Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Get in Shape for Summer

1) Get on the ball.If you don't already have one, purchase an inexpensive fitness ball. Use it to perform abdominal and leg toning exercises 5 days per week. Do 5-10 minutes in the morning and 5-10 minutes in the evening. There are hundreds of exercises you can do on a ball from beginner to advanced levels so the variety will keep boredom at bay and ensure you keep your body challenged.
2) Add resistance training to your weekly workout.Aim for a minimum of two sessions per week. Each session should work all of your major muscle groups with 2-3 sets per exercise of 8-12 reps using a resistance that fatigues your muscle by the final rep. Start with your larger muscles and then do exercises to target the smaller muscles as well.
3) Change up your strength training.The change helps ensure your body stays challenged, that you are regularly recruiting multiple muscle fibers and ultimately that you make progress and see improvements.
4) Add intervals to your cardio workouts.Strive for three 30-minute interval training sessions each week. Interval training is short, high-intensity exercise periods alternated with periods of rest. It is one of the most effective ways to burn calories. These higher and lower intensity periods are repeated several times to form a complete workout. By exercising harder for short periods of time and then allowing yourself recovery time, you can push yourself harder.
5) Evaluate your eating habits.
6) Maximize your efforts with cross training.Cross-training is a type of exercise regimen that combines strength work, aerobic work, and stretching. With this method you use different muscles each day, which means you'll be able to work out at an intense level without overstraining your body.

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