Imagine what the world would be like if no one exercised. Never mind, you can already see it when you walk down nearly any city street. Our society is faced with an epidemic of obesity, and people need to become more in tune with their own health and fitness.
We all know that exercise is essential to living a healthy lifestyle. It's the best way to lose body fat, because exercise boosts the metabolism and encourages the body to burn excess calories. Physical exercise revs up your heart and gets your lungs pumping at their maximum capacity. You'll have healthier bones when you exercise, and you'll look good and feel great about yourself. Exercise gives you increased stamina, making it easier for you to keep up with life's busy pace.
The unfortunate reality is that, although nearly everyone is aware of the many benefits of fitness, many women ignore the facts and choose to do nothing. It's too easy to press the snooze button, take the elevator or drive to work. In our society of convenience, people are suffering with a lack of health and fitness.
You can reach and maintain your ideal body weight simply by using the following tips. The specific issues that women face, including a higher susceptibility to osteoporosis, bring to light particular health and fitness issues. To keep your body strong and maintain optimum health, you should follow these tips and implement no less than two of them into all of your health and fitness routines:
1. You don't have to be Superwoman. Don't fret if you feel as though you're not doing enough. Women often have the innate feeling that they're letting someone down. Don't worry if you're not able to spend ten hours a week at the gym or go for a run every morning. All that really matters is that you can commit to improving your health and fitness, and stick to a program. Professionals advise working out three to five times a week in 20-60 minute sessions, but our busy schedules don't always allow this. You can easily become frustrated if you can't meet someone else's ideal. Working out twice a week at twenty minutes per session will put you on the right track.
2. Stay focused on your success. Keep thinking about how good it feels to have committed to a new health and fitness regime. If your plan includes weight loss and you're struggling to meet a goal, don't beat yourself up about it. Focus on all that you've accomplished up to this point. Consider today to be your new starting point. Your biggest personal success is the fitness commitment that you've made to yourself.
3. Work with weights first. Don't make the same mistake as so many women, and begin your routine with cardio followed by weight lifting. You may spend too much time on cardio and miss out on weight training, which is critical component of your successful health and fitness routine. If you do this on a regular basis you can have a disappointing outcome despite countless hours at the gym. When you reverse the order and performing weight training first, you'll be more likely to realize a positive visible outcome.
4. Don't overdo it. The average women's health and fitness regime requires a workout of no more than an hour at a time. Spending too much time at the gym or doing the same exercises over extended periods can become tedious and boring. By focusing on the exercises and narrowing your time frame, your workout sessions will be more fun and more efficient.
5. Watch your heart rate. Ideally, women should exercise at 75-85% of their maximum heart rate. If the rate is too low, you're not exerting yourself to your full potential. If it's too high, on the other hand, you can put yourself in a potentially dangerous position. Don't try to stay at 50 percent or so, because you will not realize your fitness goals. Use a heart rate monitor or do a manual count incrementally during your workout. Make sure that you're reaching the prescribed target heart rate, and not exceeding it.
6. Get support. It's important to be involved in some sort of fitness social support web. If you are currently in a regime with no fitness community, you may find that your workouts are lacking or not that successful. A social support can bring a greater sense of camaraderie, kinship and even healthy competition. If you normally workout alone at home, try visiting a gym for a sample workout, or joining a yoga, Pilates or sailing class. Running clubs and golf courses are other ways to keep in shape and meet new people.
7. Support yourself. Taking on a new health and fitness routine can be tough. It takes commitment, discipline and a lot of hard work. Give yourself the support you need with a pep talk. Don't pressure yourself too much; give yourself a well-deserved pat on the back. There's nothing wrong with giving yourself some great feedback for a change.
More than ever before, women's health and fitness is an important issue. With fast food and our sedentary lifestyles, we are being robbed of our good health, and stripped of our self-esteem. Only you can make the change to a healthier lifestyle. Move at your own pace, and you will be amazed at how far you can go.
Freelancer Ernestine Clagge provides material for numerous popular Internet sites, on health education and health information topics. Click here to get your own unique version of this article.
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