Top 10 Fitness Tips and Strategies To Get a Great Physique
This is it, this is the time. It’s now or never. You’ve been saying you’re going to get fit, that you’re going to be a lean, mean machine of hotness, but then you reach for the potato chips at 2 in the morning and mess it all up.
Stop pushing it off until tomorrow, next week, or next month. The time is now. Here are the 10 fitness tips and strategies you need to implement to get a great body:
#1 The Cure-All For Motivation
The number one reason why people fail their fitness goals is because they genuinely lack motivation. And that’s normal, right? Who feels like hitting the treadmill every single day?
That’s why you should be changing up your routine every 14 days. People who modify their workout routines twice a month are more likely to stick with their fitness goals than those who don’t. Variety really is the spice of life.
So remember, go running, go jogging, go biking, kickbox, focus on weights, change things up twice a month.
#2 Kettlebell Swings For the Butt
Want a bigger butt? How about a more elevated butt? Well, before you lay down on a surgery table, let it be known that your butt is a muscle, the glutes to be precise. And that means it can be shaped and molded with pure, honest exercise. All for the price of a $20-30 kettlebell. If you do roughly 100 kettlebell swings with a moderate weight at the end of a legs workout, you’re going to see some progress.
And note, this isn’t just for ladies. Men can benefit too, especially if you’ve been told that your back never seems to end. Some sort of visual definition is always nice.
#3 Be In The Present
We get it: you go to the gym, you put your show on the TV, and you mindlessly workout. Well, that’s nice and all, it’s certainly a way of getting a workout in without feeling like you’re truly working out…
But it’s not effective. When you’re preoccupied by other things, you wind up putting less effort into the workout, which in turn slows down the time it takes to truly see results.
It’s best to be in the present, paying attention to your muscles, feeling stronger with every rep or squat, or step. And if you can’t get into it? Put some good upbeat music on and exercise to the beat.
#4 Be Realistic About That Number
Everyone wants to be at a certain weight, male or female. The thing is that our bodies fluctuate all the time. Many factors such as time of the month, sodium intake, water retention, sleep deprivation that causes inflammation, carb intake, etc. all contribute to your weight. Even if you’re eating a normal amount of calories, and creating a deficit through exercise, you’re still going to fluctuate.
Instead, be realistic with yourself: aim for a weight range rather than a specific number. If you put in the work, you’ll eventually get there, but don’t expect to always remain at that number. A normal fluctuation is up to 5 lbs. If you’re aiming for 175, but always weigh between 175 and 180, that’s normal. But if you go up to 185, you’re gaining weight and need to make changes.
#5 Hang In There
Want to do a pull-up, but don’t have the upper body strength to do it? Just hanging on for as long as possible can improve your upper-body strength. Concentrate on being as still as possible, and you’ll naturally recruit your abs, hips, lower back and arms into the mix, thus building strength.
If you want an added push, slowly move your legs in circles or up and down to engage your abs. This creates that nice defined midsection area everyone dreams about.
#6 Don’t Drastically Cut Calories
Your body needs a minimum of 1,200 calories a day to just perform basic functions, enough to keep you alive. If you really want to lose weight the right way, don’t severely cut calories. Instead, use a calorie calculator to gauge where you need to be.
For instance a slightly active woman who weighs 125, and measures 5’6” will want to eat roughly 1,451 calories to lose weight, or 1,813 to maintain. Meanwhile, a 6’3” man who weighs 200 lbs. and is slightly active will want to eat 1,982 to lose weight, or 2,478 to maintain. If you want to know how many calories you should be eating, check out this calculator.
#7 Keep Your Swimsuit Handy
Even in the dead of winter, male or female. Why? Because anytime you need to check your progress, it’s there. When you’re tempted to overindulge, it’s there. When you want to take progress photos, it’s there. And when you want to reward yourself, it’s there.
Having it handy allows you to see what you will look like when summer comes along, even if it’s far off. If you hate how it looks, you have time to change your body through exercise and diet. If you like what you see, you get to check yourself out in the mirror.
#8 Create A Challenge Every Time You Work Out
We know, it sounds awful. But if you’ve been doing the same exercise time and time again and complain you’re not seeing the results, even despite your amazing eating habits, then it’s time to challenge yourself.
Take it as a compliment: it means you’re officially too fit for the exercises you’ve been doing, the ones that have gotten you here. Your body is now so used to them that it’s no longer challenged.
So, think of a new exercise that you feel challenges you. It could be jumping rope for a certain amount of time, doing a certain number of pullups, doing a certain number of pushups, etc.
#9 Get A Little Minty
Not only is it nice for your breath, but apparently it’s good for your muscles. According to a study published in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, people who added peppermint to their water before running on a treadmill showed signs of relaxed muscles, boosted oxygen to the muscles and brain, and had an elevated pain threshold.
This may have something to do with the fact that peppermint has menthol in it, which has been known for treating things like muscle soreness and pain. It relieves your muscles, making them much more relaxed.
#10 Do Your HIIT
HIIT, or High-Intensity Interval Training is when you’re following a 2:1 work-to-rest ratio. In other words, one minute you’re sprinting, then you have 30 seconds to recoger, then another minute of squats, followed by another 30 seconds of recovery, etc. This gives your body time to prep between exercises, and pushes you to challenge yourself with every exercise, since it’s shortened and timed.
New to HIIT? Check out this guide from Daily Burn. Also, remember that Fitbit Coach offers some fitness courses for free right from the app, and can be viewed on your tablet, phone or activity tracker.