Balance Will Help You Get the Most Out of Your Fitness Training
Posted by Christian Aguirre on Fri, Sep 11, 2009 @ 01:42 PM
You Can Lose Weight and Tone Your Body
You likely have two general fitness goals. The first is to lose weight. The second is to look more toned. If you're a man, toned means bigger biceps and a more chiseled chest. If you're a woman, you want arms like Michelle Obama and legs like Lea Michele.
The good news is these goals can be achieved in unison. The problem is most people get so wrapped up in one aspect of working out that they neglect the others. If you want the best results, you should focus on a well-rounded approach.
How to Get Started
In the beginning, you should aim for three quality workouts a week. These can be anything from a gym session to an East Bay boot camp. Prior to any session, start with a five to ten minute warm up. A brisk outdoor or treadmill walk is the best way to loosen up before you dive into your routine.
Because you want to lose weight and tone your body, you want to do both cardio and resistance exercises. Cardio helps you burn more calories. It also improves your health by increasing your heart and lungs' ability to pump oxygen. Currently, the Mayo Clinic recommends 2.5 hours of moderate cardio a week. If this sounds like a bit much, you'll be happy to know their recommendation can be reduced to 1.25 hours if you increase the cardio's intensity.
As anyone who has attended an East Bay boot camp has discovered, cardio and resistance exercises work very well together. In fact, while you can split up these exercises, combining them will allow you to achieve more in less time. It will also make you push yourself harder and make your workouts much more interesting. This type of circuit training is much more engaging than one continuous cardio session.
Increasing your body's tone isn't the only benefit of resistance training. These exercises can also improve the strength of your bones. Additionally, regularly engaging your muscles will prevent you from looking atrophied as you shed body fat.
Learn Why Core Strength is Crucial
The other key component of improving your body is focusing on your core strength. It's common for people to associate core strength with a six-pack. While this is a nice bonus once you've shed enough body fat, core strength goes beyond looks.
Having a strong core helps to prevent injuries. It will also improve your performance with other exercises and increase your stamina while you're working out.
You can increase core strength by doing exercises like hanging leg raises or Swiss ball crunches. However, if you really want to improve your core, squats and deadlifts can work wonders. Squats are also excellent for sculpting your legs and backside.
While squats and deadlifts are extremely effective, they can be dangerous if performed incorrectly. To minimize risk and maximize results, it's a good idea to enlist the help of a trainer to teach and supervise these exercises.
