subject: There is More to Fitness Than Exercise (But Exercise is Necessary to Increase Your Fitness)! [print this page] Even if you are the picture of health right now you probably thought "I need to be healthier" at least once over the course of your life. Every person feels like he or she needs to be better about exercising, eating and building a healthy lifestyle. The important thing is that you take action when you think these things. Taking steps to increase your health and fitness are very important if you want to truly get healthier. It is equally important, however, that you acknowledge that fitness involves your brain just as much as it involves your body. That said, here are a few things that you can do to increase your fitness
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Make good lifestyle choices. You should not smoke. Cut down on the alcohol. In addition to being terrible habits, smoking and drinking will only hinder your efforts to get fit and lead a healthier lifestyle. Not only is smoking awful for your body but it makes it far more difficult for you to complete a workout routine. Not only will drinking keep your energy levels low, it is terrible for your liver.
Beyond that, most alcoholic beverages contain a crazy amount of calories. Just working off the calories you consume from alcohol could take up your whole workout! Why set yourself back those steps? Don't try to increase the duration or intensity of your workouts every day. Constantly increasing the intensity of your workouts won't actually build up your muscles. This will only make it easier to tear down your muscles. Exercise works by tearing down a muscle and then giving it time to heal and get stronger than it was before. You need to let your muscles heal a little bit before working them again. Move your workouts around. You should do a hard workout one day and an easy workout the next. This keeps you burning calories but it gives your muscles time to heal and build strength over time.
Don't let yourself get dehydrated when you are working out. Gatorade, PowerAde and other electrolyte infused beverages are really good to have on hand when you do a hard workout. If you don't like electrolyte drinks at least keep a full bottle of water handy so that you can hydrate yourself over the course of your fitness workout. If you don't regularly stop to drink your water (or other drinks) you will get dehydrated and you risk seriously damaging your body. Obviously not all drinks are the same. You are going to want to pass on drinks that contain a lot of sugars like juices or sodas and you'll want to skip alcoholic drinks altogether.
Fitness encompasses your whole life. There is more to getting fit than simply going for a jog once or twice a week. In addition to regularly working out, true fitness involves good food and healthy lifestyle choices. There are a lot of ways to help yourself succeed when you decide to get healthy. Don't forget that there is more to fitness than simply working out on a regular basis!
