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Article Series: Exercise & Fitness
What Are The Most Effective Ways
To Exercise & Get Into Shape?
8
Workout Secrets of Top Trainers
Don’t you wish sometimes that you had your
own personal trainer to guide you through your workout and
give you hints about getting more out of your exercise? You
may not be able to afford a trainer of your own but by incorporating
these trainer hints and tips into your day, you’ll be on your
way to making your workout even more effective!
Buddy
up – One of the best benefits of having a personal trainer
is having someone to hold you accountable for your exercise.
A trainer is paid to do this for you but the easy (and free!)
solution is within your own circle of friends. Ask a reliable
friend to be your workout partner and just the knowledge that
she’s depending on you to work out with her will increase your
odds of staying on track with your exercise. A unique way of
ensuring success is to allow each partner a certain number
of “cuts” per month – at a price. Failing to show up for a
session with your trainer still costs you money and so should
skipping your workout with your friend. Pony up $10 for each
cut and let it accumulate for six months or longer. At the
end of a predetermined time frame, count the money and use
it to treat you and your workout partner to a luxurious splurge.
Shorter
workouts can be as effective as longer ones – Sure,
everyone would like to be able to work out for forty-five minutes
of uninterrupted time, but let’s be serious! With todays busy
schedules and demanding jobs, finding time to exercise can
be a struggle, but the good news is that you don’t need a huge
block of time to see results. Studies have shown that workouts
as short as ten to fifteen minutes can strengthen the body
and improve your health. Fit several brief workouts in your
day and you not only increase your metabolism throughout the
day but you also reach the ideal activity level of 45 minutes
to one hour. Don’t let yourself be discouraged by a lack of
time; do the best with what you’ve got.
Add
variety to see results – Undoubtedly the fastest way to
see changes in your body is to keep surprising it! Changing
up your routine every few days prevents your body from becoming
conditioned to the same exercise day after day and requires
it to call on different muscles for different activities. This
means more muscles are worked over the course of just a few
days, so you see the effects on your body in much less time
than usual. An excellent method of adding variety is to incorporate
weight lifting into your cardio routine. This requires the
body to respond to challenges to balance, strength, and more,
and speeds up your results.
Intensify
for more strength – Most trainers recommend increasing
the intensity of your workout to see improvement in your strength
and aerobic capability. Too often people become comfortable
with their level of exertion and aren’t working as hard. Boosting
the intensity keeps the body challenged and working harder.
Taking deep, wide steps during aerobics and squeezing the buttock
and thigh muscles challenge the body to a higher level of exertion
and produce some amazing changes in just a few workouts. Weight-lifters
should try adding 3-5 pounds to their current weight and see
the difference in toning and strength after a few sessions.
Know
your excuses and head them off – Personal trainers often
deal with clients who make all kinds of excuses to get out
of a session or to avoid a certain exercise, and must keep
the client on track without offending. When you are your own
personal trainer, though, it can be difficult to discipline
yourself to your exercise schedule unless you give yourself
an advantage. Sit down and write down all the excuses you would
use to avoid exercising. Once you’ve done that, go back and
counter all your excuses. If you wrote down lack of time as
an excuse, oppose it with suggestions for short, frequent workouts
rather than one long session. If you can anticipate your own
excuses and know how to respond to them, you’ve won half the
battle against apathy.
Make
it fun! – Perhaps the most common complaint about exercise
is that it becomes boring too quickly. Personal trainers help
you get through boredom by changing your routine or offering
you new choices for activities. Help yourself break out of
the boredom rut by choosing activities that appeal to you.
Instead of spending thirty minutes inside on the treadmill,
go for a hike on a local nature path. Rather than doing your
aerobics video for the millionth time, go outside with your
kids and jump on the trampoline for a while. The goal is to
choose an activity that you enjoy and that requires physical
activity, so break out your tennis racquets and bicycles!
Schedule & commit
– Signing up for a personal trainer is a commitment of your
time, money and energy, and perhaps because of that commitment
people with personal trainers tend to stick with the program.
Apply that same sense of obligation to your personal at-home
exercise program and you’ll increase your chances of having
a consistent workout plan. Schedule your workouts just like
any other appointment and write it in on your calendar or Palm.
Knowing that you have set aside time for exercise can help
you follow through and stick to a successful program.
Reward
yourself – Set checkpoints throughout your exercise program to assess
your progress. Whether your goal is to lose weight, build muscle,
or simply improve your health, take the time to check up on
your improvement and then reward yourself for all the hard
work!
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