Exercise
Diversify Your Workouts And Fitness Activities
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Do you do the same training program day after day? After a while your muscles get used to and expect the same workout. Over a period of 6 to 8 weeks, they adjust and get more efficient at performing those same exercises. Consequently, you end up not burning as many calories as you did when you started your routine. This is known as hitting a plateau.
To break through a plateau, throw your body a curve; change your routine. Always keep your body guessing as to what you expect it to do next. Switching routines periodically keeps your muscles from taking a “set” and thus helps you burn the maximum number of calories. Ensure your training activities include aerobic, strength, flexibility, core and balance exercises.
Aerobic
Cardio training increases your heart rate, causes you to breath faster and usually uses the large muscle groups. Because your blood is circulating faster and you are breathing faster, more oxygen is getting to your muscles. Activities include jogging, running, swimming and biking.
Strength
Strength training can include anything from using weight machines, to lifting free weights, to doing exercises that only use your own body weight, such as pull-ups, push-ups, and sit-ups or crunches.
If you are doing only body weight training, be sure to switch to machines or free weights every few weeks to keep your body from adapting to your body weight. With free weights and machines, you can add weight and continually challenge your muscles.
Flexibility
The problem with many exercise routines is that they don’t take your muscles through a full range of motion. Consequently not all of a particular group of muscles gets exercised equally. This can lead to an imbalance and an increased risk of injury. Part of your routine should include dynamic stretching before exercising and static after.
Core
To safely lift heavier weights, you have to have a good foundation and that means doing exercises that build your back and abdominal core along with your legs. Good choices are crunches, yoga and weight machines that target core muscles.
Balance Exercises
Of the five, this one is the most overlooked. Most training routines do not include activities that improve or maintain your balance. One great way to work on balance is by practicing yoga. Many of the poses used target balance. What you don’t want to happen is suffer a fall caused by poor balance. This can put your fitness goal on hold while rehabbing.
Diversification of your routine is the key to keeping your body operating at an optimal level and preventing hitting a plateau. Be sure your routines include some exercises from each of the five areas.
Can l Lose Weight Through Walking?
Of course the answer varies from person to person, but the short answer is almost always a resounding yes. When people weigh the various parts of their lives on the scale of importance, fitness usually takes a back seat to the “important” things because it’s difficult, strenuous, and more than anything it’s time consuming. The only problem with that mentality is that it’s largely untrue, you don’t have to invest a huge amount of time and effort into losing weight to get results and you can do it by doing something that you do every single day: going for a walk.
Now don’t get me wrong, if you’re serious about losing a drastic amount of weight you should definitely consider a more structured and traditional weight loss plan, but for the average person with a sedentary lifestyle adding a little bit of additional fitness can make a huge difference. Walking is something that just about everyone does every day. It’s something that’s so commonplace that we hardly even think about it, but getting up and moving around uses up energy, which in turn burns off calories. Even with the busiest and most packed of schedules it’s easy to find a little time for some walking.
You might be saying to yourself “I don’t have time to take a hike every day” and that’s not what I’m asking you to do. The important part of losing weight through walking is equal parts consistency and commitment. Take a look at your day, dissect it piece by piece and take a look at the times that you’re in transit. Do you take your kids to the bus stop in the morning? Do you go out to grab lunch at work? From there ask yourself if it’s viable to walk to your destination rather than drive there just because it’s a little easier. Identifying these “walkable” times is a good start towards losing weight just through taking a few extra steps.
Losing weight through walking is also great for people who do have a little extra time to devote to fitness, but might not be up for an intense workout or exercise. Walking is low impact so it won’t strain your body and you don’t have to be in tip top shape to do it, either. Try something simple like just mapping out a walking path around your block or neighborhood and going out when you have some extra time or are looking to get a breath of fresh air.
You’ll be surprised how refreshing it is to be up and moving around, especially if you spend a lot of your time at a cramped desk or in front of your computer all day. If you’ve been looking for a way to lose some weight and keep fit that’s not going to consume your life then walking can easily be the answer to your weight loss dilemma.