Top 10 Fitness and Weight Loss Tips

You never need to try a quick weight loss program. You will end up regaining more pounds than you lose. Focus on improving your health and fitness. This includes burning fat and losing weight. Take a long-term approach to your health and fitness.

Here are my Top 10 Fitness and Weight Loss Tips:

1. Improve Health and Prevent Injuries - The main goals of any exercise program should be to improve health and prevent injuries. Infomercials will try to convince you that weight loss is the most important thing in life. Don't settle for those lies!

Because people are living longer, quality of life becomes a big issue. If you take care of your body throughout your life, your body will reward you.

2. Fitness and Nutrition Assessment - If you've never had a fitness and nutrition assessment done by a fitness professional, you should have it done. Among other things, it will tell you how much body fat you have. Belly fat is particularly dangerous to your health.

The assessment may also show that you need a full physical exam. For instance, trainers need your doctor's release if you have high blood pressure.

3. Postural Assessment - Many injuries happen because your posture has dysfunctions that need to be corrected. These postural deficiencies are identified during your fitness assessment.

Many times, low back pain, shoulder pain, neck pain and hip pain can be traced to long-standing postural problems.

4. Flexibility - Muscle imbalances (including tight and lengthened muscles) also cause many injuries. Your fitness assessment will tell you where your muscles are tight, weak or lengthened.

5. Core Strength - The core is much more than your 6-pack abs! Most people have inadequate core strength. All movement begins with the core so you should strengthen it first.

6. Balance - Balance is important to prevent injuries, especially later in life. Your exercise routine needs to include balance exercises on a regular basis. For example, one-legged exercises will improve your balance.

7. Body Composition - Fat loss is more important than weight loss! Resist the urge to lose pounds as fast as you can and concentrate on changing your body's composition. Build muscle mass to speed up your metabolism and keep the fat and weight off for good. It takes longer, but the results are lasting (if you continue to train).

8. Resistance Training - Full body strength training is necessary to increase your muscle mass and change your body to lean and toned. Full body strength training also corrects your muscle imbalances.

9. Cardio Training - Twenty minutes of intense cardio is enough to burn body fat and give you superior heart health. Interval cardio (such as speed intervals) will give you even better results.

10. Planes of Motion - Workout more with dumbbells, medicine balls and bodyweight and less on machines. Among other things, machines limit your natural movement patterns and work you in only 1 plane (sagittal) of motion.

You turn, twist, rotate and bend your body many times a day. So, you need to train your body in the transverse and frontal planes of motion as well.

Side lunges, medicine ball lunges with rotation and medicine ball rotational throws are some examples of training in these planes of motion.

Train your body for the life you need to live.

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"Exercise is not my life.....exercise makes my life better!"

Check out my other great blogs:

Her Fitness Hut Blog Her Fitness Hut is featured on EmpowHER, a great health issues website for women! Her Fitness Hut has also been named in the Top 50 Personal Training Blogs by Physical Therapy Assistant Schools!

Sports Fitness Hut Blog has been recognized by Stanford University Wellsphere as the #1 Sports Fitness Blog and NursingDegree.net as one of the Best 100 Health and Nutrition Blogs for Athletes! The blog has also been named as one of the "50 Best Sports Medicine Blogs by Masters In Healthcare! It is an honor to be recognized by those in the health and academic fields! Afterall, health is number one for everybody---including athletes!

Posted in: Fat Burning Tips,Weight Loss and Optimal Health,Weight Loss Tips