subject: Daily Workouts Are Not All There Is to Fitness [print this page] Getting healthy (and fit) involves far more than simply beginning a bi-weekly exercise routine. Obviously these short exercise routines are better than nothing. You need to exercise regularly if you want your muscles and joints to work the way they are supposed to work. Here's the thing: real fitness means eating healthy as well as making good lifestyle choices. True fitness requires more than just working out. That said, it is also a good idea to put together a good workout routine. The good news is that anybody can get fit and work out. Even if you have no experience with working out, you can develop a fitness routine that will increase your health and athleticism. Here are a few hints to help you out.
You need to exercise your whole body. Don't listen to people who tell you that you only have to concentrate on the parts of your body that you want to improve. To be successful you will need to put together a routine that will work your whole body and all of its systems. Cardiovascular work, endurance work and strength work are all necessary. You will need to work all of your muscles if you truly want your body to get healthy. When you only work out a couple of areas of your body those areas will just get "beefier" which makes them look larger than they did when you began working out. You do not want to increase the intensity of your workouts each day: go slowly and steadily. If you are always increasing the intensity of your workouts your muscles won't actually get stronger. Instead your muscles will only get torn up. This is true because your muscles need to have a day or so to regroup, repair and strengthen themselves before the next pushing workout. Your muscles need time to heal after you work them. You want to alternate your workouts. You should do a hard workout one day and an easy workout the next. Doing this will allow you to keep up with your fitness regimen and keep your muscles safe.
If you like doing a particularly athletic activity, join a group that does it as well. Take a dance class for fun and fitness reasons! Water aerobics classes are also fun. Take up rock climbing or hiking. These are all exercises that people find fun and increase one's fitness level. You stand a better chance of getting fit if you have fun with your exercise routine. If you do not like your exercise routine you will probably find a lot of reasons to stop doing it. How much success do you expect from something like that? Why not have fun and get fit at the same time?
It is easier for a person to achieve real physical fitness--even if the idea of doing so seems intimidating. As long as you are diligent and patient there is no reason you shouldn't be able to get fit.
