How To Get The Most Out Of Exercise

Exercise is different for everyone; there will be a tried and tested method that works for one person, and another person may want to do something entirely different. No matter what your usual exercise regime is, though, there are some things that everyone can do to really get the most out of their exercising.

Make A Plan

If you head out to do any kind of exercise, whether you’re going to the gym, out for a run, or some kind of fitness class, you’ll need a plan. If you don’t have one, you might find that you don’t know what to do when you start, and you can waste time trying to work out a routine that suits you. You know what and how you want to exercise, so that’s the first thing to take into consideration. If you’re at the gym, plan which pieces of equipment you are going to use, and for how long. When running, you need to plan how far you’re intending to go and the route you’ll be using. At an exercise class it’s a little different because the instructor will tell you what to do, but even so having a plan about what you want to achieve will help you understand what is working for you.

Track Your Progress

When you exercise, you need to know that what you are doing is yielding results. You may want to lose weight, or become fitter, or be stronger and build muscle. Your end goal must always be in sight, but don’t forget to track your progress as you go along otherwise you might be working hard for no reason. Keep a training journal so that you can collate all your results in one place, and that way you can see how far you have come, and also when it is time to make your workout a more challenging one.

Reward

We all understand how hard it can be to get motivated to exercise sometimes. When you’re tired, when you’re busy, when you just want to take a break, it is easy not to bother with your exercise. One missed class or gym session can quickly turn into two, three, and many more, until you just no longer do any exercise anymore. In order to stop this from happening, you need to stay focused and motivated, and one way to do that is to reward yourself. For every 20 gym sessions you attend, or every 10 pounds you lose, you could buy yourself something you really want such as tickets from ticketsales.com, a new outfit, or even a vacation.

Warm Up

Before starting any kind of exercise it is essential that you warm up – it needs to become a natural, instinctive part of what you are doing. If you don’t warm up, you could risk injury by going straight into a workout, no matter how gentle you may think it is. You’ll need to stretch out so as not to shock your muscles too much when you begin to really move, and it’s a good idea to try to match the rest of the warm up to the routine you’re going to go. It’s ideal if you can start sweating and get your heart rate up. This way, you’ll get much more out of your exercise routine because you won’t feel unwell or get hurt.