Top 10 Fitness Tips

If you had a few too many mince pies at Christmas and want to kick-start the New Year in good shape these top 10 fitness tips.

Tip One:

This is the easy one that everyone knows but doesn’t always practice: exercise or diet alone won’t work. An exercise routine and healthy food plan based around your lifestyle is the best way to lose body fat, tighten muscles and increase energy so think of the two as inseparable.

Tip Two:

If fat loss is your goal think of your fitness routine as a pyramid. The foundation is cardio exercise – at least 30 minutes a day, four to five days per week. On top of that build stretching, to increase flexibility and reduce stress, and at the top of the pyramid add strength training. Make sure you’re resting for good intervals between all the training or your body won’t react well.

Tip Three:

Weight training is essential to burn body fat. For every pound of muscle you gain, your body burns 30-50 additional calories per day. If you gain five pounds of muscle, you'll be burning up to 250 additional calories per day. The cumulative effect is significant - about 84,000 calories over the course of a year.

Most people are afraid of bulking up from weight training, but bulk is merely fat on top of muscle, so as you lose the fat, you'll look lean and tight from your weight training - not bulky. Weight training also combats osteoporosis and is the shapely woman's best kept secret.

Tip Four:

You’ve got to enjoy your exercise or you’ll never stick at it so if you don’t enjoy cardiovascular exercise, invest in an upbeat dance video tape, or take a belly dancing or archery class. 

Tip Five:

Make sure in the time you dedicate to your workout you give it your all. Exercise can unlock allsorts of potential in your life by making you stronger, leaner, healthier and more nimble. It will allow you to play sport better, dance with friends, play with your grandchildren and accomplish your daily activities faster and easier.

Tip Six:

Consistency is more important than volume. Working out two to three days per week with will produce more results than haphazard workouts such as five days one week and one day the following week.

Tip Seven: 
 

If you’re having trouble getting motivated write down two or three goals you hope to have accomplished in 30 days. Make sure it’s realistic. For example: "I will work out two days per week every week for the next 30 days and I will perform 30 minutes of power walking for my workout each session with a goal of losing two pounds".

At the end of the 30 days, you'll feel a sense of accomplishment because your goals were short-term, realistic and measurable. This natural progression will propel you to add a third day of exercise and dramatically increase your motivation and self-esteem.

Tip Eight:

Ever hear of the expression 'cardio queen'? It refers to someone who does two hours of cardio a day. This person mistakenly assumes that this is the most efficient method to lose fat. In fact, it's the most efficient method to lose fat and muscle.

By the time you get to your weight goal you’ve no firmness to your muscles. Always perform resistance training and cardio as part of your overall fitness programme and don't go over 50-60 minutes of cardio.

Tip Nine:

It doesn't have to be overly rigid, but I highly recommend some sort of structured eating plan from Monday to Friday. You can take some liberties at the weekend, but if you have a plan and know what you'll be eating for each meal and snack, you're less likely to reach for munchies at night. This may involve some meal preparation and planning, but I find it to be extremely effective in losing fat.

Tip 10:

The key to losing body fat is controlling blood sugar and insulin levels. The best way to control blood sugar through your diet is to eat three small meals and two to three small snacks spread out over every two to three hours. This sends a signal to your body that there is plenty of food and that stored body fat and excess water can be released.

Combine protein and carbohydrates at each meal and snack with some good monounsaturated fat and don't let any meal go above 300 calories.

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Check out this Video explaining why it's so difficult to lose weight, especially for women!