If you think your life is too busy to find time to exercise, then you’ll be surprised to learn that you can get a great workout in less time than you think. This article contains many tips that can teach you to maximize your workout in a short amount of time, and can help you stay healthy and maintain a healthy lifestyle.
When you’re working through a fitness regimen, remember that you should always warm up. If you are under the age of forty, hold your stretches for thirty seconds. If you are over the age of forty, your stretches should be held for sixty seconds. Muscles become less limber as you age, so it is wise to adjust your workout to keep on top of these changes.
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.
A good tip to stay fit, is to try circuit training. Circuit training is a method of lifting weights where you dramatically reduce the rest time and the weight. This method turns your weight lifting session into a cardio session at the same time, so you can kill two birds with one stone.
Fitness isn’t all about exercise. If you are going to get in shape you also have to be concerned with your diet. You cannot get in shape by going to the gym every day and following it up with a Big Mac. So choose a diet that complements your workout load from day to day. For example, if you don’t work out one day, that day is the perfect day for salads, or on a heavy workout day, it may be more acceptable to cheat with a burger.
Do you want to get better results for the effort you spend working out? Try doing stretching, as it has been shown to increase strength by as much as 20 percent. Try and stretch your muscles after each set of your weight lifting routine. Your workout will be more effective by just stretching.
Squeezing the muscles of your butt while lifting weights will help save your back. When you are lifting weights that cause you to lift over your head, make it a habit to squeeze your glutes. This will force your body into a position that will stabilize your spine automatically. A stable spine will lower your chance of back injuries.
Fitness experts recommend doing slow and sustained stretches three to seven days per week. To learn how to perform stretches correctly without the worry of harming the muscle, you may consider hiring a professional trainer for a few sessions in the beginning of your fitness program to learn how to perform these stretches correctly. Oftentimes, if you join a gym, these sessions are offered free to members.
Health experts all agree on how important exercise is to staying healthy. Even if you think you’re too busy, you should dedicate a little bit of time every week to fitness. If you follow these tips, you can achieve a great workout in a short time to fit your busy schedule, and still maintain a healthy lifestyle.