7 Tips to get strong and sexy this season
#1 Start at your own pace
Starting a new workout routine? Go slowly and build your way up. Pushing too hard too soon is what makes most people quit.
Come summer, most New Year’s resolutions to get fit are but a distant memory. Why? Because we throw ourselves into a new exercise routine with so much gusto that we can’t maintain it. When you’re beginning a fitness program, you can’t go too slowly. A daily 20-minute walk is a great way to step into a routine. Your goal is at least 30 minutes per day of walking five days per week to help reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease. If you can’t fit in that much, then increase your intensity of walking to get the same benefits. Once you’ve built up stamina and confidence, kick it up a notch or two. Your pace should be comfortable but challenging.
#2 Focus on your core
Stop, drop, and work your core: Place forearms on the floor and step back until legs are straight. Hold 30 to 60 seconds; repeat three times.
Strengthen your core — no special equipment or fancy workout clothes required — by doing three elbow planks every day. Starting on your hands and knees, place your forearms and palms on the floor with your elbows directly underneath your shoulders. Walk your feet back until your legs are straight and your ankles, knees, hips and shoulders are in one even plane. Draw your navel up and reach your chest forward and heels back to engage your abs and keep your spine long. Work up to holding for 60 seconds, and repeat at least three times throughout the course of your day.
#3 Switch up your workout
Head for the hills to rev up your walking or running workout. Get fit faster and stay motivated by varying the scenery and terrain.
Do you follow the same path day in and day out when you go for your walk or run? Look for hills along your route that you can slip into your routine. If it’s too much for you to tackle all at once, start by only going halfway up. Walking or running up inclines boosts the intensity of your workout: it burns more calories and helps build muscle strength and cardiovascular endurance. Switching between flat surfaces and hills is a form of interval training, a type of workout that involves short bursts of high-intensity exercise in between moderate activity. This kind of exercise, practiced by elite athletes, can supercharge your workout. It can also help keep boredom at bay. If you have joint problems, go easy on the downhill; slow down your pace and shorten your stride.
#4 Slow down to sculpt your body
Whipping through weightlifting may look hard-core, but slow, steady movements will work your muscles more — and give you results sooner.
When it comes to weight training, faster isn’t always better. Dashing through your repetitions doesn’t take as much effort, because it allows your muscles to rely on momentum. Focus on your form by practicing slow and steady movements on both the contraction and the release. This will help you strengthen every muscle fiber. It may feel harder, but you’ll see results much sooner than if you were to race through each exercise.
#5 If you can’t run, walk!
Walking burns 50 percent fewer calories per mile than running. When walking for weight loss, get the same results as running by going an extra half a mile.
You may have heard that running and walking burn the same number of calories per mile. Sadly for walkers, they don’t. Running requires about 50 percent more fuel. So, depending on your weight and speed, that’s roughly 105 to 125 calories per mile for jogging and between 75 and 90 calories per mile walking. That doesn’t mean you have to run to whittle your middle, though. If you can only run a mile but you can walk two, you’ll burn more calories by walking for longer.
#6 Stretch it out
Make your strength-training regimen work even harder. Post-workout stretching can help build muscle strength.
Adding a stretching routine to your workout may help build muscle faster. That’s according to a study in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. In the study, all participants performed weight-resistance exercises three times a week. Half of them did two 30-minute stretching sessions a week, in addition to the strengthening routine. After eight weeks, those in the stretching group showed twice the improvement in muscle strength as those who did weight-resistance exercises alone. According to the study’s author, exercise physiologist Jason Winchester, Ph.D., stretching should always be done at the end of your workout, after you’re warmed up.
#7 Challenge Yourself
Forget the “fat-burning zone” on your treadmill. You’ll shed more weight by working out at a more challenging intensity.
Working out in the “fat-burning zone” of your cardio machine isn’t going to help you shed winter padding any faster. If you’ve ever tried to stay within its range, you’ve probably noticed that it’s not a very challenging workout. While it’s true that lower-intensity workouts burn a greater percentage of body fat, high-intensity ones burn the most calories. And when it comes to weight loss, the more calories you burn, the more pounds you’ll shed. It takes a 3,500-calorie deficit to get rid of a single pound of body fat. Besides, any calorie you consume that isn’t used right away gets stored as — you guessed it — fat. So when working out for weight loss, exercise at a comfortable but challenging level.
#1 Start at your own pace
Starting a new workout routine? Go slowly and build your way up. Pushing too hard too soon is what makes most people quit.
Come summer, most New Year’s resolutions to get fit are but a distant memory. Why? Because we throw ourselves into a new exercise routine with so much gusto that we can’t maintain it. When you’re beginning a fitness program, you can’t go too slowly. A daily 20-minute walk is a great way to step into a routine. Your goal is at least 30 minutes per day of walking five days per week to help reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease. If you can’t fit in that much, then increase your intensity of walking to get the same benefits. Once you’ve built up stamina and confidence, kick it up a notch or two. Your pace should be comfortable but challenging.
#2 Focus on your core
Stop, drop, and work your core: Place forearms on the floor and step back until legs are straight. Hold 30 to 60 seconds; repeat three times.
Strengthen your core — no special equipment or fancy workout clothes required — by doing three elbow planks every day. Starting on your hands and knees, place your forearms and palms on the floor with your elbows directly underneath your shoulders. Walk your feet back until your legs are straight and your ankles, knees, hips and shoulders are in one even plane. Draw your navel up and reach your chest forward and heels back to engage your abs and keep your spine long. Work up to holding for 60 seconds, and repeat at least three times throughout the course of your day.
#3 Switch up your workout
Head for the hills to rev up your walking or running workout. Get fit faster and stay motivated by varying the scenery and terrain.
Do you follow the same path day in and day out when you go for your walk or run? Look for hills along your route that you can slip into your routine. If it’s too much for you to tackle all at once, start by only going halfway up. Walking or running up inclines boosts the intensity of your workout: it burns more calories and helps build muscle strength and cardiovascular endurance. Switching between flat surfaces and hills is a form of interval training, a type of workout that involves short bursts of high-intensity exercise in between moderate activity. This kind of exercise, practiced by elite athletes, can supercharge your workout. It can also help keep boredom at bay. If you have joint problems, go easy on the downhill; slow down your pace and shorten your stride.
#4 Slow down to sculpt your body
Whipping through weightlifting may look hard-core, but slow, steady movements will work your muscles more — and give you results sooner.
When it comes to weight training, faster isn’t always better. Dashing through your repetitions doesn’t take as much effort, because it allows your muscles to rely on momentum. Focus on your form by practicing slow and steady movements on both the contraction and the release. This will help you strengthen every muscle fiber. It may feel harder, but you’ll see results much sooner than if you were to race through each exercise.
#5 If you can’t run, walk!
Walking burns 50 percent fewer calories per mile than running. When walking for weight loss, get the same results as running by going an extra half a mile.
You may have heard that running and walking burn the same number of calories per mile. Sadly for walkers, they don’t. Running requires about 50 percent more fuel. So, depending on your weight and speed, that’s roughly 105 to 125 calories per mile for jogging and between 75 and 90 calories per mile walking. That doesn’t mean you have to run to whittle your middle, though. If you can only run a mile but you can walk two, you’ll burn more calories by walking for longer.
#6 Stretch it out
Make your strength-training regimen work even harder. Post-workout stretching can help build muscle strength.
Adding a stretching routine to your workout may help build muscle faster. That’s according to a study in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. In the study, all participants performed weight-resistance exercises three times a week. Half of them did two 30-minute stretching sessions a week, in addition to the strengthening routine. After eight weeks, those in the stretching group showed twice the improvement in muscle strength as those who did weight-resistance exercises alone. According to the study’s author, exercise physiologist Jason Winchester, Ph.D., stretching should always be done at the end of your workout, after you’re warmed up.
#7 Challenge Yourself
Forget the “fat-burning zone” on your treadmill. You’ll shed more weight by working out at a more challenging intensity.
Working out in the “fat-burning zone” of your cardio machine isn’t going to help you shed winter padding any faster. If you’ve ever tried to stay within its range, you’ve probably noticed that it’s not a very challenging workout. While it’s true that lower-intensity workouts burn a greater percentage of body fat, high-intensity ones burn the most calories. And when it comes to weight loss, the more calories you burn, the more pounds you’ll shed. It takes a 3,500-calorie deficit to get rid of a single pound of body fat. Besides, any calorie you consume that isn’t used right away gets stored as — you guessed it — fat. So when working out for weight loss, exercise at a comfortable but challenging level.
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