I got very excited this week; I saw the first signs of spring appearing! Now the snowy showers are behind us finally and the sun begins to provide some warmth, the flowers are starting to bloom. For us health and fitness professionals we see this time of year as when most folks consider starting an exercise program. It’s time to spring ahead with your activity level. Soon you can ditch those winter layers, pull out your bright spring clothes and enjoy the outdoors as it comes to life again. Spring means new beginnings, a fresh start, warm weather activities and the impending arrival of sleeveless days. If warmer spring temperatures and lighter wardrobes inspire you to hit the great outdoors for your exercise and try to improve your level of fitness, use these tips to make your plan more effective.
Use the renewal of springtime to revitalize your routine
Best Workout for a Healthy and Lighter you
There is no single workout that works best for getting healthy or losing weight. Research has shown that some high intensity workouts burn more fat, but you can’t do these workouts every day. So the best way to lose weight with exercise is to create a balanced program of easy moderate and hard workouts to make the best use of your time in the outdoors.
In addition, these are my five best tips for making sure your workouts pay off…
Tip One
Don’t overcompensate with food. Your workout is not an excuse to pig out at the dinner table. Keep your eating under control, make sure you are eating enough to fuel your workouts and keeping your nutrient levels high, but not so much that you undo the effects of your exercise session.
Try a clean-eating picnic. Pick up things from your local farmers market. Opt for colourful fresh fruits and veggies, lean proteins and nuts. Enjoy the outside as you eat healthy for your insides!
Tip Two
People often regret the comfort food of winter and feel blue about it through the spring and into the summer. Don’t let that be you. Think spring into fitness. Step up your exercise routine. Add more time or more intensity to your exercise plans. Try a new workout for this new season. Do a hard push into a new routine. Get yourself hooked on exercising more frequently, before you overthink your plans. Come summer, you’ll be smiling at your progress.
Try Exercising every day. Yep, you read that right. You need to exercise every day if you want to burn more fat and become healthier. But this is where careful planning becomes important. Schedule easy recovery workouts on the days after your hard workouts to allow your body and mind to recover while you still burn calories and keep your workout habit intact.
Tip Three
Stay off the couch. A great workout is also not an excuse to sit on your backside for the rest of the day. If your workout wears you out to the point that you need to nap or lay down, then you worked too hard. Non-exercise activity plays a big role in keeping your metabolism high and burning fat each day. Work out effectively but stay active for the rest of the day to lose fat and keep fit. I always tell people that it isn’t enough to have one hour in a day designated for exercise while you sit on your butt the rest of the day. To be healthy and full of vitality this spring, move more throughout the day. Stand up more. Walk instead of taking the car. Grab your bike and go. Take the stairs. Stretch. Aim to sit less, and find creative ways to get more movement into your days. Put your whole body into the house work or gardening. Be vigorous about it and use all of your muscle groups.
Tip Four
If you want to improve your fitness and lose fat, repeating the same workout mode, intensity, or duration day after day won’t work. Why? Your body adjusts to the daily workload and you hit a dreaded plateau.
Develop a workout schedule that involves different activities, different intensity levels and different session lengths. For example, if you normally do 40 minutes of walking, keep that activity on your workout schedule two or three days per week. But as an added challenge, walk for 60-75 minutes one day during the week. On the remaining days, mix in a cycling workout and a day of walk/run intervals. If you are healthy enough for vigorous activity, add HIIT workouts, which have been shown to be effective at burning fat and making huge improvements in your fitness.
Tip Five
‘Triangle training’
A good fitness schedule includes cardiovascular (aerobic) training, strength training and flexibility work (stretching). This 3 sided and balanced workout program ensures that your body stays healthy and fit. But each of these three components also has fat loss benefits. If you skimp on one or two of them, you’ll end up with a lopsided workout program and you won’t reap the full fitness and fat loss rewards of your exercise sessions.
Here’s what to do – Most weight loss workout programs include aerobic activity so it’s unlikely that you’ll have to add cardio. But you should also make sure that you do 2-3 days of strength training, as well. If time is an issue, do a circuit workout and complete short intervals of strength exercises between 5-10 minute bursts of cardio. Then, finish every workout with 10-15 minutes of stretching so that you maintain healthy joints and an injury-free body.
21 Day Transformation Programme
This is where our 21 Day Transformation Programme comes into play. It starts Monday April 16th and combines a fresh look at exercise, incorporating all elements of Triangle Training and healthy nutritious eating.
5 great tips for getting your exercise programme back on track or to get you outside in the fresh air keeping fit and healthy. Many studies have shown the important of exercise but also they have shown the importance of getting out in the fresh air and inhaling big deep breathes. So start now!
