithful to is to do something you look forward to. If you are trying to make yourself go running every morning but you hate running, chances are, you’re going to find yourself making an excuse to get out of it every morning until you give up altogether. Some great forms of exercise that many people enjoy are rock climbing, biking, swimming, and hiking. Try out a variety of physical activities until you find one that you love.
- Mix it up If you stick to the exact same workout routine every time, your body will adjust to the stress you’re putting on it and it will lose effectiveness. The best workout plans involve a mixture of weight-training one day and cardio the next, as well as rotating the types of exercises each day, to keep your muscles on their toes.
- Start out slow, but work your way into a high-intense workout. If you go from the couch to a butt-buster workout plan, you probably aren’t going to stick with it for more than a few days. Start out with an exercise routine that gets your heart pumping, but is mild enough that you could talk while exercising for the first month. As you build up your strength and endurance, the best workouts get more intense, to give you the best results the fastest.
- Keep your workouts short and power-packed. Spending three hours at the gym every night is a huge interruption to your life (which makes it a difficult routine to sustain). Not to mention, to workout that long, you have to keep your workout less intense. Your body will show the results faster if you give it your all for 30 to 40 minutes than spend 180 minutes without pushing your body as hard.
- Workout multiple muscle groups at the same time. Instead of doing bicep curls that give you results in one area of your body only, maximize the time you’re exercising by using multiple muscle groups at the same time. This also improves coordination between your muscles and simulates how you actually use your muscles in regular life. A few good compound exercises include:
- Squat to overhead press
- Step-up with a bicep curl
- Moving planks
- Superman
- Burpees
Do you have any tips for developing a great workout and getting into shape in the New Year? Please share them with our other readers in the comment section below. Find more.