Whether your goal is to lose weight, become flexible, or boost your energy level, you need to exercise regularly to achieve it.
Exercising regularly won’t only make you fit and attractive, but will also improve your health.
That said, you need to keep in mind that exercise isn’t always fun and enjoyable. In fact, you need discipline to stick to it.
If you are about starting a workout program but don’t know where to start or you have tried working out in the past but wasn’t able to keep up, you are going to benefit from this article.
Read on to learn some key things about exercising that will help you get quicker results.
Why is exercise so important?
Improve your health
As can be seen in this study, exercise can improve your health and make one more flexible.
Lose weight
Making out time to exercise a couple of times a week will help you achieve your fitness goals quicker. Several studies have shown that exercise can help maintain muscle mass and promote weight loss (1) (2).
Reduce the risk of diseases
Exercising regularly will make you less likely to develop chronic health conditions like type 2 diabetes and heart disease, just to mention a few (3) (4).
Improve your mental health
Exercise can help reduce your stress level and lift your mood. Multiple studies have shown that regular exercise can improve sleep quality and boost mental health (5) (6)(7)(8).
Increase your energy level
If you are always tired or don’t seem to have enough energy to engage in activities that you love, you should consider adding exercise to your routine, as it can help you turn things around.
According to one study, regular exercise can boost energy levels and increase strength (9).
The bottom line is that exercise is powerful and can improve the quality of your life.
Popular types of exercise
Aerobics
Aerobics makes up a huge part of most exercise programs. Swimming, dancing, and running are excellent examples of aerobic exercises.
HIIT (High-Intensity Interval Training)
HIIT is basically doingshort burst of high-intensity exercise and resting or doing low-intensity exercises afterward.
Fitness boot camps
This is basically the combination of resistance and aerobic exercises.
Strength training
Exercises that fall into this category can help increase muscle mass and boost strength. Weight lifting, resistance training, sprinting, and plyometrics are examples of strength training exercises.
Calisthenics
These are movements that are done without any gym equipment. Examples include pull-ups, lunges, push-ups, and sit-ups.
Flexibility
Flexibility exercises help to prevent injuries and speed up muscle recovery. Examples include muscle stretch exercises and yoga.
Stability exercise
This helps to improve body coordination and strengthen the muscles. Pilates and core strengthening exercises are good examples of stability exercises.
Doing any of the above exercises is definitely going to improve your health, but will not help you achieve your fitness goals.
To build your dream body and ultimately achieve your fitness goals, you have to do the right type of exercise.
For example, if you want to build muscles and increase your strength, you should focus more on strength training exercises.
Two things you should do before starting any exercise program
Consult your doctor
Whether you want to do high intensity or a low impact exercise, you must consult a doctor before you start.
During your session with your doctor, he/she is going to check you to see if you have any health problems that can make you more prone to injuries while working out.
Your doctor can also help you scrutinize your workout and help you determine if your body can handle the exercise you plan on doing.
Set attainable goals
With a clear goal, you will be focused and have a clear picture of what you are working toward. Without one, you are going to go in circles and not make much progress.
If you are into calisthenics, you can set a goal to do 100 push-ups. If you are into running, you can set a goal to cover a certain amount of miles with a timeframe of your choosing.
To achieve this goal, you need to break it up and prepare a comprehensive plan on how you are going to achieve it.
For example, if your goal is to do 100 push-ups, you should break it up into the following mini-goals.
- Learn how to do push-ups correctly.
- Try to do 10 to 20 pushups.
After a while, you will be able to do 50 push-ups comfortably. If you keep pushing and don’t give up, you will eventually be able to do 100 push-ups.
Proven tips that will help you get the most out of your exercise
Warm-up
Before doing any exercise, you must do some sort of stretching and warm-up. Doing so will not only improve your performance but will also make you less likely to sustain an injury during your workout (10) (11).
According to one study, warming up before exercising can reduce soreness and improve flexibility (12).
Warm-up exercises aren’t as complicated as you are probably thinking. Simple aerobic exercises like lunges, leg kicks, and arm swings would suffice.
Alternatively, you can do a simpler version of the exercise you plan on doing. For example, if you want to run, your warm-up can be either jogging or walking.
Cool down
After an intense workout, you should do some low impact movements that will bring down your heart rate and normalize blood circulation.
Several studies have shown that taking a few minutes to cool down after a workout can help reduce muscle soreness and restore your regular breathing pattern (13).
Listen to your body
Be mindful of your limit and try not to overwork your body.
If you feel some pain or severe discomfort while working out, stop for a while and allow the pain to fizzle out before continuing. It is by no means a good idea to push through the pain, as it may cause serious injuries.
Always remember that fitness is a marathon, not a sprint.
Drink enough water
Increasing your water intake will not only improve your workout performance but also help you lose weight.
Research suggests that drinking water while exercising, especially during hot temperatures can help boost performance (14) (15).
Besides helping you maintain optimal performance, drinking water can help you recover quicker and prepare your body for your next workout session (16) (17).
Ensure that you are getting the right nutrition
Even if you work out consistently, it will be difficult for you to lose weight if you don’t follow a healthy diet.
Regardless of the nature of your fitness goals, your diet should be rich in healthy carbs, healthy fats, and protein.
As can be seen in this study, eating the right amount of healthy carbs can help fuel your muscles and give you the energy you need to exercise effectively.
Carbs can also help speed up your recovery by replenishing your glycogen store (18).
Eating protein-rich foods can help you build muscles and repair damaged tissues (19) (20).
Consuming healthy fat can increase your energy level, help you burn fat, and prevent muscle loss (21).
Staying motivated
Every year, millions of people make the big decision to improve the quality of their lives and start going to the gym.
But after a while, most of these people stop working out and eventually give up on their fitness goals. Lack of motivation is one of the main reasons why some of these people stop working out.
If you don’t want to end up like them, you have to do everything in your power to keep your motivation level up.
A simple way to do this is by making your workout as fun and exciting as possible.
So, instead of doing super intense exercises that will make you dread going to the gym, do something you love that will make you look forward to your next workout.
Another way to keep things fun and interesting is by working out with friends or joining a fitness group. As you likely know, working out with people is fun and can make you more accountable.
If you have the cash, hire a fitness trainer who can encourage and motivate you.
Tracking your progress can also keep you motivated. Looking back and seeing how much progress you have made is definitely going to motivate you to keep going.
The bottom line on getting the most out of your workout
Starting a workout program is definitely going to be challenging, especially if you are new to exercising.
But, if you have a clear goal and you keep pushing, you are going to grow stronger and things are going to become more comfortable.
See, you don’t have to do exercises that you don’t enjoy just because everybody is doing it. Remember that you have the freedom to do basically any workout you want, as long as it draws you closer to your fitness goals.
Don’t forget to eat healthy foods, drink a lot of water, and get enough rest.
