Ever since people started to be aware of their weight, body shape and fitness levels, the first thing they started to do in order to improve their looks was to start exercising. Back in the day when little was understood about diet in the effects of eating too much of the wrong foods, what was known was that exercise would improve your health and make you stronger. For those people who intend to use exercise as their primary means of losing weight, here are some useful tips that will help you to achieve a more successful level of weight reduction while transforming your body from a flabby, fat lump into a slim, toned and fantastic figure!
Diet First
Before you get started on an exercise program of your choice, you should address your diet. Even if it means just getting rid of any junk food you may be eating too often, it is a step in the right direction.
Switching to a diet rich in fresh whole foods is highly recommended and keep processed foods to an absolute minimum or stay away from them altogether. A healthy diet is a good building block for better health and to improve the benefits your exercises.
Hydration is Vital
Ditching soda as a means of quenching your thirst is essential if you really want to lose weight and get fit. Ideally, you should aim to drink only plain water where possible, although tea and coffee in moderation (un-sugared of course) is okay. Natural fruit juices are ok also in moderation.
But avoid all soda, including the diet variety, as well as any flavored drinks and sports drinks because they all contain additives and some contain sugar or artificial sweeteners but either way they should be avoided at all costs.
Start Exercising Slowly
When you get started with your CrossFit routine, especially if you have not exercised for a long time, you should start slowly with only as many reps of any weight or resistance exercises as you are comfortable with. The same goes for any training such as running, swimming, cycling etc you should start with short distances or pool lengths.
What you do is to gradually increase the number of reps you do or the distance you walk or run or cycle or the number of pool lengths you swim day by day. This way you break yourself in gently and avoid the risk of muscle damage through over exertion in the early stages while your muscles and joints are getting used to being worked again.
Go for The Burn
When you have become accustomed to exercising every day and have increased your reps or distances sufficiently so that you are really feeling the difference with regards to muscles toning up and the flab decreasing from your body, then you can start to push yourself harder. With weight training, you can start going for “The Burn” which is a point reached where you literally feel abuzz all over because of the heightened exertion levels and your muscles rising to the challenge having gone to their limit of exertion and found their second wind, so to speak. This is where you really begin to strip fat and increase muscle mass and strength and even when you sleep your muscles, in the process of repairing will be burning calories.
Supplementation
Shortly after starting your new found fitness routine. You’re likely to find yourself hitting a wall as far as your ability to workout is concerned. Our bodies can have a tough time adjusting to changes in their routines, and if you’re an older person, you’ll find it tougher. Supplementation with amino acids, bcaa or even a simple protein shake can make a massive difference to your output. The benefits of amino acids supplements are especially powerful.
Using Gym Fitness Equipment
When using exercise fitness equipment, you can also push yourself as hard as you dare once you have become very accustomed to using the apparatus regularly and have built up a good number of reps or a good time limit. You get the most from using equipment when you continually push the limits of what your muscles can do, gaining more each day that you go that extra rep or that extra minute more.
But also be aware that your body is not a machine and you can only push it so far. Don’t risk muscle or ligament damage by trying to push yourself too far past your previous day’s limit. Just one extra rep a day soon builds up into a quite a formidable exercise regimen, so be patient and get to where you want to be slowly and surely. Remember the parable of the hare and tortoise, “Slow and steady wins the race.”
Additional Reading
If you are looking for a wide range of tips to encompass a variety of disciplines both with regard to diet and exercise as well as working on the mental side of fitness, you should check out this great website that is chock full of great weight loss tips. The principal of educating yourself to greater fitness and health is very real and the more you know and understand about the physical processes that are going on when you exercise and improve your diet, the better you will be able to work towards your weight loss and fitness goals.