Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Follow This Advice to Lose a Few Pounds

By James Steele


It's common for people to slowly lose their fitness as they get older. Added responsibilities, such as work, marriage and children, tend to leave little room in their schedule for exercise. If your body is weak, your muscles are undefined and you struggle to catch your breath during a mild jog, follow these easy to implement tips in order to improve your fitness levels. Then you will have the body of a 22 year old. As people age it is often difficult to sustain fitness levels. Part of the issue for many people is that life's responsibilities sometimes seem to take out time for working out. Follow the tips below if you are tired of the way your body is these days. Working these tips into your fitness routines are sure to give you more self-confidence in your appearance.

Consuming a meal immediately after working out will benefit your body. Protein shakes will assist with muscle growth if you drink them straight after exercising. Try creating a protein shake with frozen yogurt, egg substitute, cocoa powder and fruit to get a powerful post-workout boost. Make sure you eat as soon as you are done working out. Drinking a protein shake after working out helps you to rebuild your muscles quickly. Try experimenting with different ingredients such as frozen yogurt, egg substitute and cocoa powder for an energy-boosting post-workout treat.

Going for a swim can provide a great, full-body workout. When you swim, you work out your arms by pulling yourself forward in the water. As you use your legs to propel your body through the water, you will be strengthening your leg muscles. Even your core muscles get used for balancing and breathing when you swim. Swimming provides a wonderful workout for the entire body. Swimming really works out your arms since you use them to make each stroke. The kicking you have to do to maintain proper swimming position gives your legs a great workout, too. It can even help to improve your core and breathing.

Use light weights to help you build up your muscle strength. Each muscle receives the same amount of force as it would by using heavier weights, although you will lift the weights at a much faster pace. This technique works especially well when bench pressing. Work through eight sets with 12 repetitions each, using 40 percent to 60 percent of the weight you normally lift, and push the weights up diligently. Take a break of about 30 seconds between each set. You don't have to lift heavy weights to improve your strength. Light weights also work. When you lift heavier weights your muscles will use just as much force but you will be going slower. Lighter weights are great for bench press exercises. Cut the weight you usually lift in half, and lift eight sets of twelve. It is important to remember to include a 30 second rest period between each set.

When you are doing lat pull downs to exercise your back, keep your thumbs around the bar next to your index finger. By doing this, you are making your back work harder. This works well for pull ups also. When you are working on the lat machine, try moving your thumbs close to your index fingers. This can enhance how your back is trained during the exercise. This action increases the input necessary from your back and therefore gives you a better workout. You can try the same technique for pull ups.

When you are bench-pressing, it helps to look at your dominant hand. Studies have shown that this simple tip makes it easier for you to increase the weight you are benching. When you are focused on your stronger hand, the natural strength that is associated with the dominant side of your body helps balance the bar loaded with weights. When you are benching, pay attention to your dominant hand. According to researchers, the weight you can lift increases when you focus on that hand. It is hypothesized that by looking at your dominate hand, which is innately stronger than your non-dominant hand, you will help balance it and have more control over the weights you are lifting.

To speed up the fitness process, slow down. Slowly release the contraction when you are lifting weights. Instead of taking a couple seconds, take around ten seconds for each repetition and you will see results faster. You will begin to see results in six weeks if you try this. Going slow is key to improving your fitness level. As you lift weights, for example, you should focus on sustained muscle contraction. For example, if you are performing your repetitions every two seconds, extend your rate to 10 seconds and you will see and feel a difference. Once you've been at it for about a month and a half, the results should become apparent.

As these tips show, getting fit is not going to be as hard as you may have believed. Losing weight just takes hard work and time. These are great qualities to have in life in general. If you have seen success at anything in life, you are sure to see success in fitness as well. There's nothing stopping you, so get started today! By considering the above tips, you will see that redefining yourself through fitness is an achievable goal. Giving up spare time to meet these goals, understanding that nothing significant will be achieved quickly, and having the work ethic to maintain your effort through discouraging times will pay off. These characteristics are a part of success in any aspect of your life. If you know how to do your job and bring up well-adjusted children, then you have no reason to fear exercise. Stop waiting for your life to change; go make it happen.




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