Tips for boosting your fitness level

Are you ready to feel in the zone? How about ready to take on new fitness challenges? Maybe you are interested in increasing your speed for your next 5K Marathon, or lift heavier weights.  If you want to increase your cardiovascular fitness and increase your strength, it's time to push your fitness level to new heights.  By incorporating these tips into your fitness routine, you will ready yourself for more energy and performing at your best possibility.

1.  Use your body weight to become stronger. Your muscle is more metaboically active than your fat. Muscle burns more calories per day at a resting heart rate than your body fat does. Therefore, the more muscle you have, the more calories you burn daily.  Strength training also increases your joint mobility and allows you to feel good while doing your daily activities.  Dedicate 3-4 days each week to strength training to build muscle and become stronger.

2.  Workout at home with Fitness DVDs.  Working out at home with fitness DVDs eliminates the excuses. You don't have to pay for a gym membership or feel intimidated by other gym members. No excuse that it's too cold, snowy, rainy, icy, etc. outside to go out to run, walk, or participate in outdoor sports.  Working out at home is easy, time effective, and gets you moving. So pop in a DVD and start sweating! Message me if you need workout DVD ideas!

3. Cross-train. If you have one workout that you love to do and do it day in and day out, you are putting stress on the same muscles, joints, and bones that are involved in that particular exercise.  By doing this, you increase your risk of injury due to overuse.  By cross-training, you work different muscles in your body with each different exercise so you can do more activities safely. Mix up your workout types so that you increase your performance and fitness without pushing your body past it's own limits.

4,  Find ways to reduce your stress.  Stress is a huge factor for some people who struggle with weight loss or weight gain.: both of which, can keep you from reaching your higher fitness levels. If you struggle with high stress levels, your body produces a hormone called cortisol, and if it is not controlled, your body can increase it's fat storage. Take control of your stress by going for a walk, get a breath of fresh air, read a book, do something fun, call a friend, or just seek some alone time if that is what your need.  Find ways to reduce your stress and partake in those activites often during the week.

5.  Make fitness your lifestyle. No, you don't have to change professions or become a personal trainer or coach to make it a lifestyle. Make fitness an important part of your daily and weekly routines.  Losing weight, getting healthy, or becoming more fit is not something you can just do  whenever the mood strikes. You must commit to eating healthy and doing something physical every day. Think of this as a lifestyle, not a gimmick, fad, or trend.

6. Get your head in the game. Getting healthy or fit doesn't start in the gym or in your kitchen. It starts in your head. You have to be mentally prepared to take on the challenge. Once you have prepared our mind for this new lifestyle, you can and will succeed in your journey.  Don't be afraid to reach out to someone to help you get your mind in the game. Talk to people who are already there, feed off their mentality. Learn everything your can to make your journey successful. The more your mind thinks health and fitness, the easier it is to make this a lifestyle.

7. Eat clean so your body can perform at it's highest potential.  The relationships we develop with food are extremely powerful. The choice is ours... we can make choices that support our health, fuel our energy, and help us to lead a long life or we can make choices that ultimately weigh us down--physically, emotionally, and energetically.  As the saying goes, we are what we eat!

8. Do HIIT Traiining. HIIT Training is a great way to stay on top of your health. Tabata Training, which is a form of HIIT Training, uses only 4 minutes of your time. 20 seconds at a 80-90% of your capacity and a 10 second rest period. You do this continually until you hit the 4 minute mark.

9. Increase your intensity. If you continually do the same workout, you will hit a plateau and stay the same. You can do the workout you love, but try mixing it up in terms of effort, duration, speed, or intensity. Put a bit more pep in your aerobics class, add an extra mile to your walk or run, increase the incline on the treadmill or add a few extra minutes, or add a few extra reps or more weight to a strength training program. When you increase the intensity, you increase your fitness level also.

10. Take action.  If you struggle with weight loss, eating healthy, or maybe getting fit.  Maybe you spend a lot of time on blogs, reading health and fitness magazines, write out lists, goals, and workout plans. Maybe you are a collector of fitness programs but you still struggle with making a successful story for your self. I have one question for you. What are you doing with all that information?  Take all the knowledge you are getting and take action! Use this knowledge to boost your fitness to the next level.